Scottish Power Fixed Price Electricity Tarrif

jonnypb

Parents are coming to the end of their fixed price tariff with M&S. On an economy 7 meter and most fixed price deals seem ridiculously expensive, but Scottish power seem to have a good 2 year fixed one which seems too good to be true…. So wondered if I’m missing something!?

Fixed Price January 2024 YM1 Online
Standing charge 24.47p
Day rate 30.24p
Night rate 16.64p
£30 exit fee

The variable tariff from M&S which they would be put onto when their fixed one comes to an end would only be slightly cheaper than the above fixed tariff. So bearing in mind the variable tariffs will be rising again at the start of the year and the above one is fixed for 2 years, surely it’s a no brainier to move to this fixed one?

QrizB

jonnypb said:

The variable tariff from M&S which they would be put onto when their fixed one comes to an end would only be slightly cheaper than the above fixed tariff.

The M&S variable tariff should be quite a lot cheaper than that. What exactly have M&S offered?

PennineAcute

It's all a gamble.  Prices could come down, come April, or prices could rocket even further. 

The consensus on this site is to move onto deemed tariffs, as the energy consumption between now and April is far greater than at other times of the year.  I think this is a dangerous gamble, as prices will be a lot higher than they are now, should the gamble fail.  I fixed earlier this month for 18 months.

jonnypb

QrizB said:

jonnypb said:

The variable tariff from M&S which they would be put onto when their fixed one comes to an end would only be slightly cheaper than the above fixed tariff.

The M&S variable tariff should be quite a lot cheaper than that. What exactly have M&S offered?

It isn’t that much cheaper. The standing charge is more or less the same, as is the night rate. The only difference is the day rate which is 9p cheaper per kWh on the M&S variable tariff that they would move to. But given that prices will rise again in April it seems sensible to fix on the Scottish power one for 2 years. None of the other fixed electricity tariffs come close, Octopus won’t switch them over and EON are a lot more expensive.

The M&S variable tariff estimated £60 a month, the 2 year fixed Scottish power was £73 a month, M&S fixed was £95 a month, EON/Sainsbury’s 2 year fixed was £110 a month. Most of the other big players wouldn’t switch them over.

It just seems like we’re missing something with the Scottish Power one being so cheap for a 2 year fixed in the current climate compared to the rest. The only catch seems to be the £30 exit fee if prices were to dramatically drop, which seems unlikely.

Fairzo

There are other threads on the forum where the Scottish Power rates are referred to, and which seem too good to be true in comparison with other fixes. Even the £30 exit fee isn't too bad compared to others and might be worth it if prices did reduce significantly.

It's all a gamble. The only near certainty is that the cap will rise substantially in April unless there is a significant government intervention on taxes etc. 

The other thing to consider is that SP customer service is notoriously poor although I can't substantiate that from recent personal experience.

spurdog1

I've only seen an out of date M & S, expired October. Is the offer still valid?

MWT

PennineAcute said:

I think this is a dangerous gamble, as prices will be a lot higher than they are now, should the gamble fail.  I fixed earlier this month for 18 months.

It is a gamble, but it is more about the prices between now and next September than it is about what happens at the end of March.

The next cap will be higher, but people's energy use falls over that period from a peak now so opting to pay more now has a bigger impact than paying even more from April.

The real question of course is what the cap will be for next winter...

PennineAcute

MWT said:

PennineAcute said:

I think this is a dangerous gamble, as prices will be a lot higher than they are now, should the gamble fail.  I fixed earlier this month for 18 months.

It is a gamble, but it is more about the prices between now and next September than it is about what happens at the end of March.

The next cap will be higher, but people's energy use falls over that period from a peak now so opting to pay more now has a bigger impact than paying even more from April.

The real question of course is what the cap will be for next winter...

I agree.  Some current available fixed-tariff prices are just silly and it would pay to keep on SVTs.

I just missed a gas tariff with EON Next at around their current SVT prices due to my move from Zog to EON Next not completing in time - but I know that for the next 18-months, the most I am going to be paying is 22.36p UP and 24.38p SC for elec and 5.78p UP and 26.123p SC Gas. 

Like you say, it's a gamble.  All pointers are currently on a big increase in April and October - unless Putin stops acting like a spolit brat. 

bigfer

As others mentioned, it's a gamble, but the only thing I would suggest, is going with an energy provider other than Scottish Power.
Had several dealings with them....never again. I would rather keep warm using dog's poobags...and I don't even have a dog.