The last day to decide

Clairabella

I agreed to the Loyal Octopus Tariff but I'm still undecided if was the correct decision.  It is due to start on 14th February and I need to decide today as its the last day I have to change my mind! There are no leaving fees.
I've tried to work out the figures but I cant find what the variable charge will be, Also, do I need to add VAT anywhere?  This is all so confusing and is really stressing me. I'm presently paying £73 per month, this is a huge increase, far more than 40%
I'd appreciate any advice here.

QrizB

I don't know your region so what follows is approximate.

• On the current fixed capped rate your annual bill would be £1246 or £104/month
• On the new cap from April your bill would be £1886 or £157/month

So the Loyal Octopus fix will cost you an extra £50/month (probably a bit more, depending on the weather) for a month and a half but will be pretty much the same price through the summer and could be cheaper next winter.

Does that help?

Clairabella

Sorry to be so thick, but now I'm totally confused. When you say 'on the current fixed rate' do you mean my Loyal Octopus fix? It actually looks to be cheaper per month than the new cap and yet later you say the fix will cost me £50pm more after April  I'm in the North West BTW.. Thank for yo r help.

QrizB

Clairabella said:

Sorry to be so thick, but now I'm totally confused. When you say 'on the current fixed rate' do you mean my Loyal Octopus fix? It actually looks to be cheaper per month than the new cap and yet later you say the fix will cost me £50pm more after April  I'm in the North West BTW.. Thank for yo r help.

Sorry, I mistyped; it should have said "current capped rate" ie. Flexible Octopus. I have edited my post.

Clairabella

Thank you QrizB you have help me to decide  I shall stay with the fix and it may well pay off if there is another price hike in October. 
Your help and advice is very much appreciated.

kk20

you are losing now till april, you will lose slightly from april to october unless you can cut your gas usage somewhat.  You will gain from october till feb (the cap will go up again in october for sure, and probably by a chunk).

Overall?  hmm, cut the gas usage NOW, act normal from october onwards.

Interestingly, the "loyal octpus" offered to me was 32.39pkwh + 24.38p day and 8.81pkwh + 26.10p day.  This was not a good deal IMHO so even if the cap does increase October, I would personally lose out over the year.  Our heating is on permanently you see with a thermostat so our usage is relatively even throughout the year.