British gas on comparison sites

nevill3

I have become increasingly unhappy with my current energy supplier, SSE. their website portal is very poor and they keep changing the direct debit I have with them without informing me! 

After doing some energy comparisons with the cheap energy club and the Which site as well as others I discovered that British Gas do not appear on any results. I went directly to the British Gas website and found to my amazement that they have a better deal than any of the sites recommended elsewhere, and they are fixed until May 2024.

Is there any reason that they are being omitted from the comparison site?

Obviously it is not the best time to switch but I have personally calculated that if the price cap tariffs increase again in the autumn as expected (Possibly 20% again) the current BG tariff would be cheaper. The main drawback is the £75 per fuel exit fee but if prices drop enough this would be factored in in any future switch by me.

To be able to fix my energy costs for over two years at not too much of a premium in these volatile times is a gamble I have decided to take.

wild666

IMHO the price of gas will tumble within two years and they will be hoping to make £75 per fuel fees, £150 , from those that leave within two years if the prices tumble. On the other hand if the prices keep rising then they make a loss.
I'm with Octopus and I'm holding off as long as possible before I decide whether to fix or not but the decision will have to be within the next 5 to 6 days, maybe less, I would pay £16 more in March for the usage but save £72 over the next 11 months.  

EssexHebridean

The DD guarantee sets out clearly the notice that is required to be given when a DD is changed - I'd invoke that if I were you. (Just double check first that in fact there haven't been emails sent that you've missed though - do you keep a good eye on any junk mail folders?) 

Ultrasonic

wild666 said:

IMHO the price of gas will tumble within two years 

I think it's tough to be confident about that right now given the Ukraine situation. Prices going even higher would be my concern.

[Deleted User]

nevill3 said:

British Gas do not appear on any results.
Is there any reason that they are being omitted from the comparison site?

Hi,

they maybe don't want to pay the commission, or not seeking new customers as they've picked a bundle from companies going bust.

nevill3

 Quote from Martin's Email today

"So, just let me recap; over the next year, if you can get a fix that is no more than 15% above the April price cap, which is the same as saying no more than around 75% above the current price cap, then it's worth fixing. Otherwise probably not, although if it's within a few percentage of that and you really want certainty, go for it. But I wouldn't be fixing at 40% more than the April price cap rates.

The British Gas price I managed to sign up to is just below the 15% above the April price cap. Unfortunately it looks like they are not accepting any more new customers at the moment

nevill3

I have just run a price comparison on the cheap energy club site and the next cheapest "Big Name Supplier" would cost me £2,300 more per year 

Ultrasonic

nevill3 said:

 Quote from Martin's Email today

"So, just let me recap; over the next year, if you can get a fix that is no more than 15% above the April price cap, which is the same as saying no more than around 75% above the current price cap, then it's worth fixing. Otherwise probably not, although if it's within a few percentage of that and you really want certainty, go for it. But I wouldn't be fixing at 40% more than the April price cap rates.

The British Gas price I managed to sign up to is just below the 15% above the April price cap. Unfortunately it looks like they are not accepting any more new customers at the moment

Yes, when I looked on the British Gas website at the weekend they weren't allowing any new customers to switch to them.

Astria

nevill3 said:

I have just run a price comparison on the cheap energy club site and the next cheapest "Big Name Supplier" would cost me £2,300 more per year 

Which means nothing, as the provider can effectively charge you anything per month/year. Whether you end up in credit or debit at the end of the year is what matters, and that depends on your usage, which is why only actual unit rates are useful.

nevill3

Astria said:

nevill3 said:

I have just run a price comparison on the cheap energy club site and the next cheapest "Big Name Supplier" would cost me £2,300 more per year 

Which means nothing, as the provider can effectively charge you anything per month/year. Whether you end up in credit or debit at the end of the year is what matters, and that depends on your usage, which is why only actual unit rates are useful.

That is why I always use my actual usage amounts (averaged out over the last few years) to ensure a like for like comparison,  The prices I referred to are based on the unit prices too