Loyal Octopus 12m Fixed

Zanderman

Ruddy09 said:

Hi All,
Like with a few people on here after a bit of help or guidance please?

Last year I had some issues with E.ON so I ended up signing up with OCTOPUS on a 24M fixed until 15/08/2023

Gas
3.79p/kWh
26.59p/da

Electricity
19.46p/kWh
23.76p/day

Have I lucked into a good deal or should I be looking at changing with the fixed term not changing until next year?

Appreciate and help.

Yes, it's a very good deal.

No, do not change it!!!!  

Zanderman

kdotdotdotdot said:

Can someone explain to me like I'm stupid (because I am) why I would choose a fixed rate? I'm also with Octopus and currently paying £51 every month for gas and electric.

They've emailed me to offer the following:
Octopus 12 month fixed: estimate £123 per month
Flexible Octopus: estimate £65 per month
Loyal Octopus 12 month fixed: estimate £110 per month

On the face of things, even if the flexible rate doubled, I'd be no worse off than a fixed rate, and if it doesn't double, better off.  What am I not understanding?

Is that flexible rate the rate today - or the rate in April? 
If it's not the April rate you'll only have it for a few weeks and then it will rocket. 
And then rocket again in October.

Zanderman

For info this is what Octopus sent me when I asked for actual April flexible rates, not the rate on the day they send the email:

Aego

I'm on Flexible presently, just had email with new figures.

Aego

Apologies for my screenshots above. Right click and open image in new tab to view

bristolleedsfan

Aego said:

Apologies for my screenshots above. Right click and open image in new tab to view

Price difference is additional £24 until at least 30 September 2022, due to Octopus subsidising SC by £4 per month

Aego

I assume staying on variable is right?

(Not knowing October increase)

Variable till April 2023 £1404.46
Fixed till Jan 2023
£1980.01

Zanderman

Aego said:

I assume staying on variable is right?

(Not knowing October increase)

Variable till April 2023 £1404.46
Fixed till Jan 2023
£1980.01

Not knowing October increase means that variable definitely is not £1404.46 between now and April 2023.  It could be much more.  Fixed will stay fixed and might be cheaper.

It's a gamble.  Fixed sounds too much on current variable rates.  But might be better.

Variable will definitely go up in October (it was going to without the Ukraine crisis, but will be worse because of it)  and the winter is when you use more fuel, so the increase, whatever it is, will be exaggerated because it's the winter. 

You need to make a judgement on whether a fix might end up cheaper, and bear in mind that fixes are getting more expensive by the day, so the fix you're offered now may be withdrawn and replaced with a costlier one.

Read Martin Lewis's advice on how to choose (even he admits it's a gamble), and bear in mind the situation is changing daily.

Ultrasonic

Zanderman said:

Aego said:

I assume staying on variable is right?

(Not knowing October increase)

Variable till April 2023 £1404.46
Fixed till Jan 2023
£1980.01

Not knowing October increase means that variable definitely is not £1404.46 between now and April 2023.  It could be much more.  Fixed will stay fixed and might be cheaper.

It's a gamble.  Fixed sounds too much on current variable rates.  But might be better.

Variable will definitely go up in October (it was going to without the Ukraine crisis, but will be worse because of it)  and the winter is when you use more fuel, so the increase, whatever it is, will be exaggerated because it's the winter. 

You need to make a judgement on whether a fix might end up cheaper, and bear in mind that fixes are getting more expensive by the day, so the fix you're offered now may be withdrawn and replaced with a costlier one.

Read Martin Lewis's advice on how to choose (even he admits it's a gamble), and bear in mind the situation is changing daily.

All true but bear in mind the fix is only to January 2023 and so only covers 3 months of the next winter (and 3 months at the October cap rate).

kdotdotdotdot

Zanderman said:

kdotdotdotdot said:

Can someone explain to me like I'm stupid (because I am) why I would choose a fixed rate? I'm also with Octopus and currently paying £51 every month for gas and electric.

They've emailed me to offer the following:
Octopus 12 month fixed: estimate £123 per month
Flexible Octopus: estimate £65 per month
Loyal Octopus 12 month fixed: estimate £110 per month

On the face of things, even if the flexible rate doubled, I'd be no worse off than a fixed rate, and if it doesn't double, better off.  What am I not understanding?

Is that flexible rate the rate today - or the rate in April? 
If it's not the April rate you'll only have it for a few weeks and then it will rocket. 
And then rocket again in October.

It's rocketed already. Essentially they're changing the rate on a daily basis. The 'best' flexible rate I can get right now is around £101 a month.  I currently pay £50 a month.

The 'best' fixed rate they can give me comes to £140 a month and that's only for 10 months.