Am I in a good position?

mattrix

There's so many different things I am hearing about price cap rises etc. Let me explain the situation:

Just by pure chance, my fixed term contract ended in June 2021, I took out a new 24 month fixed term contract at the end of June 2021, which ends in August 2023.

I'm thinking this probably puts me in a pretty good position right now? But for one thing, my dad seems convinced that because of all that's going on, the energy company might simply use the old "we reserve the right to make changes at any time" clause which is in all contracts these days. And end up putting our prices up regardless.

Is that possible/allowed? Should I be worried about this or am I genuinely in the very fortunate position of having been very lucky, and can sit back and relax until the end of summer 2023? Should I be looking at switching around at all? 

MWT

I would suggest reading all the terms though not just part of them, for example, these are Octopus terms that are relevant to your concern...

That is clear and reassuring, but there are some providers out there that have a 45 day notice in their terms that would allow them to change the price, so check your suppliers terms for the full story...

mattrix

MWT said:

I would suggest reading all the terms though not just part of them, for example, these are Octopus terms that are relevant to your concern...

That is clear and reassuring, but there are some providers out there that have a 45 day notice in their terms that would allow them to change the price, so check your suppliers terms for the full story...

That is reassuring because I am with Octopus 😄

wild666

mattrix said:

There's so many different things I am hearing about price cap rises etc. Let me explain the situation:

Just by pure chance, my fixed term contract ended in June 2021, I took out a new 24 month fixed term contract at the end of June 2021, which ends in August 2023.

I'm thinking this probably puts me in a pretty good position right now? But for one thing, my dad seems convinced that because of all that's going on, the energy company might simply use the old "we reserve the right to make changes at any time" clause which is in all contracts these days. And end up putting our prices up regardless.

Is that possible/allowed? Should I be worried about this or am I genuinely in the very fortunate position of having been very lucky, and can sit back and relax until the end of summer 2023? Should I be looking at switching around at all? 

A contract is a contract and if a company says it will supply you at a rate for a fixed period then they should do just that. IMO even BB providers who put up their prices to customers during their minimum contract period are acting illegally as the contract states a price for a set time period the same as with any other contract. A contract states that a service will be given for a set period of time at a set price.   

EssexHebridean

If the contract DID state that without any other clauses qualifying it, then you might be right, but there is almost invariably a further clause detailing the right to increase prices by a set percentage linked to - as I recall - RPI. 

Shedman

wild666 said:

mattrix said:

There's so many different things I am hearing about price cap rises etc. Let me explain the situation:

Just by pure chance, my fixed term contract ended in June 2021, I took out a new 24 month fixed term contract at the end of June 2021, which ends in August 2023.

I'm thinking this probably puts me in a pretty good position right now? But for one thing, my dad seems convinced that because of all that's going on, the energy company might simply use the old "we reserve the right to make changes at any time" clause which is in all contracts these days. And end up putting our prices up regardless.

Is that possible/allowed? Should I be worried about this or am I genuinely in the very fortunate position of having been very lucky, and can sit back and relax until the end of summer 2023? Should I be looking at switching around at all? 

A contract is a contract and if a company says it will supply you at a rate for a fixed period then they should do just that. IMO even BB providers who put up their prices to customers during their minimum contract period are acting illegally as the contract states a price for a set time period the same as with any other contract. A contract states that a service will be given for a set period of time at a set price.   

BB (and mobile) providers such as say Vodafone, Sky, BT usually have a clause that states that the price of a 'fixed' price will or can rise by % plus RPI/CPI at a certain point (usually March in my experience) so I doubt they are acting illegally or breaching the contract.

MWT

wild666 said:

A contract is a contract and if a company says it will supply you at a rate for a fixed period then they should do just that. IMO even BB providers who put up their prices to customers during their minimum contract period are acting illegally as the contract states a price for a set time period the same as with any other contract. A contract states that a service will be given for a set period of time at a set price.   

This is why I say to read the T&C to see exactly what they do say, if they include for example an indexed price rise on a specific date each year (common on broadband/mobile) then they can raise the prices as that is covered in the contract.

Don't just look at the headlines and ignore the details.