Advice please, as fixed rate comes to an end

desthemoaner

Well, its been a while since I've had to seek any advice about gas and electric bills, having been a committed and regular switcher of energy tariffs for the last 20 odd years. But here goes. 

I'm on a fixed,  deal with Eon Next till beginning of May. I've had an email from them inviting me to renew, offering me two deals. One is their Next Flex tariff which is not fixed and has no exit fees, projected at our current rate of usage to cost us £120 per month, which is roughly twice what we're paying now ( its just my wife and myself in a 3 bed bungalow). The other option they're offering me is their Next Online v13,  also exit fee free, and projected to cost £1930 annually, or £160 a month. Its fixed, but strikes me that fixing right now, although tempting given the likelihood of another massive hike in the cap later this year, might not be the best way to go given the continuing volatility of the market and of global politics. 

Given the above choice, what would other Moneysavers do?

MattMattMattUK

desthemoaner said:

Well, its been a while since I've had to seek any advice about gas and electric bills, having been a committed and regular switcher of energy tariffs for the last 20 odd years. But here goes. 

I'm on a fixed,  deal with Eon Next till beginning of May. I've had an email from them inviting me to renew, offering me two deals. One is their Next Flex tariff which is not fixed and has no exit fees, projected at our current rate of usage to cost us £120 per month, which is roughly twice what we're paying now ( its just my wife and myself in a 3 bed bungalow). The other option they're offering me is their Next Online v13,  also exit fee free, and projected to cost £1930 annually, or £160 a month. Its fixed, but strikes me that fixing right now, although tempting given the likelihood of another massive hike in the cap later this year, might not be the best way to go given the continuing volatility of the market and of global politics. 

Given the above choice, what would other Moneysavers do?

The general advice is to go onto the SVR, with the caveat that the great unknown of just how far the Russian invasion of Ukraine might push gas prices this winter and into next year. As with all these things, unless you have a time machine or crystal ball no one can be sure right now which is the correct decision. 

desthemoaner

MattMattMattUK said:

desthemoaner said:

Well, its been a while since I've had to seek any advice about gas and electric bills, having been a committed and regular switcher of energy tariffs for the last 20 odd years. But here goes. 

I'm on a fixed,  deal with Eon Next till beginning of May. I've had an email from them inviting me to renew, offering me two deals. One is their Next Flex tariff which is not fixed and has no exit fees, projected at our current rate of usage to cost us £120 per month, which is roughly twice what we're paying now ( its just my wife and myself in a 3 bed bungalow). The other option they're offering me is their Next Online v13,  also exit fee free, and projected to cost £1930 annually, or £160 a month. Its fixed, but strikes me that fixing right now, although tempting given the likelihood of another massive hike in the cap later this year, might not be the best way to go given the continuing volatility of the market and of global politics. 

Given the above choice, what would other Moneysavers do?

The general advice is to go onto the SVR, with the caveat that the great unknown of just how far the Russian invasion of Ukraine might push gas prices this winter and into next year. As with all these things, unless you have a time machine or crystal ball no one can be sure right now which is the correct decision. 

Thank you. I'm certainly tempted to go with the variable rate, and not only because it starts at a much lower monthly amount. Going variable will certainly feel like a big step for someone like me who has been on fixed rates for over two decades. However, one only has to look back two months to see how much the world can change in a very short time, and it could change again between now and October, perhaps even for the better where energy prices are concerned. If it changes for the worse we can always move to a cave, I suppose. 

Sea_Shell

If your usage estimates are accurate, then in effect you need to think if you are prepared to pay £490 for "insurance" against a hike in the October cap.   For you V13 is about 35% more expensive than the April variable.

Unfortunately, the only known "best" decisions will be in hindsight!!

savers_united

The view I have taken is that Gas prices can realistically only go so high, although in theory sky's the limit. What I mean is that once you get to a certain price point other options that just seem to expensive or too long a payback become feasible, I really don't think that situation would suit Russia and others who sell energy as one of their main sources of income. That is why Oil floats around the $100 mark, drops below and sometimes it goes above, oil producers know that long term high prices are not good.

Getting the gas out and distributing it as not increased, its all down to demand follwing the pandemic and low storage, and now the invasion of Ukraine. We are seeing an overshoot, its just when will we see the market correct, that's the part that makes it difficult whether to fix or go variable. 

desthemoaner

Sea_Shell said:

If your usage estimates are accurate, then in effect you need to think if you are prepared to pay £490 for "insurance" against a hike in the October cap.   For you V13 is about 35% more expensive than the April variable.

Unfortunately, the only known "best" decisions will be in hindsight!!

Yes, and hindsight is all we energy consumers have to work on right now, being in uncharted territory as so many of us are. I've gone for the variable rate, which is £120 a month. We should be moving into a smaller property some time in the  next few months, so that means lower energy usage which will help us to keep our bills down, even if the variable rate costs start to climb as soon as we change tariffs. 

Sea_Shell

desthemoaner said:

Sea_Shell said:

If your usage estimates are accurate, then in effect you need to think if you are prepared to pay £490 for "insurance" against a hike in the October cap.   For you V13 is about 35% more expensive than the April variable.

Unfortunately, the only known "best" decisions will be in hindsight!!

Yes, and hindsight is all we energy consumers have to work on right now, being in uncharted territory as so many of us are. I've gone for the variable rate, which is £120 a month. We should be moving into a smaller property some time in the  next few months, so that means lower energy usage which will help us to keep our bills down, even if the variable rate costs start to climb as soon as we change tariffs. 

If you are due to move house, then you probably wouldn't be allowed to take a "fix" with you anyway.