What rates are you being offered by your provider at the moment?

stuarta99

QrizB said:

OK there are a lot of people on this thread asking "should I take this fix?" and I don't have enough evening to give everyone a personalised reply. Apologies about that.

However, ignoring standing charges for now, here's a rough guide from me (and my circumstances might not be yours).

Electricity fixed rate deals:

• Under 30p/kWh - take it immediately before they realise what they've done.
• 30-35p/kWh - take it.
• 35-40p/kWh - probably worth taking.
• Over 40p/kWh - probably not worth taking.

Gas fixed rate deals:

• Under 9p/kWh - take it immediately before they realise what they've done.
• 9-10p/kWh - take it.
• 10-11p/kWh - probably worth taking.
• Over 11p/kWh - probably not worth taking.

If you're with Octopus, consider Tracker (for gas and/or electricity) or Agile (for electricity) but those aren't tariffs for the faint-of-heart, you need to know what you're doing.

That's what the EDF existing customer fix is like, 35.42p for Electricity and 10.23p for gas so fits in your 'probably worth taking it' which I think I'm going to do despite £300 exit fee.

I'm fortunate that it's only £80/month more which although is almost double, it's lower than others posting on here that you have to feel sorry for.

QrizB

Lewigreg081281 said:

Thanks. Do you not need to take the standing charge into account as they seem to be the biggest jump?

Not for any but the lowest users. In most cases the change in energy cost will significantly exceed the change in standing charge.

Lewigreg081281

QrizB said:

Lewigreg081281 said:

Thanks. Do you not need to take the standing charge into account as they seem to be the biggest jump?

Not for any but the lowest users. In most cases the change in energy cost will significantly exceed the change in standing charge.

QrizB said:

Lewigreg081281 said:

Thanks. Do you not need to take the standing charge into account as they seem to be the biggest jump?

Not for any but the lowest users. In most cases the change in energy cost will significantly exceed the change in standing charge.

Ta. Our payment jumps from £230 - £330 so cost wise it’s a massive jump. 🙈

Mstty

I think rather than telling people to take a deal or not they need a nice spreadsheet or web page to fill in the details and pump out the answer. Hint hint MSE experts !!!!!

This site appears to have a history of sending people in the wrong direction even to the point of saying don't take a fixed deal earlier this year which didn't go well. So a bit of caution is necessary. Too many gun slinging experts in one place.

Rather than say yes that's a great deal just point out the percentages and projections and then link back to the MSE info on the October price cap.

Just a thought.

blagoslovljena

Mstty said:

I think rather than telling people to take a deal or not they need a nice spreadsheet or web page to fill in the details and pump out the answer. Hint hint MSE experts !!!!!

This site appears to have a history of sending people in the wrong direction even to the point of saying don't take a fixed deal earlier this year which didn't go well. So a bit of caution is necessary. Too many gun slinging experts in one place.

Rather than say yes that's a great deal just point out the percentages and projections and then link back to the MSE info on the October price cap.

Just a thought.

Agree. 

I love this site and love Martin to bits as he’s saved me LOADS over the years, but on the day Russia invaded Ukraine I grabbed a 1 year fix with an open market tariff more expensive than I was advised to take by MSE at the time, and I am SO relieved I did as it’s WAY cheaper than anything I could get now, and will see us safely through the winter.

I wish I had ignored the advice on this site back in November and grabbed a two year fix then, but I know it’s a tricky call for Martin, and things have turned out much worse than he could have anticipated on the price rise front. All credit to him for trying to help people in the way he has - it’s such a difficult job at the moment!

QrizB

Mstty said:

I think rather than telling people to take a deal or not they need a nice spreadsheet or web page to fill in the details and pump out the answer.

Unfortunately there are no definitive answers.

Anyone producing such a spreadsheet would be setting themselves up for an endless stream of queries and arguments now, and complaints come August when the October cap is announced and it turns out that some people have made decisions that seem pooor in hindsight.

blagoslovljena said

I know it’s a tricky call for Martin, and things have turned out much worse than he could have anticipated on the price rise front. All credit to him for trying to help people in the way he has - it’s such a difficult job at the moment!

We all recognise that Martin and MSE can only offer advice based on the facts as they are known at that time. And at the time Martin's advice generally seemed good.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Mstty

@QrizB yes maybe just a calculator then so that the myriad of posts here can plug in their details but not get a Switch/Don't switch message just the facts of how much more or less(🤣) the fix is.

maisie_cat

We've just switched to BG Green Future Jun 23v1, I like the idea of fixed because between electricity and pellets we spend £2500 a year now. For our forecast usage of 3300KWh we'll be better off on the fix if the cap increases by more than 23% 

stuarta99

Well with what's just been announced are people thinking it's still worth fixing? I guess still fix and the money we are going to get can go towards it?

Have to wait for Martin later

robertmiles

Having been transferred to BG last year, my current 'Peoples Tariff' comes to an end on 30th June. Can I assume that the new 'Loyalty' fixed cap rates won't change by the end of June so will wait until then to switch. Hope this is correct?