Fixed deals

pochase

No, that refers to payment only.

Your tariff has a fixed unit rate for the duration. Variable direct debit means that they will bill you every month and collect what you owe in one amount. Low bills in summer, but very big bills in winter, so you will need to budget for the high bills by setting money aside starting now.

Just like you would be doing with a fixed direct debit where you overpay in summer and build up a credit for winter, you will need to do so on your own to be able to pay the high bills in winter. 

jimjames

SUPERGIRL2020 said:

Ultrasonic said:

SUPERGIRL2020 said:

I saw online something about secret cheap deals and flash sales 

This sort of language sounds like we may be getting into scam territory to me. Be careful.

It was in the paper online and Martin was talking about the secret deals 

https://www.thesun.co.uk/money/19138143/energy-firms-reveal-secret-cheap-deals-martin-lewis-meeting/

None of these deals are cheaper than the cap

Phlik

pochase said:

As @QrizB wrote currently we are only aware of two suppliers accepting new users on SVT, Octopus and EDF, both require you to call them for a switch.

Octopus I have seen supports of users who are saying it is quite easy to join, while other found it hard (several tries with different agents) to impossible (giving up after several calls) to join.

EDF I have not seen any recent report about anybody joining them on SVT, the majority of people tried Octopus due to their Tracker and Agile tariffs. We are still telling people that EDF is still accepting new users on SVT, but I have not seen any proof.

So if we do not get back into suppliers accepting new customers on SVT you might end up in the situation you described, on a not cap regulated SVT or forced to take a new fixed tariff.

We all hope that the volatile energy market will calm down, but currently it seems to be getting worse and not better. 

Can't comment for this week, but managed to switch my gas from Shell to Octopus last week without any trouble and also changed my electricity tariff from svt to agile.

Phoned them today to change the gas tariff from svt to V3 tracker. Switch should be completed on 28th.

MWT

jimjames said:

SUPERGIRL2020 said:

Ultrasonic said:

SUPERGIRL2020 said:

I saw online something about secret cheap deals and flash sales 

This sort of language sounds like we may be getting into scam territory to me. Be careful.

It was in the paper online and Martin was talking about the secret deals 

https://www.thesun.co.uk/money/19138143/energy-firms-reveal-secret-cheap-deals-martin-lewis-meeting/

None of these deals are cheaper than the cap

There won't be anything cheaper than the current cap, the aim right now is to be cheaper than the next cap...

SUPERGIRL2020

I still don't know what to do 🤷‍♀️ 

Do I change to GE or do I stay with EDF 

I don't want to be worse off if I do change suppliers! I'm on a low income and struggling 

Mstty

Only you can make the decision, you seem reluctant to move to green energy for a cheaper fix so stay with EDF for the certainty but plan for the higher costs.

But make sure you are getting all the financial help you are entitled to as people on very low income shouldn't notice the difference with energy prices this winter with all the extra payments available.

Mstty

You could wait til the announcement in early August regarding the price cap for October. However the disadvantage of this is that many deals will be withdrawn before than announcement and adjusted after it.

In my opinion the likelyhood is that waiting will mean higher costs. Going by all the predictions/media/future gas prices and the ongoing war in the Ukraine and it's affect on gas supply and prices.

Ballymoney

The current fix rate deals won’t be around in a few weeks time because they can only offer those rates now by being able to make customers pay far more than the current cap for a couple of months.

Having just taken the v16 fix with EoN I came to the conclusion that if you’re a high energy user (we use about 23000kwh gas) then paying more now over Summer will save you a LOT over Winter. If you’re a low energy user then fixing now could wipe out a lot more of what you’d save over winter.

There isn’t a one size fits all approach, everyone needs to look at their usage and calculate what’s best for them over a 12 month period.

SUPERGIRL2020

I couldn't switch now even if I wanted to as GE have stopped all the deals

pochase

The Green Energy UK fixed tariff was withdrawn over a month ago, and already 2 weeks before that there were dozens of posts how surprising it was that they were still offering a deal below the cap rate that was predicted at that time.

That was when the cap rates were still calculated as being around 44p/14p