I wish I hadn't followed Martin's advice not to fix my energy deal

Tristan74

A few months ago Martin gave the advice to us all not to fix so at the end of April when my existing deal expired, I allowed myself to be switched onto the variable rate rather than take the fixed deal at £406 per month.

I wish I hadn't listened to Martin's advice.

With news that prices are going to continue to rise, I looked into the cost of a new fixed deal today and the best price I am now being offered is £491!!!!

That's another £1,000 per year because I followed Martin's advice. I just don't know what to do anymore.

Evan3020

Use less and take responsibility for your own decisions.

Phlik

It was free advice from one man. At the time based on the evidence to hand it was the correct advice, if anyone had suspected the prices to continue the way they have the advice would no doubt have been different.

Ultimately the buck stops with the individual, listen to the advice and make an informed decision that you're comfortable with.

Had Martin advised everyone to fix and the prices then subsequently dropped the same people would be turning up here moaning about that instead.

pochase

Last year Martin advised not to fix, but this year the advise was usually to only fix if you could get a deal with a percentage increase of less than xx%.

Yes the percentage has increased month by month with new - higher - cap predictions for October. So a bad deal in April would be great now.

The other one you are not taking into account that you would have paid the higher rate immediately. You are not losing 12 x £91, you need to deduct the additional cost you would have paid for 6 months.

Apart from this, working with direct debit amounts is meaningless. Only way to really look at it are usage over 12 months, unit rates/standing charges for the different offers, and usage for the 6 months.

I am not defending Martin's advise, in hindsight it was wrong, but in the end he does not know what will happen and advised to his best knowledge. The decision is with each of us, and many of us have fixed contrary to the advise.

pearl123

Tristan74 said:

A few months ago Martin gave the advice to us all not to fix so at the end of April when my existing deal expired, I allowed myself to be switched onto the variable rate rather than take the fixed deal at £406 per month.

I wish I hadn't listened to Martin's advice.

With news that prices are going to continue to rise, I looked into the cost of a new fixed deal today and the best price I am now being offered is £491!!!!

That's another £1,000 per year because I followed Martin's advice. I just don't know what to do anymore.

It's highly likely to continue to climb substancially further. Martin Lewis did say he didn't have a cystal ball. Nor does the general public. 

wild666

Tristan74 said:

A few months ago Martin gave the advice to us all not to fix so at the end of April when my existing deal expired, I allowed myself to be switched onto the variable rate rather than take the fixed deal at £406 per month.

I wish I hadn't listened to Martin's advice.

With news that prices are going to continue to rise, I looked into the cost of a new fixed deal today and the best price I am now being offered is £491!!!!

That's another £1,000 per year because I followed Martin's advice. I just don't know what to do anymore.

All you would have done by fixing is to be hit with prices of possibly around 50p per kWh for electric and maybe around 19p for gas and that's without any SC's that could be around 50p and 30p respectively a after 12 month deal ended. I was also thinking of fixing in Feb but the night I decided to fix Russia invaded the Ukraine making the cheapest fix available around £92 per month. Now my cheapest 12 month fix is nearly £118 per month for low usage.

In the 6 months the cheapest fix. for me, has gone from £58 to £118 that's double what I would have paid if I'd have fixed in Feb 22. What people should factor in with any fixed deal is what if the prices become cheaper and the fixed deal means you are paying considerably more than if they hadn't fixed plus the termination fees, per fuel, that could mean up to £300 to get out of the contract. Nobody knows if the prices will fall or increase further so some who fixed with only a 25% to 35% increase on the SVR could be on a very good deal unless there is a sudden large decrease in energy prices. 

Mstty

I would think a few feel the same way but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Have you looked at ways to save energy as nearly £500 a month suggests you are using potentially double the average household consumption.

Tristan74

I hear what you are saying but maybe, as someone so many of us look up to, it would have been better to not offer advice on this point and only give out advice when the facts are fully known.

GingerTim

Unfortunately, the speed at which things have been moving in relation to energy prices means that facts are often out of date in a matter of weeks or days.

[Deleted User]

ML, like all of us, is human. He can only offer advice on the basis of the evidence available to him at the time. He is by no means an energy expert. Even so called ‘energy experts’ (Ofgem/Cornwall Insights et al) have had to change their predictions in the light of ever-changing political and market conditions. I rather wish that I had gone for a long fix a year ago; I didn’t, and the only person to blame is myself.

tripled

Tristan74 said:

A few months ago Martin gave the advice to us all not to fix so at the end of April when my existing deal expired, I allowed myself to be switched onto the variable rate rather than take the fixed deal at £406 per month.

I wish I hadn't listened to Martin's advice.

With news that prices are going to continue to rise, I looked into the cost of a new fixed deal today and the best price I am now being offered is £491!!!!

That's another £1,000 per year because I followed Martin's advice. I just don't know what to do anymore.

Presumably, since your fixed deal expired in April, you will have been saving money, because the price cap was better than deals available at the time? He did caveat that advice, and in fact changed the message some weeks ago to say it may be worth getting one of the better fixes if you were eligible, presumably you did not act on that at the time.

In terms of what to do now, at £6k per year your bills would be almost double average, I would suggest looking at what you can do to reduce your consumption.

Don't forget that over the winter you should be getting the government bill credit which should soften the pain.