British Gas fixed tariffs?

omnipeta

Any advice greatly appreciated. Just had an email from British Gas asking if I want to change from variable to fixed tariff, haven’t got a clue? 2 of us in the house with average use ( if there is such a thing) Thank you.

pochase

You need to give us a bit more information what you have been offered. It is not possible to answer that question if we don't know what rates have been offered and what you believe is a average use.

The average use by Ofgem definition is 12000KWh gas / 2900 KWh electricity.

It is very unlikely that you have received a good offer after yesterdays newest price increase predictions, but you never know. BG is known for sometimes offering random excellent rates which can be only classified as errors on their side.

omnipeta

Thank you for your time, BG say, ‘if you do nothing’ gas £1,032.   Electricity £938.
’fixing your prices’ gas 2,030.   Electricity £1,590. ?

pochase

That are just direct debit amounts. 

What Unit rates are they offering you and what is your energy usage.

Also the "if you do nothing" is the current SVT, which will go up in October by a lot.

jimjames

omnipeta said:

Thank you for your time, BG say, ‘if you do nothing’ gas £1,032.   Electricity £938.
’fixing your prices’ gas 2,030.   Electricity £1,590. ?

Depends if you want to pay double your "do nothing" option then, your choice really but it would make more sense to look at the rates not the DD amount. Do nothing will go up in Oct anyway but not confirmed how much yet.

pochase

Current predictions for the next 12 months show electricity below the offer 56p, gas might be in the period between April and July 0.2p cheaper.

Going from this predictions the fix is not worth it.

Of course this are only well educated guesses based on Cornwall Insight cap predictions and can change when the energy market changes.

omnipeta

Thank you for your advice, I think I’ll just stay as I am. 

docrob900

omnipeta said:

Any advice greatly appreciated. Just had an email from British Gas asking if I want to change from variable to fixed tariff, haven’t got a clue? 2 of us in the house with average use ( if there is such a thing) Thank you.

I'm in a chat room with BG right now and asking them about this. The corporate line is that this is risk mitigation for the public. The truth of course is that it is rank opportunism: an attempt to frighten and manipulate customers into a deal that protects them from higher prices. The new tariff is about double the standard rate, so about a 100% increase. The caps might go that high, but it is not likely - we cannot be sure. But it does look like an attempt to prey on that unknowing-ness and make billions more to give away to shareholders so they can send the money offshore and not pay taxes. Crude indeed. I might get a transcript and will post it here

docrob900

Here's the transcript in whch BG try to explain demanding money with menaces:

Shivpal: Thank you for your patience, David, as checked, currently, you are on a Standard variable tariff and we have sent the mail to you regarding the fixed tariff which is available

You: I konow that, I am writing to you now about it

Shivpal: Rest assured If you don't switch to fixed tariff the you will stay on Standard variable tariff

You: Let me see if I have understood this correctly

You: YOu tried to persuade me in the email to pay twice as much as I have to. is that right?

You: The standard tariff is half the cost of the fixed. Wjy would you try to get me to pay twice as much as my existing tariff? Wjat is going on?

Shivpal: It is the automated mail sent to the customer by the system, and we provide the option to the customer regarding the tariff

You: But why would you ask peple to pay twice as much as they have to, when energy bills are skyrocketing? This is grossly insensitive especially to the poorest in society. Again: why would you offer an option where a customer pays twice as much as they have to?

You: Surely I have misunderstood this? Surely you would not be trying to persuade people to pay twice as much as they have to, when bills are already crippling people and when your shareholkders are walking away with billions in profits? What have I not understood? You surely wouldn't be that crass and profiteering

You: And if this is automated, has it not occurred that vulnerable people and those with disabilities like poor eyesight or illiteracy, or those intimidated by technology like some elderly people, may be confused into parting with twice what they have to? They would not be expecting their provider to try to rob them blind, would they?

Shivpal: I can understand your concern, by selecting the fixed tariff the unit rate and standing charges remain the same for fixed amount

You: It doesn't matter. You quoted me two prices, one of which is twice the other.

You: That means nothing has stayed the same. It has doubled, regardless of the unit price staying the same. Those were the figures you wrote in your email. Has this been an epic mistake at your end?

You: and in fact, the unit price for gas doubles under the fixed deal, which you are trying to get us to change to. Standard unit rate 29.100p per kWh, fixed unit rate 56.601p per kWh

Shivpal: It'll ensure you a fixed unit rate which means you'll be secured from a possible increased price cap which will happen in Oct 2022. As you know the market is volatile and prices are only going up it'll give you peace of mind that your unit rates won't affect with a price cap

You: But it doesn't. It's twice what I'm paying now and the expected cap is certainly not a 100% increase

You: It's absolute daylight robbery

You: It's rank opportunism to steal millions more from us all whilst you pay your shareholders millions upon millions.

You: I know you won't care, but I'm going to share this with Money Saving Expert and elsewhere to warn people what you're up to

Shivpal: Whenever we released a new tariff it is sent it to all customers and some of the customers wish to stay on fixed tariff

You: The solution to the increase is not to raise the tariff for everyone, it's to take back what you give the richest people involved in your corporation.

You: You make it seem like a choice. This is based on fear, manipulation and exploitation. The email preys on people's fears, whether valid or not. It manipulates them into taking a risk and paying twice their current bill in the hope that it will mitigate anticipated rises. It exploits the poorest in the country in the most crude, obvious fashion

You: This isn't choice, it's corporate manipulation of vulnerable people for profit-making purposes

Shivpal: I am sorry if you are thinking that way No worries I will explain..

Shivpal: previously we used to send out notification only for customer who are on fixed tariff as most of them prefer to check the best deals on regular basis. The reason being, chnaging tariff at any moment of time is absolutely free of cost as it is only applicable when the supplier is changed.

Shivpal: This change is based on customer review

Shivpal: rest assured I have made a note of your suggestion and this will surely help us for a better customer service experience.

You: Again, not the point. This is crude manipulation of people's fears over price hikes being stoked in this opportunistic email. We don;t care if changing tariffs is free; that's a deliberate red herring on your part. You might call it 'gaslighting'.

Shivpal: I am sorry for the inconvenience caused to you i will add the note on your account

You: I've asked for a transcript of this conversation for wider distribution. I realize you are not the policy maker and are being duped by BG as much as we are into believing this email was a decent thing to do.

You: Imagine if your parents got that email.

You: When will the transcript come?

Shivpal: You can have a copy of this chat for your reference on email by clicking on the Envelope icon.

You: I did that already, thanks

Shivpal: yes, i completely understand and would have been in the same state of mind

You: Thanks. Let's sign off now and I'll get to work sharing this

Shivpal: Thank you for chatting with us.

pochase

You should blame Ofgem. If you come off a fixed tariff suppliers must offer you their cheapest fix and the SVT.

Bad luck that the fix was extremely expensive, but they had to offer it to you to conform with regulations.. So nothing wrong here.

You can complain that the agent doe snot know this, but that is probably above their limit.

Astria

Sounds like they are basically saying:

Stay on the SVT, not knowing what you'll be paying over the next year, making it impossible for some people to budget.

Go onto a fixed rate, and as long as you use the same amount of energy as last year, you can easily calculate what it'll cost and budget appropriately.

So you have a choice, which ends up cheaper nobody knows until this time next year.

If they estimate the SVT and get it wrong, they can be sued, so they cannot say which will be cheaper or more expensive. They can only offer a choice.