Newly widowed Mum's variable rate is twice mine?

badsimian

I am with EDF and paying 27p/KWh for electricity and 7p/KWh for gas. My Mum is with Scottish power who put her on a tariff back in April that she is committed to for a year but on 46p/KWh for electricity and 15p/KWh for gas. This cannot possibly be right can it?

My EDF rate is a standard variable one as my previous supplier went bust. Scottish Power told my Mum at the time that was the cheapest she could get. When I put it into the comparison tool on MSE then ther are far cheaper variable deals. Scottish Power has a £300 early exit fee. I am not even sure you can swap at the moment (especially today)

Feels like she is over a barrel...my step-father passed away earlier this week and her income has dropped drastically. Just trying to work out how to reduce the amount she pays. Do these figures for SP seem right?

jimjames

Chances are that they offered her a fix which she accepted so it isn't a variable rate as you're suggesting. Fixes are allowed to be above price cap and some suppliers are very misleading in what they offer customers. It does mean she is likely to be protected from the coming price rises though.

In terms of reducing what she pays then cutting down usage is the only way.

QrizB

badsimian said:

I am with EDF and paying 27p/KWh for electricity and 7p/KWh for gas. My Mum is with Scottish power who put her on a tariff back in April that she is committed to for a year but on 46p/KWh for electricity and 15p/KWh for gas. This cannot possibly be right can it?

My EDF rate is a standard variable one as my previous supplier went bust. Scottish Power told my Mum at the time that was the cheapest she could get.

For most of the year, fixed rate tariffs have been more expensive than the standard variable rate.

It sounds very much as though your Mum asked SP for a fixed rate tariff, and that SP did give her their cheapest deal on offer at that time.

From October your variable tariff will be similar to your Mum's fixed rate, and from January your variable tariff is likely to be more expensive than your Mum's fix.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

OP said,

""I am with EDF and paying 27p/KWh for electricity and 7p/KWh for gas. My Mum is with Scottish power who put her on a tariff back in April that she is committed to for a year but on 46p/KWh for electricity and 15p/KWh for gas. This cannot possibly be right can it?"

Here are new cap rates from Oct, looks like your rates are in for a hike, and another rise in Jan, mum will be glad she fixed.

	Last price cap period (1 April - 30 September 2022)	Current price cap period (1 October - 31 December 2022)
Electricity	£0.28 per kWh Daily standing charge: £0.45	£0.52 per kWh Daily standing charge: £0.46
Gas	£0.07 per kWh Daily standing charge: £0.27	£0.15 per kWh Daily standing charge: £0.28

The_Fat_Controller

Scottish Power do not "put" anyone on a particular tariff, they offer them.

It sounds very much like she was offered a fix and not completely understanding her options she took the cheapest fixed tariff that was on offer at the time whereas she could have moved to the SV rate if her current fix was ending.

She will have been overpaying since April but when the October cap kicks in she will be paying just about the same as those on the SV tariff.

pochase

Did your mom come of a fixed tariff in April? 

In this case she will have been offered the "cheapest" available fixed tariff and the SVT. Suppliers are required by Ofgem to offer this cheapest fixed tariff to customers, even it is much more expensive than the SVT. They have to offer both.

So your mom might have fallen for the "out cheapest fixed tariff". All fixed tariffs after the 1st of April were more expensive than the SVT, whereby her tariff is very expensive, there were much cheaper tariffs available later on, before they increase now far beyond what your mom is paying.

Starting on 1st of October she will be better off than you, most likely in January much better.

london21

You are both on different price plans.

si_74

I would say that your mum has inadvertently made a good decision.

Alnat1

Seems your mum might have paid a bit more for her most likely low summer use but will now reap the benefit from October to April, over the high use winter months.

You paid lower rates for your summer use but will have to pay more than your mum from Jan-Apr to heat your house.

I think mum probably has the better deal.

macman

Her 'expensive' fix will have been relatively cheap from April to now in terms of bills, because her usage in spring and summer will be low. Now the expensive fix will look like good value, as it means that she will avoid going through winter on SVT under the new very expensive price cap from October. Her fix is almost exactly the same as the new price cap SVT, but after the next rise in January, it'll be very much cheaper.
She should be very relieved that she fixed.