£2500 Price Cap Martin's view

Mstty

Just incase you have not seen Martin's blog on the £2500 price cap


https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2022/09/martin-lewis--energy-price-freeze-rumours---what-it-means-for-yo/

[Deleted User]

Vindication:

The political risk of policy shift has always been there (it's one I included in my Should I fix guide) though this is perhaps a more radical turn than many expected. The 'should I fix' call has never been easy. That's one reason when explaining the level it's worth considering at, I've always described as 'crystal ball gazing' with no way to know if it's the right call.

Some who have made the call to fix recently may feel frustrated by this. Yet ultimately remember, you made the call based on the information available at the time, that's all you can do, it was a good decision for you based on what you knew, even if the outcome doesn't turn out to be the best.

GingerTim

I take it from that that Martin won't be campaigning for a blanket cancelling of exit fees on fixed tariffs...

[Deleted User]

GingerTim said:

I take it from that that Martin won't be campaigning for a blanket cancelling of exit fees on fixed tariffs...

Martin thinks that less than 15% of households are on fixed tariffs, but says that he will be campaigning either for people to be automatically moved onto the price freeze or to have all exit fees waived.

GingerTim

[Deleted User] said:

GingerTim said:

I take it from that that Martin won't be campaigning for a blanket cancelling of exit fees on fixed tariffs...

Martin thinks that less than 15% of households are on fixed tariffs, but says that he will be campaigning either for people to be automatically moved onto the price freeze or to have all exit fees waived.

Ah, yes - I see now reading in more detail. I'm sure the famously details-oriented new PM will be well across this!

[Deleted User]

I think his points #6 and #8 are the most interesting.  I will paraphrase:

#6 - What happens if the wholesale prices don't come down?  Do we eventually let the frozen price go up, or does the government effectively keep subsidising fuel bills forever?

#8 - The government is now taking all the investment risk for private companies in the industry.  They have, in effect, completely cancelled the free market in this sector.  Why then bother having different suppliers at all?

northernstar007

i`m on a fix and staying on it, more or less todays rate till feb24

Chrysalis

I dont think been automatically moved is good, but I agree with waiving of exit fees, I calculated that with this new proposed cap electricity will be 33-34p unit with the high SC still in place, so staying on Agile 2018 will be profitable as the SC is less than half.

Also what is absolutely key, how long does this new cap last for, if its only a few months, then staying on fixed isnt a easy decision.

[Deleted User]

Chrysalis said:

I dont think been automatically moved is good, but I agree with waiving of exit fees, I calculated that with this new proposed cap electricity will be 33-34p unit with the high SC still in place, so staying on Agile 2018 will be profitable as the SC is less than half.

Also what is absolutely key, how long does this new cap last for, if its only a few months, then staying on fixed isnt a easy decision.

I think I got 34.7p. so our maths broadly agrees.

Ultrasonic

Deleted_User said:

GingerTim said:

I take it from that that Martin won't be campaigning for a blanket cancelling of exit fees on fixed tariffs...

Martin thinks that less than 15% of households are on fixed tariffs, but says that he will be campaigning either for people to be automatically moved onto the price freeze or to have all exit fees waived.

That isn't quite what Martin Lewis said so I'll copy below what he did say. I don't think anybody should be or will be forced off a fixed tariff. It needs to be an option.



What happens to those who have fixed tariffs? Up to 15% of households are on fixed tariffs, many have locked in at higher prices, as they are risk averse and wanted to protect their bills. So what happens? Will they automatically be put on the price freeze?

If they are not automatically moved, will they be allowed to switch to the price freeze? If so and their tariff has early exit penalties (some of which can be £300+), will they still be charged? (Hopefully not, especially as it’d likely be an internal tariff change and exit penalties are often wiped for those).

This will need sorting out as a priority so those who've tried to protect themselves don't miss out. I would of course be lobbying for that and hope there's a chance some policymakers may just be reading this now to ensure it is addressed.

If you fixed within the last 14 days, do check when the cooling off period ends, as on Thursday when we hopefully know what’s actually happening you may want to cancel.

artyboy

Forced off my current fixed tariff, erm no thank you!

but I agree, there's no realistic chance that will happen