Advice please.

omnipeta

At my wits end, below is 2nd email from supplier advising me to switch from fixed to variable tariff? Any advice greatly appreciated, thank you.

We contacted you last month to let you know about the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) that was recently announced by the Government. There’s been a lot of confusion around the average household cost of energy being £2,500 a year. So we wanted to give you some more information: The Energy Price Guarantee doesn’t mean that your energy bills are capped. It’s a discount that’s applied to your unit price of electricity and gas from the 1st October, for the next two years. Unit prices can differ slightly depending on where you live and how you pay for your energy. Find out more on our Energy Price Guarantee page. The frequently quoted ‘£2,500 a year’, is just a rough estimation of what households with average energy usage are likely to pay. What does this mean for you? From 1st October, the fixed tariff you’re currently on is more expensive than our Standard Variable tariff – even with the EPG discount applied. So, we strongly suggest you switch to avoid paying more for your energy than you need to. Your fixed tariff rates Here’s an estimate of how much you’ll now pay on your current fixed tariff, Fixed Oct 23v3 including the EPG discount. £2,624.81  per year⁓ Estimates based on paying by Cash/cheque This is calculated on £1,500.94 for gas based on 11,935kWh of usage and £1,123.87 for electricity based on 2,592kWh of usage. This tariff ends on 31st October 2023 and has exit fees of £100.00 per fuel. Visit full tariff terms → Unit rates Your unit rate is the amount you pay for each unit of energy you use (measured in kilowatt hours - kWh) and includes the Energy Price Guarantee discount†. Gas: 11.681p per kWh Electricity: 38.752p per kWh Standing charges Your standing charge is a daily rate, which pays for getting the energy from the generators into your home. Gas: 29.292p per day Electricity: 32.727p per day Your variable tariff rates Here’s an estimate of how much you’ll now pay if you switch to a variable tariff, Standard Variable including the EPG discount. £2,552.22  per year⁓ Estimates based on paying by Cash/cheque This is calculated on £1,437.22 for gas based on 11,935kWh of usage and £1,115.00 for electricity based on 2,592kWh of usage. This tariff has no end date or exit fees. Visit full tariff terms → Unit rates Gas: 11.017p per kWh Electricity: 35.727p per kWh Standing charges Gas: 33.536p per day Electricity: 51.778p per day We've estimated these costs including VAT based on your energy use over the last 12 months - if we don’t have these figures, we'll use industry averages. Rates may change over time and as per government guidelines. If you want to see how these prices are calculated, go to our Energy Price Guarantee page. Switch before 31st October It only takes a few minutes to switch to our Standard Variable tariff. If you switch before 31st October, we’ll backdate your prices from when the EPG discount started on 1st October. Click the below button if you want to switch to our Standard Variable tariff - once you’ve clicked, you'll commit to moving to this tariff.  Switch now  Help is available If you’re finding it hard to pay your energy bill, there are a number of ways we can support you. The British Gas Energy Trust is an independent charitable organisation that can provide energy debt advice and support. Making small changes to your energy habits can help lower your energy usage. Here are a few things you could do to save energy at home. Energy Bills Support Scheme - you’ll still receive a £400 discount off their energy bills as part of the government support to help with the cost of living.  Find out more  Thanks for choosing to be with us. Your British Gas Energy Team Extra help from the Priority Services Register If you’re vulnerable or could be at risk if there’s a problem with your energy supply, join the Priority Services Register. It gives you helpful services like planned power cut warnings and free gas safety checks. Learn more My Account   |   Privacy policy   |   Help & Support   |   Get the British Gas app ⁓ Prices include VAT at 5% and are rounded to make it easier to compare. Prices on your bills and statements will be shown without VAT. Find out more here. Variable prices may go up or down at any time but won’t exceed the Energy Price Guarantee. We’ll give you advance notice before increasing your prices.  † Unit rates include the Energy Price Guarantee discount of 16.999 pence per kWh (excl VAT) for electricity and 4.217 pence per kWh (excl VAT) for gas. British Gas is a trading name of British Gas Trading Limited. Registered in England and Wales (No. 03078711). Registered office: Millstream, Maidenhead Road, Windsor, Berkshire SL4 5GD. British Gas is a mandatory FIT Licensee. britishgas.co.uk This email and any attachments are only for the individual or entity to which they are addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, or a person responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are not authorised to and must not disclose, copy, distribute, or retain this email or any part of it.

MattMattMattUK

omnipeta said:

At my wits end, below is 2nd email from supplier advising me to switch from fixed to variable tariff? Any advice greatly appreciated, thank you.

They have written to tell you that it is more expensive for you to stay on your fixed deal rather than move to the SVR, they have given you the advice and the choice. Also it appears you are paying cash/cheque/receipt of bill which is more expensive than paying via Direct Debit, so there is potentially an additional saving by moving to Direct Debit.

What is your question?

pochase

So what they are saying is that using their estimates it will be £70 cheaper for you if you switch to the SVT.

Only question is are they going to waive the exit fee? Otherwise it would make no sense to switch.

[Deleted User]

Your fixed tariff, even after the EPG discount, is still more expensive than the SVT.

British Gas is telling you this so that you can choose to switch if you like.

What is concerning you?  Ask us your question and we will try to help.

omnipeta

Thank you for your reply, my concern was that there was going to be a ‘ huge’ disparity between tariffs, but as pochace said there does not appear to be a great difference. I was also concerned and sceptical because it’s not usual for companies to offer advice that benefits the customer.

[Deleted User]

Suppliers have been told that they should inform their customers if there is a cheaper comparable tariff - in this case there is no need to be sceptical.

Alnat1

Find out if you have to pay the exit fees. If you don't then switch to SVT. If you have to pay them, stick with your fix.

Either choice you will save money by changing your payment method to DD.

omnipeta

Thank you for your advice, I think I’ll probably stay on fixed tariff as switching doesn’t seem such a big deal.

[Deleted User]

omnipeta said:

Thank you for your advice, I think I’ll probably stay on fixed tariff as switching doesn’t seem such a big deal.

You are not switching tariffs: you are just moving from one tariff to another. The EPG tariff is in all but name a fixed tariff for the next 2 years. You would also be moving to a tariff that has no exit fees.