Dear Martin Lewis, why are you not switching people on market tracker tariffs?

slizovskiy

I have been an ardent follower of MSE site,  but I feel that the current energy switching advice on MSE (namely, "not to switch") needs changing.  I am paying 3.7 p for gas and around 20 p for electricity.  This is a market tracker smart tariff.  Way lower than the price cap.   Why is this not advertised on MSE ?
Best wishes,
Sergey

[Deleted User]

slizovskiy said:

I have been an ardent follower of MSE site,  but I feel that the current energy switching advice on MSE (namely, "not to switch") needs changing.  I am paying 3.7 p for gas and around 20 p for electricity.  This is a market tracker smart tariff.  Way lower than the price cap.   Why is this not advertised on MSE ?
Best wishes,
Sergey

Wrong forum. The Tracker electricity tariff now has a waiting list of 6 months so little point in encouraging a mass migration.

MSE_ForumTeam5

Moved to energy board

Mstty

The savings could not be quantified as they were variable so you can't really blame them in this one.

However several people here were telling people to move to tracker at every opportunity.

Chrysalis

It carries a risk, so using it as a generic recommendation isnt the best idea, but Martin did promote the trackers on a tv show I watched him mention it in a clip, I think it was on ITV, energy secretary was there as well.

However Octopus have already shown they prefer these tariffs to not be mass market by adding a waiting list and in the past have also temporarily pulled tariffs.

[Deleted User]

One has to wonder why other suppliers are not offering tariffs such as Agile; Flux; Cosy; Go; IO and Tracker to their customers? A number now use the same IT platform as Octopus. One reason might be is that they do not think that they are sustainable in the longer term. Octopus Go Faster has already had its day and I have doubt that Go will follow as IO becomes available to more EV owners.

MWT

Chrysalis said:

However Octopus have already shown they prefer these tariffs to not be mass market by adding a waiting list and in the past have also temporarily pulled tariffs.

I don't blame them though, too many cases where people just grab the name of a tariff off a 'savings' website and dive in without a clue about the risks and then complain later...

Scot_39

Without a better understanding of the terms and especially the risks - arguably trackers and wholesale spot pricing tariffs are and should remain very much niche products.

People love them when they work - "Edit: far easier in a downmarket markeg against a 3m average svt cap"  but won't when they don't.  Like when prices spike or rise.  As Cornwall insights show them doing slowly again over winter.

People in Texas were literally bankrupted when their "tracker" tariffs billed them at rates governed by a state wholesale cap of $9000/MWh iirc for days on end during a severe cold snap.

And unlike say agile with its £1/kWh retail cap and instant out - they were tied in fixed term contracts.

Imagine the complaints against ML, Ofgem and Govt - if same happened here.

TheElectricCow

Tracker is a “complex” tariff that requires a certain degree of understanding to make proper use of, as well as carrying risks of prices potentially rising far above the current SVT rate.

Far too many people out there don’t even have a basic understanding of energy billing and wouldn’t be able to tell you what their unit rate or standing charge was. It would be quite poor advice to them to suggest a beta tariff which works completely differently to any others on the market with frequent fluctuations in costs which could see them unknowingly paying up to £1 per kWh for electricity. 

Generally the people savvy enough to be able to benefit from tariffs like tracker will find out about them one way or another through their own research.

MWT

Scot_39 said:

People in Texas were literally bankrupted when their "tracker" tariffs billed them at rates governed by a state wholesale cap of £9000/MWh iirc for days on end during a severe cold snap.

Fortunately most of those extreme bills were eventually reversed, and it was a grid failure emergency during a bit more than a 'severe cold snap' ... but it does highlight why people should never sign up to a tracker tariff without a cap...

born_again

MWT said:

Chrysalis said:

However Octopus have already shown they prefer these tariffs to not be mass market by adding a waiting list and in the past have also temporarily pulled tariffs.

I don't blame them though, too many cases where people just grab the name of a tariff off a 'savings' website and dive in without a clue about the risks and then complain later...

Exactly. Just as the people that complained last year with the price cap, as they would have been paying more, but never muttered a word when they were saving money.

Swings you win, roundabouts you lose. Can't have it both ways. Fixed term should mean just that.