To Fix or not to Fix

collinsca

Hi All

Would appreciate advice on whether to fix my energy bills, or wait a little longer considering the caps are changing.

I was offered a fixed rate, that i was told would bring my costs down from £150 a month to £140 a month.

	Current Tariff	New tariff (Smart Aug24 v1)
ELEC: Standing	49.597	48.227
ELEC: Unit	30.295	29.917
GAS: Standing	29.106	27.736
GAS: Unit	7.608	7.57

Thanks

victor2

collinsca said:

Hi All

Would appreciate advice on whether to fix my energy bills, or wait a little longer considering the caps are changing.

I was offered a fixed rate, that i was told would bring my costs down from £150 a month to £140 a month.

	Current Tariff	New tariff (Smart Aug24 v1)
ELEC: Standing	49.597	48.227
ELEC: Unit	30.295	29.917
GAS: Standing	29.106	27.736
GAS: Unit	7.608	7.57

Thanks

Nobody can say for sure what will happen to prices. They are predicted to fall a little before the year end, but go up again early next year. Put your actual annual kWh usage into the rates offered, divide it by 12 and that's your monthly energy cost on the fix.
Take no notice of the monthly DD suggested.
A fix gives you the assurance of your forthcoming costs, if your usage doesn't change much.
Look at the exit fee if you leave the fix. That's what it will cost you to switch away if more attractive deals come along.

Ant555

collinsca said:

Hi All

Would appreciate advice on whether to fix my energy bills, or wait a little longer considering the caps are changing.

If your questions is research on  "what are others doing..."  then I have taken out a fix similar to the rates you quote.

My thinking is that prices are unlikely to change THAT much in 12 months (they are predicted to go down a bit, up and then, I think,  back down slightly) - My thoughts are that they are unlikely to go down a lot but could go up if some other global event affects prices.

You dont mention usage but my mental maths thinks that the fix you quoted will cost you £2 - £5/month  more than the SVT (happy to be corrected)  -  I value certainty and can afford the £3/month more that my own fix costs vs current SVT rates so that's perfectly fine by me despite the exit fees.  If prices tumble then I am paying an amount till next August that I can afford and have planned for.

Hope this helps.

xzibit

I’ve fixed at similar rates. Right or wrong nobody knows. But at least I know what I’ll be paying. 

collinsca

Thanks all - very useful

beyondthestars

I fixed on Loyal Octopus 

aytEctIaNDIO

BG are offering fixed rates, without knowing the new lower rates.

Could someone please tell me (because I may be missing something),  as BG do not know what the new lower standard variable rates will be from October,  then how do I know if a new fixed rate deal is good or bad?

Yes I can compare the new fixed rate to what I now pay. But cannot compare it with the forthcoming new lower price.

That, is it not,  the whole point of doing a comparison?

To take that one step further, to its logical conclusion, I could fix now (before the new rates are known) only to find out that the new rates are lower.

victor2

aytEctIaNDIO said:

BG are offering fixed rates, without knowing the new lower rates.

Could someone please tell me (because I may be missing something),  as BG do not know what the new lower standard variable rates will be from October,  then how do I know if a new fixed rate deal is good or bad?

Yes I can compare the new fixed rate to what I now pay. But cannot compare it with the forthcoming new lower price.

That, is it not,  the whole point of doing a comparison?

To take that one step further, to its logical conclusion, I could fix now (before the new rates are known) only to find out that the new rates are lower.

That's where the exit fee becomes significant. Some suppliers waive the fee if you switch to another of their tariffs and only charge it if you change supplier.

MeteredOut

aytEctIaNDIO said:

BG are offering fixed rates, without knowing the new lower rates.

Could someone please tell me (because I may be missing something),  as BG do not know what the new lower standard variable rates will be from October,  then how do I know if a new fixed rate deal is good or bad?

Yes I can compare the new fixed rate to what I now pay. But cannot compare it with the forthcoming new lower price.

That, is it not,  the whole point of doing a comparison?

To take that one step further, to its logical conclusion, I could fix now (before the new rates are known) only to find out that the new rates are lower.

You need to look at a fix rates not as something that will definitely save you money, but as something where you know definitely what you'll pay. It provides peace of mind.

born_again

aytEctIaNDIO said:

BG are offering fixed rates, without knowing the new lower rates.

Could someone please tell me (because I may be missing something),  as BG do not know what the new lower standard variable rates will be from October,  then how do I know if a new fixed rate deal is good or bad?

Yes I can compare the new fixed rate to what I now pay. But cannot compare it with the forthcoming new lower price.

That, is it not,  the whole point of doing a comparison?

To take that one step further, to its logical conclusion, I could fix now (before the new rates are known) only to find out that the new rates are lower.

Which is the whole point. No one here, or to be honest anywhere else knows that. So you either stick or twist & take the risk.

Personally I'll stick on variable rate as a EV owner going onto IO.
Would do the same if not TBH.

It's about risk & reward. personally the reward on energy is not worth the risk for me.

QrizB

Welcome to the forum.

aytEctIaNDIO said:

BG are offering fixed rates, without knowing the new lower rates.

I'm sure BG do know what the rates are they just haven't told us yet. If you are a single-rate electricity customer, BGs rates will be more-or-less identical to EDFs. EDFs rates are available here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6471062/the-edf-1st-october-prices-are-out

aytEctIaNDIO said:

To take that one step further, to its logical conclusion, I could fix now (before the new rates are known) only to find out that the new rates are lower.

A fix is for 12 months or longer. Comparison with a cap that's only valid for 3 months isn't particularly helpful.Fixed rates don't guarantee you'll save money, they exist to give you certainty.

Last winter was a good example. People who took a 2-year fix in late 2021 might have been paying more than the cheapest available variable rate at the time they took their fix, but avoided all the EPG shenanigans.