Flexible Octopus

THAAWT

did anyone get the email to fix for a year with Octopus yesterday?

THAAWT

I'm currently with Octopus 'Flexible Octopus' for Gas and Electric.
Electricity:
Unit rate 26.76p/kwh
standing charge 43.40p/day

Gas:
Unit Rate: 6.59p/kwh
standing charge 26.16p/day

They are offering fixed for a year:

Electricity

Daily standing charge	45.56p /day
Unit rate	28.36p /kWh
Early exit fee (For changing tariff or supplier)	£75

🔥 Gas

Daily standing charge	27.47p /day
Unit rate	7.21p /kWh
Early exit fee (For changing tariff or supplier)	£75

Otherwise I will be on this flexable from january:

⚡ Electricity

Daily standing charge	45.56p /day
Unit rate	29.38p /kWh
Early exit fee	£0

🔥 Gas

Daily standing charge	27.47p /day
Unit rate	7.45p /kWh
Early exit fee	£0

Please help, should i fix?  If so when?

Thank you again

Gerry1

Unfortunately there's no 'right' answer to this.  Only you can decide what's best for you, and even that can only be a best guess.  Don't forget the exit fees.

Absolutely no-one knows for sure what will happen to energy prices.  There are all sorts of 'known unknowns' that might throw a wobbly: Putin, Trump, the Middle East, Iran, China/Taiwan, another pandemic, terrorism, a serious solar flare, even an asteroid collision and umpteen more.  Most are considered unlikely, but so was Covid-19.  As for 'unknown unknowns', that's self explanatory.

The other consideration is your attitude to risk.  Some people are prepared to pay more for peace of mind that they won't be hit by a massive increase they really can't afford and will grin and bear it if the price collapses.  Others will prefer to retain the option to switch whenever a better deal turns up.  One factor is just how catastrophic a big price rise would be for you personally:  would it mean choosing between heating and eating, or merely cuttingback a bit, e.g. having fewer or zero foreign holidays?

That's probably not a very helpful answer but it's a realistic one.

FWIW I fixed my electricity for 12 months with BG.  They gave contradictory information about the exit fee saying simultaneously that it was £100,  there was no fee if you switched to another fixed BG tariff, and that there was no fee if you switch to another BH tariff.

I did switch to BG's SVT when the January price cap turned out to be less than the fixed rate, so I'm awaiting the next bill with interest.

hubb

Netexporter said:

You can even buy your own approved meter and have it installed by your supplier.

The very definition of cutting off your nose to spite your face. Pay to have a meter that cuts you off from the choice of most competitive tariffs, when you could have a smart meter for free.

And I was berated and ridiculed on the Tracker thread by the smart meter fans only a few weeks ago for digging my heels in refusing to concede to having one. There were suggestions of draconian measures for not conforming. I was even accused of misinformation and my post flagged and yet today's BBC news headlines read millions of smart meters are giving faulty readings with many overcharged. I rest my case. 

t0rt0ise

hubb said:

Netexporter said:

You can even buy your own approved meter and have it installed by your supplier.

The very definition of cutting off your nose to spite your face. Pay to have a meter that cuts you off from the choice of most competitive tariffs, when you could have a smart meter for free.

And I was berated and ridiculed on the Tracker thread by the smart meter fans only a few weeks ago for digging my heels in refusing to concede to having one. There were suggestions of draconian measures for not conforming. I was even accused of misinformation and my post flagged and yet today's BBC news headlines read millions of smart meters are giving faulty readings with many overcharged. I rest my case. 

I thought it was that the faulty meters weren't giving readings automatically so that people's bills were then estimated. I don't recall reading that the 4 million or so meters were giving faulty readings.

MeteredOut

hubb said:

Netexporter said:

You can even buy your own approved meter and have it installed by your supplier.

The very definition of cutting off your nose to spite your face. Pay to have a meter that cuts you off from the choice of most competitive tariffs, when you could have a smart meter for free.

And I was berated and ridiculed on the Tracker thread by the smart meter fans only a few weeks ago for digging my heels in refusing to concede to having one. There were suggestions of draconian measures for not conforming. I was even accused of misinformation and my post flagged and yet today's BBC news headlines read millions of smart meters are giving faulty readings with many overcharged. I rest my case. 

Time to pick up your case again, as, even though the journalism in that artcile was very poor, it most definitely did not say that "millions of smart meters are giving faulty readings with many overcharged".

Indeed, there was no evidence that anyone in the report had been charged anything other than the energy they had used. I suspect your post here could quite validly be flagged for misinformation.

I think you need to re-read it.