Have just started a fixed-rate tarriff with British Gas, for electricity - their get-out clause

quartzz

and as per usual, in my "welcome" email, they've given themself a back door. a fairly huge back door.

Tariff type Fixed**

** The price is fixed until your tariff ends unless the government or regulator does something that changes it.

(I realise this is kWh and standing charge, and not the actual amount the bills will be)

I'm not all that surprised. there's a 14 day cooling off period, I doubt I'll use it - and every other supplier probably has exactly the same text in their TC's. any opinions?

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edit, this seems to be getting a lot of "well obviously/you are misguided" replies. so to clarify (or not) before sign up, I suspected the billed price might be able to be higher than the advertised price fixed rate, because of a clause buried in the TC's (and I suspected all suppliers would be the same)

after you've signed the contract, in plain text on your screen in the welcome email, the suitably vague sentence of; "unless the government or regulator does something that changes it".

summary; the welcome email confirms suspected buried TC's information that the bill is the fixed rate tarriff of the price quoted, unless it changes [read, increases]

if someone else finds this useful, they find it useful. if they don't, they don't

TheElectricCow

My reading of that is all it says is your fixed price won’t change unless they are required to change it, which seems quite reasonable, does it not? In such a (hypothetical) scenario where there is a government mandated change to your tariff I imagine it likely wouldn’t make much difference whether that particular line of text was there or not.

quartzz

unless they are required to change it -- that's an extremely vague statement, and seems to nullify the entire concept of a fixed rate? "our tarriff is fixed, unless it changes"

someone on a previous thread (I can find it somewhere) said that a fixed tarriff means it's fixed, and me in my scepticism thought there might be a "fixed, unless....." clause in there somewhere. and there tis. I honestly don't know what "government mandated change" means ("forced to"?), but all I suspected, was that there would be situations in which a fixed rate tarriff could change. I'd imagine that if that text wasn't there, they couldn't legally change it......shrug

double_dutchy

quartzz said:

someone on a previous thread (I can find it somewhere) said that a fixed tarriff means it's fixed

I think it was probably me who said that.....!

.....but in what circumstances do you think the government or Ofgem would require your fixed rate to be higher? I'm not aware of that happening in the past, any government intervention is likely to be in the opoosite direction I would think. 

Gerry1

The government can alter the VAT rate and add environmental taxes.  Would you expect BG not to pass them on?

MeteredOut

I'd be checking they don't try to change the standing charge if it goes up in the next price cap announcement.

bob2302

MeteredOut said:

I'd be checking they don't try to change the standing charge if it goes up in the next price cap announcement.

That doesn't apply to fixed tariffs.

MeteredOut

bob2302 said:

MeteredOut said:

I'd be checking they don't try to change the standing charge if it goes up in the next price cap announcement.

That doesn't apply to fixed tariffs.

I'm sure that was at least one fixed tariff reported here that had T&Cs that said the standing charge would move with the price cap SC.

It was more explicit in that case, but "The price is fixed until your tariff ends unless the government or regulator does something that changes it." is wooly enough to be open to interpretation.

victor2

Gerry1 said:

The government can alter the VAT rate and add environmental taxes.  Would you expect BG not to pass them on?

This is what they are covering. I think you'll find every supplier has something similar.

Gerry1

bob2302 said:

MeteredOut said:

I'd be checking they don't try to change the standing charge if it goes up in the next price cap announcement.

That doesn't apply to fixed tariffs.

Not sure that's the case for the government-imposed green levies on the electricity standing charge.

Scot_39

quartzz said:

and as per usual, in my "welcome" email, they've given themself a back door. a fairly huge back door.

Tariff type Fixed**

** The price is fixed until your tariff ends unless the government or regulator does something that changes it.

(I realise this is kWh and standing charge, and not the actual amount the bills will be)

I'm not all that surprised. there's a 14 day cooling off period, I doubt I'll use it - and every other supplier probably has exactly the same text in their TC's. any opinions?

AFAIK there was only one big 6 supplier domestic fixed term / but ot fixed cost - well it was part fixed / part variable tariff - which had explicit pass though costs - perhaps the type you might be worried about - and that was Scottish Power Flexi.

https://www.scottishpower.co.uk/flexi

And they then defined (akin to many a business energy contract that can have pages of them) - as per that link what could change - and they also specify the current included costs.  And even then the majority of actual wholesale energy costs were fixed - things they can buy upfront / hedge easily.

Eon Next pledge is also a fixed term / variable price - it's a cap tracker though and not a conventional fix.  And again it defines exactly how it's price varies (was cap - £25 per fuel - still ?)

My take on SP reasoning - simple enough.

My sister was on a 2 year fix was protected for whole of her second year from most of Ofgem's SC rises - just on SC Policy decisions - she made over £100 saving in second year just on SC - which suspect SP might have had to pay NG et al for regardless.  Higher than say the SVT cap operating profit allowance.

But I digress - I suspect in B Gas case - it might be the more obvious things they have in mind - as suggested above are things like VAT changes - or maybe as likes of ML have been campaigning for - some sort of SC free social tariff - that they could reflect / offer it to you.

Even BG would surely realise they would suffer reputational and maybe mass customer losses - if raised prices when others honored their fixes.