Just changed supplier and fixed rates after International developments

Rivers_mum

I just switched from ofm to a cheaper 1 yr tariff from them but I’m now wondering whether I should have gone for the 2yr one. Wars don’t seem to end quickly I’m afraid. 

mmmmikey

Rivers_mum said:

I just switched from ofm to a cheaper 1 yr tariff from them but I’m now wondering whether I should have gone for the 2yr one. Wars don’t seem to end quickly I’m afraid. 

Good that you've fixed (in my view). Unfortunately once you have fixed it's always the case that other options present themselves or things change so all you can really do is what you did and go for what seems right at the time. Much better to do that than spend so much time fretting about all the different options you do nothing.

bristolleedsfan

northernstar007 said:

oftm has cheaper electric unit, but gas price is higher, cant have it both ways 

OFTM who now call themselves Outfox Energy - Electricity only 12 month fix looks a lot cheaper than EDF and Octopus - numerous posts mention no exit fee changing to cheaper fix.

bagand96

Thanks for the heads up. Just moved my Octopus Gas fix that was ending in December. Unit rate 0.1p cheaper per kWh and SC 2p more expensive. Can live with that for winter certainly. 

barker77

Outfoxes fuel mix has much less renewables hence the cheaper price as worse for environment 

mmmmikey

barker77 said:

Outfoxes fuel mix has much less renewables hence the cheaper price as worse for environment 

Hi, it's actually just clever marketing that makes you think that. The wholesale cost (i.e. the price that suppliers pay) for a unit of electricity on the national grid at a given point in time is the same regardless of how it was generated. In practical terms that's almost always the price of electricity generated by gas, you may remember that from when prices went completely bonkers? It was in the news a lot at the time.

RelievedSheff

OFTM have changed their 2 year fix now to V3. Both gas and electric at higher rates.

spot1034

Here's an example of how complicated this all is. Last August, early in the month, I was strongly drawn to the British Gas Fixed 12m v8 tariff, which was very attractive at that moment as it matched the July 24 price cap and looked like being pulled any day (as it was) and signed up straight away, but they offered me the option of delaying for up to 28 days. As I was at that time on the E. On Next Pledge tariff which, being 3% below the price cap was marginally cheaper than the one I had signed up to (but was very obviously going to rise at the next price cap change) I opted to delay for as long as possible, on the grounds that it extended my good BG deal for a few extra weeks. So my renewal date is August 30th, and that puts the start of the 49 day window at around mid-July.

Who knows what might happen to prices in the next few weeks? Of-course everything could calm down and we could see prices dropping back again, but of-course the opposite is also a possibility. Had I known a year ago how precarious the situation was going to be now, I might have opted to start my BG fix straight away so that I would now, as of this week, be free to switch suppliers and lock in a deal that's available today. As it is I have to wait, which may well not be to my advantage - but it still might. I could never have foreseen that last year so I did what seemed the most sensible thing at that time.

There is much guesswork and a lot of luck involved in this.

mmmmikey

spot1034 said:

Here's an example of how complicated this all is. Last August, early in the month, I was strongly drawn to the British Gas Fixed 12m v8 tariff, which was very attractive at that moment as it matched the July 24 price cap and looked like being pulled any day (as it was) and signed up straight away, but they offered me the option of delaying for up to 28 days. As I was at that time on the E. On Next Pledge tariff which, being 3% below the price cap was marginally cheaper than the one I had signed up to (but was very obviously going to rise at the next price cap change) I opted to delay for as long as possible, on the grounds that it extended my good BG deal for a few extra weeks. So my renewal date is August 30th, and that puts the start of the 49 day window at around mid-July.

Who knows what might happen to prices in the next few weeks? Of-course everything could calm down and we could see prices dropping back again, but of-course the opposite is also a possibility. Had I known a year ago how precarious the situation was going to be now, I might have opted to start my BG fix straight away so that I would now, as of this week, be free to switch suppliers and lock in a deal that's available today. As it is I have to wait, which may well not be to my advantage - but it still might. I could never have foreseen that last year so I did what seemed the most sensible thing at that time.

There is much guesswork and a lot of luck involved in this.

Hi - yes, it can certainly get complex. My suggestion for dealing with this given the uncertainty is just to ask yourself whether you want the protection of a fix either now (if you're not currently fixed) or when your current fix ends. Then, assuming you decide on a fix, just get the best deal you can get at the time without trying to analyse all the permutations of what may or may not happen - which as you sort of point out is a fools game because you simply don't know what's going to happen. Once you've done that, forget about it until the end of the fix unless something dramatic happens and costs drop significantly. Stressing about whether you could have saved money or not through a different course of action is a recipe for unhappiness.

I just bought a discounted track saw at the best price I've seen for ages and was pleased as punch. Then an even better promotion was emailed to me today - typical, grrr! But the only answer to this is never to buy anything just in case it's cheaper tomorrow.

Also don't confuse bad outcomes with bad decisions. Driving through a red light at 100mph is always a bad decision whether you kill someone or not. The outcome could be good or bad but the decision was always bad. If you want protection against price shocks and choose the best available deal at the time then you've made the best decision you can with the info you have.

Bottom line - is if you want to fix then fix at the best price you can. If you don't want to fix get the best deal you can. But don't waste any time prevaricating over what my happen or retrospectively beating yourself up about something you have no control over and didn't know about at the time.

The key thing in all this, as per the OPs post, is that fixing isn't just about trying to get the best price. It's about giving you the certainty of knowing what you're going to pay for the duration of the fix which for a lot of people is well worth having even if it costs slightly more. 

barker77

mmmmikey said:

barker77 said:

Outfoxes fuel mix has much less renewables hence the cheaper price as worse for environment 

Hi, it's actually just clever marketing that makes you think that. The wholesale cost (i.e. the price that suppliers pay) for a unit of electricity on the national grid at a given point in time is the same regardless of how it was generated. In practical terms that's almost always the price of electricity generated by gas, you may remember that from when prices went completely bonkers? It was in the news a lot at the time.

Not quite the certificates do mean that investment is put into renewables where as those that buy fossil fuels aren’t doing that.