Outfox Exit Fees £150

GeoffDude

I’ve just switched from Outfox to E.ON. I had 11 months left on a 22p/kWh electricity rate, but with the current Middle East crisis causing a 93% spike in wholesale gas this week, I became seriously concerned about the financial stability of smaller suppliers.

We’ve seen what happens when the market hits 150p+ a therm—small firms can't sustain these losses. I moved to a major supplier for peace of mind and to protect my family's energy supply.

Ironically, by leaving, I have saved Outfox money. They no longer have to supply me at 22p while wholesale costs hit 40p+. They’ve got their energy hedge back to sell at a profit, yet they are still demanding a £150 exit fee.

They are effectively penalising a customer for taking a cautious approach to energy security, even though my exit directly improves their balance sheet. If you value flexibility and a supplier that understands the market, look elsewhere."

bristolleedsfan

To be fair Outfox did survive the energy crisis and OFGEM protect domestic customers energy supply and credit balances.

debitcardmayhem

You signed up with exit fees, what do you expect?

Swipe

Maybe you should have just stuck with them and changed to variable direct debit if you were concerned.

spot1034

Your energy supply was at no risk as in the event of a supplier ceasing to trade Ofgem will appoint a 'supplier of last resort' to take it over. As has been said credit balances are also protected. You might well have paid more should your supply be transferred in such circumstances, but why not take advantage of the cheaper option whilst it was still there? For all we know, this present crisis might subside quite quickly, with the spike in prices being brief.

Netexporter

If they did fail you'd just be moved to a new supplier at no cost to yourself. Any credit you had would be protected, too. Pointless panicking.

You have a cooling off period to change your mind.

GeoffDude

I'm aware of the SoLR process, but the safety net only protects your supply, not your price. If a supplier fails, your low fixed-rate contract is cancelled and you're moved to a 'deemed' tariff at the price cap. With gas up 93% this week, I'd rather pay an exit fee now to lock in a 2-year fix with a stable Top 5 supplier than risk being dumped onto a much higher variable rate in three months' time when all the cheap fixes have been pulled

debitcardmayhem

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81907939#Comment_81907939

And in three months when wholesale returns to normal ?? Pay another exit fee?

luci

You agreed to the £150 exit fees when you signed up to Outfox Energy. That is not dependent on your reasons for leaving.

The spike in the wholesale cost of gas would not have affected you for the next 11 months. I don't understand leaving a low cost fix for the next 11 months for a hypothetical reason that may not happen. You would have had price certainty for that time.

The increase in gas prices could well be temporary, depending how long the conflict lasts. The spike is nowhere near the spike when Urkaine was invaded, and that returned to much lower levels fairly quickly.

I'd be interested to know how much more your new fix is compared to your Outfox one.

At the end of the day, it's your choice.

Swipe

You have 14 days to cancel the switch.

The_Groat_Counter

In summary…

• sign up to a contract with exit fees,
• exercise option to exit said contract,
• complain about paying the exit fees…