Few questions about choosing next tariff

sebsy

Hi all,

My current tariff is coming to an end, which is the Loyal Octopus 12m Fixed April 2025 v1 and I am trying to find the best thing to do in terms of choosing my next move.

The cheapest option available to stay with Octopus will see my annual bill increase by a projected £153, however I am looking at moving to Outfox Energy as their tariff will only see my annual bill increase by £31. This is the cheapest option available to me using the Cheap Energy Club comparison tool.

I did see a tariff on Wednesday with Octopus that would see my annual bill increase only slightly but I was slow to make a decision to make the switch of tariffs because energy is the one utility I struggle on knowing what to do and their tariffs have now jumped considerably.

I have started the process of signing up to Outfox Energy and it gives me the earliest date of making the switch as March 12th, but I can select any day of my choosing after that date. As my current tariff with Octopus ends on April 1st, and is a bit cheaper than the tariff I would move to on Outfox, am I right in thinking I would be best off selecting March 31st as my switch date, so as to stay on the cheaper Octopus tariff for as long as possible?

There are exit fees of £150 (£75 for each fuel), but there are on the new Octopus tariff also.

Also, is there anything else I might be missing? I understand that right now I definitely want a fixed deal rather than variable, but beyond that any help would be appreciated.

Many thanks.

gpman

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6658287/few-questions-about-choosing-next-tariff

If Outfox are allowing you to delay your planned switch date, then of course you will save money this month on the cheaper Octopus tariff you already have.

But is your Outfox tariff a 12 month tariff (as opposed to a fixed expiry date), in which case your delayed switch will mean you will be on the new tariff about 3 weeks longer. No one knows what prices will be in 12 months time. If they are even higher than today, then you win, if they have fallen then you lose out at the end of the 12m

sebsy

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81911909#Comment_81911909

Yeah I figured that was the case, just wanted to be 100% sure I wasn’t missing anything as it felt too easy to just assume that would be the case, and I’m really not confident when it comes to changing energy tariff/supplier. When my TV/Broadband/Mobile are due for renewal I’m incredibly confident with those things, but energy is the opposite for me.

It just says ‘fixed for 12 months’ where as some other options with other suppliers give a fixed end date, so I assume if I signed up today and selected March 31st it would run until Mar 31st 2027.

I guess the thing with 12m in the future is there’s no real way of knowing, where as I know now I can save a little over the next 3/weeks for sure by setting my switch date to the last possible day.

Thanks for the reply.

luci

I have seen 12 month fixed deals that also have an end date. For example, they may be called 12 month Feb v2, but have an end date of 28th February rather than exactly 12 months from inception. I've had ones that lasted almost 13 months.

151Taddy

Don't worry, you did the right thing.
Contracts are for whatever period the supplier decides to offer.
Currently most offer 12 month.
The 24 month offers that were on offer have mostly gone as the future has become more unpredictable, thanks to Trump.

OFTM have, today 19th March, withdrawn all of the Fixed Price Contracts that were on offer, so you were able to fix for 12 months at least!