URGENT HELP NEEDED - energy tariff expires tomorrow and unsure which tariff to move to!

hermionegranger123

Hi all

Forum newbie here! Hoping one of you experienced forumites might be able to help me please. 🙏 I’m getting very confused! 

I’m currently with outfox. I have Fix'd Dual Jun25 12M v2.0 tariff. This expires tomorrow. 

In preparation for this upcoming expiry of my tariff, I did some research (pretty sure I used cheap energy club) and made a decision - in mid May - to move to Outfox the Price Cap Tracker 12M Dual - 5% Minimum Energy Discount - V2 when my current tariff expires tomorrow.

However, I’m not sure if this is still the best tariff for me.   I’ve looked at Cheap Energy Club and it now seems that I would be better off moving to Outfox the Price Cap - Fix'd DUAL July 2026 - 15M V3.

I’m not sure if perhaps I did my research wrong back in May. Or maybe things have changed since then? 

Can anyone shed some light and help me out please? Would be so grateful!

Thanks so much 

QrizB

The first thing is - don't panic. If your current fix expires before you choose your next deal, you'll just roll onto the Ofgem-capped standard variable tariff (the SVT). Spending a few days or weeks on the SVT isn't likely to cost you much more than you'd otherwise spend.

The second thing is, suppliers change their fixed-price offers quite regularly. Octopus for example changed their fix eight times during June. It's highly likely that whatever tariff you liked the look of back in May has been superseded several times over by now.

If the Cheap Energy Club is suggesting the tariff you have mentioned, it's probably a reasonable choice for you today. But if you check again tomorrow, there's a chance tariffs will have changed and they'll recommend something else.

EssexHebridean

Oh yes - a LOT will have changed since May! Qriz mentions Octopus above but I seem to recall we've heard of plenty of other suppliers doing rapid changes as things in the markets move too. Remember - fixes aren't linked to price cap changes, so are a lot more volatile.

Good advice not to panic and jump into something that might not be right though - especially if it carries exit fees which I think the majority of suppliers are doing at the moment. Particularly at this time of year you're using very little gas anyway, so a short while on SVR isn't going to break the bank.

MarzipanCrumble

BUT - comparison sites tend to focus very much on switching 'now' with messaging about energy prices increasing by 13% 01 July. If you do read beyond the headline, it is a message aimed at those on SVR, not fixes.

Scot_39

Your kind of not comparing apples with apples with those two choices.

You picked a fixed period discount tracker before (the 5% discount not the price being fixed guessing by the name) and now picking a traditional fix.

And yes things change quickly.

On the cap - average gas per kWh units went up c28% yesterday - electric "only" c5% - the actual dual fuel cap 13.5% iirc

If you had switched early onto that tracker - so would have your own rates - they would just be 5% off the higher rates - not fixed costs at all.

Admittedly they would drop if the cap prices dropped.

Gas has come down a bit of of recent 120p type peaks (and even higher when conflict started) - but when last checked a several days ago - it was not falling anywhere near as quickly as crude has - in UK and other N European markets.

In fact just looked today and has bounced back to nearly 104p per therm - (having dipped briefly to mid 90s at one point low of c92p) thats still 30% higher this time last year - crude is only 1% higher - brent 3%.

https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/uk-natural-gas