Threats of price rises

mikiex

It's interesting that energy companies are actively pushing these fixed price tariffs.
If the prices rise as much as they say they might, they will loose out if everyone switches to a fixed price until 2011. Its not like we would of had a choice not to pay.

Ken68

Havn't studied it Mik, but maybe a way to lock you in, stop the competition, reduce your choice

gerrardfan

the tariffs available till 2011 are fixed and make you pay the same price till that date and you might not be able to cancel.

although it might seem unlikely in this current climate that prices may go down who is to say that they might in 2-3 years time,in which case those companies will still have you fixed in.

if it was down to myself a capped rate might be better as they dont go higher but can go down so you dont end up paying over the odds.

the gamble is that oil looks like its not going down anytime soon so prices are going to go up and up so ive been advising customers where i work to go on capped tariffs because soon these tariffs will not be available at all.

it costs a little more for next 3 months but as soon as prices go up your going to be quids in.

freddykrueger

gerrardfan wrote: »

the tariffs available till 2011 are fixed and make you pay the same price till that date and you might not be able to cancel.

Sorry but where does it say on the 2011 fixed that you are not able to cancel?

mikiex

gerrardfan wrote: »

the tariffs available till 2011 are fixed and make you pay the same price till that date and you might not be able to cancel.

although it might seem unlikely in this current climate that prices may go down who is to say that they might in 2-3 years time,in which case those companies will still have you fixed in.

if it was down to myself a capped rate might be better as they dont go higher but can go down so you dont end up paying over the odds.

the gamble is that oil looks like its not going down anytime soon so prices are going to go up and up so ive been advising customers where i work to go on capped tariffs because soon these tariffs will not be available at all.

it costs a little more for next 3 months but as soon as prices go up your going to be quids in.

I dont think they do lock you in, you can leave any time, unless you are paranoid and stay with it even if the prices remain the same.

gerrardfan

freddy i didnt say you couldnt cancel,i said might not.in other words i wasnt 100%. i didnt realise posting on here meant you got every word picked apart.

next time i wont bother trying to be helpful!!

freddykrueger

gerrardfan wrote: »

freddy i didnt say you couldnt cancel,i said might not.in other words i wasnt 100%. i didnt realise posting on here meant you got every word picked apart.

next time i wont bother trying to be helpful!!

It wasn't meant as a criticism it was a genuine question as was considering going over to the fixed price myself. If you mis-construed my meaning then apologies but don't jump to conclusions!

Ken68

Yes I wasn't sure, and don't bother analysing now that I'm on a simple Ebico tariff.
What with so much for the first bit then less for the next bit and bribery (I mean discounts) for this and that and sculpting , there'll soon be a special tariff for when it's cold.

Premier_2

I'm thinking fixed utility prices are similar to fixed rate mortgages - pushed heavily when the experts expect prices (rates) to fall but incredibly difficult to secure, at least without a hefty surcharge, when experts expect prices to rise.

Don't get me wrong, I certainly don't expect energy prices to be falling this week or this month, but over the longer term who knows?

The last time Ebico raised their price (ignoring the recent one about 6 weeks ago) was in September 2006 when everyone else was/had raised their prices ... and I think fixed rates were being pushed then too. (Not by Ebico who don't offer such terms, but by other utility companies)

Then in October 2006, the wholesale price of gas turned negative (meaning buyers were actually being paid to take it off dealers hands!).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5402370.stm?ls

Now there are many factors affecting todays energy prices, but one of those factors, I believe, is speculators buying up future energy supplies because of the recent trend in prices. It could well be that between now and 2011, the price could well be forced down again as dealers are forced to offload their purchases before delivery (since they don't have anywhere to actually accept those few million barrels of oil or cubic metre of gas they've purchased)

Of course, I might be wrong (as might the experts) and prices might continue to escalate, in which case those of you who have chosen fixed rates will be quids in.

But don't feel too guilty about the utility suppliers, I'm sure they will still be making huge profits having secured supplies for the future at todays prices

mech_2

I think I should point out that you can leave Scottish Power's Pricefix 2011 tariff with 28 days notice. If prices fall, just bail out. Not sure about the other companies' fixed rates, but I'd be surprised if they were any different, or I'd expect someone on MSE to have pointed it out by now. Scottish Power is the cheapest fixed one for me.

I switched to Southern Electric's Pricefix 2008 in January. I'm now paying (after VAT and discounts) 2.82p then 1.99p for gas, and 9.94p then 7.88p for electricity. I can't switch to anything as cheap now. This means that switching to Scottish Power's Pricefix 2011 would cost me quite a lot more, but I am still considering doing so now because I won't use much energy in the summer, but by October 31st when SE 2008 Pricefix ends there might not be anything as good to switch to, just when I start to burn lots of gas.