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Original poster

Help please - electricity and gas supplier - huge new quote - wwyd?

18 replies

whiteworldgettingwhiter · 28/02/2022 08:59

We have been on a fixed greener deal tariff with Scottish Power for two years. Our tariff ends today. Last week SP rang me to say that the best deal they can offer would be £303 per month - our current monthly DD is £175.

I rang them today to take on this tariff and the best they are offering us now is £587 per month!!! An extra £12 per month!!!

They say that we're curently paying 2p/unit of gas and this is going up to 16p, and we're currently paying 15p/unit for elec and this is going up to 45p.

I've tried the compariso websites and they all say that we'd get a better deal staying with our current supplier - hollow laugh.

What can we do??? (we use 20,000 kwh gas per year and 7061 kwh elec)

OP posts:

dementedpixie · 28/02/2022 09:03

You stay with them but don't take a fixed rate and go onto the standard variable rate that is covered by the price cap. The average rates for April's price cap will be as shown. The price cap will be reviewed and changed again in October

Help please - electricity and gas supplier - huge new quote - wwyd?

Original poster

whiteworldgettingwhiter · 28/02/2022 09:06

Thanks, @dementedpixie.

The woman I spoke to today said that since we had a debt on the account (using more energy over winter than our DD allowed for; our DD has been increased to reflect this and to pay off the debt), this was the best rate she could offer.

I have now paid off the debt but the payment will take a few days to go through.

OP posts:

dementedpixie · 28/02/2022 09:08

No fixed rates are better than the price cap rates just now. Have you accepted a fixed rate rather than going onto the standard variable rate? Look at the price per kWh and the standing charge before accepting a big change in your payments

Interested in this thread?

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gogohm · 28/02/2022 09:15

Look at utilita warehouse, they offered me the best rate. You will need to clear any debts with your supplier though

Forestdweller11 · 28/02/2022 09:21

Yes to echo pp look at kw/hr and standing charge and work out which is the better deal. We looked at this the other week with Scottish power and it worked out better for us to fix now rather than have the variable. Esp as prices will no doubt rise again in October. We didn't have a debt though we were in credit.

Original poster

whiteworldgettingwhiter · 28/02/2022 09:21

No, I haven't accepted a new deal. I guess I'll wait until the debt has been paid off then check with SP that the capped prices will apply to our power.

Thank you so much for your help. I should have dealt with this ages ago but kept putting it off. Stupid.

OP posts:

flashbac · 28/02/2022 09:24

I don't trust SP. Sounds like they tried to put you on an expensive fix. Just let your tariff move to standard variable.

Original poster

whiteworldgettingwhiter · 28/02/2022 09:34

Well, I don't understand why things have changed so radically in just a few days (I know, the Ukraine invasion) but the guy who rang me last week didn't mention the debt on the account - and I imagine quite a few accounts go into debt over the winter then you increase the DD to repay in the spring.

Anyway, we all have more important things to worry about today. Can't settle to anything. Have stopped checking news. It's all so shit.

OP posts:

TheAbbotOfUnreason · 28/02/2022 09:39

I’d also add that your annual electricity usage is high, so worth looking at how you could trim it back? Average for a larger house with 5 people is 4300-4600 kWh.

HopefulProcrastinator · 28/02/2022 09:46

@whiteworldgettingwhiter

Anyway, we all have more important things to worry about today. Can't settle to anything. Have stopped checking news. It's all so shit.

Each tariff that an energy supplier offers will have a cap on the numbers allowed to use it. Once that cap is reached they will then release the next tariff, often called the same thing but v2, v3 etc but the pricing will be increased.

Putin being a lunatic won't have helped the situation at all, Scottish Power may have closed the tariff early and changed the pricing for the replacement tariff in response to their new exposure to risk.

MaverickSnoopy · 28/02/2022 09:48

There's a facebook group called energy bills, advice and energy debt www.facebook.com/groups/966754150512356/?ref=share - they have fantastic information.

The main things effecting fixed rates are the April price cap increase, as well as the Russia situation. As soon as war broke out rates for fixed deals went up overnight.

Martin Lewis was saying to stay on the variable rate but since Russia went to war, he has now come out and said he's not too sure. He wants to keep his advice the same but it's not as much as a certainty as it was before. He says the best thing to do is cut bills in other places and be a savvy shopper.

Wait a few days until the debt clears and then log into your account and see what they offer you. Most companies aren't taking on new customers so you may be stuck with SP for now. The thing to do is compare the proposed unit rate and standing charge against the new variable rate. Don't get sucked into the price of the direct debit, because its just a number and if you use more then they'll charge you more. It's the unit rate that you're fixing against.

Like I say, join the above group, post the fixed rate unit costs and ask for advice.

Original poster

whiteworldgettingwhiter · 28/02/2022 09:50

Thank you! Yes, we are looking at ways to cut our energy use. Will join that FB group too. Much appreciated!

OP posts:

BarbaraofSeville · 28/02/2022 09:51

If you do nothing you will go onto the price cap and currently this is the least expensive option, even though the price is going to go up again in April, by a substantial amount.

Because you are about to come off a comparatively cheap fix, you are going to experience a huge increase in costs, well over double what you are currently paying.

You probably won't be able to change to a cheaper supplier as many aren't accepting new customers and if they are, it will come at a huge price.

Maybe worth signing up to your supplier online, sometimes they offer 'loyalty' fixes that are only marginally more expensive than the April 2022 price cap. This is best you can hope for right now.

Also, do you know why your usage is so high (approx 50% more than average for gas and more than double the average for electricity) and can you reduce what you use?

But whatever you do, always check and compare the unit rates and standing charges, because monthly DDs can be based on a usage that doesn't match what you actually use, so can make it hard to compare costs accurately and trick you into signing up to something that is more expensive than you think.

crispsarny · 28/02/2022 10:09

I would ignore what bloody Martin Lewis says, months back he kept banging on about the cap if your new fix was being quoted over a certain amount, he was saying the cap would be 40% higher to stick with that, my quote at the time from SP was over 50% higher so decided after his advice to go onto the price cap when fix ends in March but am kicking myself now for not accepting the 50% quote. He has a lot of sway, have always followed his advice, many people pay attention to him but with this he should have kept his mouth shut.

Whattochoosenow · 28/02/2022 10:13

It looks as if you’ve been on a really good deal prior to this so any increase is going to be huge. Agree with others, don’t take any deal, just let your agreement lapse and you’ll end up on the standard variable rate.

BobLemon · 28/02/2022 10:19

I’m an SP customer and their selling tactics are dubious!

We’ve never been on a fixed deal with them, always on the variable rate and have to make manual payments against bills. They rang me up “won’t this be so much easier by DD? Shall I set a DD up for you now? Okay great, I’ll just do that.”

I had to stop them and ask if they were about to put me onto a fixed deal… yes! M*fers.

Their cheapest fix is approx a 90% increase on current payments! I’ll take my chances with the 56% increase in April and see what October brings.

Original poster

whiteworldgettingwhiter · 28/02/2022 10:28

Just saw a massive typo in my OP

I rang them today to take on this tariff and the best they are offering us now is £587 per month!!! An extra £412 per month!!!

I wouldn't have minded an extra £12...

OP posts:

BarbaraofSeville · 28/02/2022 10:42

They say that we're curently paying 2p/unit of gas and this is going up to 16p, and we're currently paying 15p/unit for elec and this is going up to 45p

If those are the unit costs for the new deal, then don't take that, those are far more than you need to pay. You should be able to get gas for around 7-9 p a unit and electricity for around 28 p a unit. But I find that it's best to do this sort of thing online because on the phone they bombard you with a load of numbers and it's hard to work out what is on offer but if it is all written down in front of you and you can work through it in your own time, it is a lot easier.

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