Energy Supplier. Tariff coming to an end. Help me decide what to do.

[Cosmos123]

Hi ,
My energy tariff with Octopus is coming to an end in Feb.

I currently pay £140 per month.
Now been quoted £258 per month.
Or variable £134 per month.
Or loyalty fixed £206 per month.

See attached
Can anyone advise.

Well definitely don't do 1 if 3 is cheaper.

Current advice is to go onto the variable as its cheaper BUT at the moment it's very likely the variable rate will rise again in April, and possibly further in October so might feel more secure.

The good thing with 3 (the loyalty fix) is there are no exit fees so if the prices hikes aren't as dramatic you could leave at any point and go onto the variable...but then you would have been paying the higher amount for 4 months of the year when you use the most fuel....

It would have to be approximately a 50 percent increase in April to end up 2 being a saving on 3, so depends how likely this is?

Maybe look on Martin money saver?

Nobody knows really BUT Martin Lewis advice at the moment is generally to do nothing and don’t lock into anything at the moment.

Yep - general advice is to stay on variable for the time being as the market is very volatile and fixed prices have been determined with that in mind.
Citizens Advice should be able to help though. Some areas have specialist energy advisers but the general helpline should be able to talk you through the options.

Isn’t the price cap coming to an end in April? So the variable rate might increase then…..could the increase be more than the current loyalty fixed? Which I assume will then also increase proportionally?

Yes, so it is between fixing at £206 for 12mths (No exit fees) or going with the variable of £134 and hoping it wont increase too much after April?
If I go for fixed then after April variable is cheaper I could switch back?
Although I'm just tempted to stay with variable as it is the cheapest now.

If you stay on the variable you will have saved c.180 quid by the time the cap changes in April and will be going into the lower energy season compared to the fix....but most places do seem to be estimating a rise of 50% in April and more again in October so after April i would assume your variable would be either equal to or more than the fixed rate, and after October definitely more.

Its not a bad fix, comparatively. My company is only offering a 2 year fix at 3x my current rate which suggests how high the variable might go......

It's hard!

My usage is around 110 per month I increased it to 140 few months back and i am in credit by £250 currently.
So scratching my head as to next step.

Similar situation. Not sure what to do either . For years until about a year ago I was paying £40pm and never in debt. Hard to believe I'm now looking at well over £250 for a 2 bed flat ....

Go on the cheapest tariff. There is no exit fee with Octopus !

@fizzypop100

Go on the cheapest tariff. There is no exit fee with Octopus !

You mean the variable of 138 or fixed of 206?

Variable. If you read the smallprint it says they will always notify you of any increase

I'm choosing to go onto the flexible octopus tariff rather than the fixed rates they offer

Are you likely to get a meter reader round? I suggest when you do your next meter reading, that you make your meter reading higher than your actual reading while still on the cheapest tariff.

Doesn't work if on a smart meter obviously!

It's a nightmare, my unit rate is doubling in January 🙈

You can't really compare from a monthly price unless that is a definite- I.e. if you sit with your heating and every appliance on in the house for 1 month, will they still charge you that amount and nothing else? If so, do that!

But in most likelihood, that's an estimate, based on your usage. In which case, compare the daily rate and standing charges and look at your previous usage to compare what you will actually use.

The advice has been the same for quite some time now. Stay on the variable rate, if all the experts are saying the same it would be sheer luck if you ended up better off taking a fixed rate now. I've not seen anyone changing their advice and these are the people who do all the research.

I've got the same dilemma (and stated a thread this week but got very little response!)

I currently pay £130 pm and have been offered a fixed rate at £170pm. The advice from Martin Lewis is to do nothing, but what if we get to April and the variable goes up beyond the amount I've been offered and the fixed rate offer I've been given is no longer available. Also , how do I find out how much I'll be paying if I move on to the variable rate?

Your energy company should tell you their rates for their variable rate tariff

@VioletCharlotte

I've got the same dilemma (and stated a thread this week but got very little response!)

I currently pay £130 pm and have been offered a fixed rate at £170pm. The advice from Martin Lewis is to do nothing, but what if we get to April and the variable goes up beyond the amount I've been offered and the fixed rate offer I've been given is no longer available. Also , how do I find out how much I'll be paying if I move on to the variable rate?

There's no such thing as a fixed amount of £££ rate. That's smply an estimate of how much it might cost you at the fixed rates per kWh

No one can say for certain what the variable rate will be in April nor what the fixed rates might be. The experts like Martin Lewis are well aware of all the possible scenarios when they give their advice but obvioulsy they don't know the future either but they do understand how energy pricing works, are you sure that you also do?

@Sirzy

Nobody knows really BUT Martin Lewis advice at the moment is generally to do nothing and don’t lock into anything at the moment.

This.

If you know your usage over the last year you can roughly work out how much you'd pay under the price cap (so on the variable rate).

Price cap is currently:
Gas 21p per kwh
Electric 4p per kwh

Your supplier has to tell your usage so easy to do what if calculations if you need to know an amount for your own budgetting but if you don't need to know it's even simpler to compare by looking at the pence per kWh figures/standing charge

This happened to me last October.

I followed Martin Lewis’ advice and went onto the variable tariff which is capped.

@AllThatFancyPaintsAsFair

No I don't understand how it works, that's why I'm asking!

YABU