To ask for help on whethee to fix our energy rate or not?!

[Heynowheynows]

We have looked at martin lewis advice. He , at present says fix prior to anticipated price hike in oct.
We are one of those customers whose company went bust and we were put on british gas. They have said that we are to be given the choice of fixing which wd increase our current unit ( each) by 32% . The anticipated rise is " over 40%. ..
But what if it doesnt happen. ? A fix wdnt happen if it wdnt actually benefit the company tho right? So why wd it work to.our advantage ( apart from knowing what our costs may be ) in fixing if the hike does not occur??
Aibu to ask what yiu would do?
Can we go to other suppliers from british gas and if so who is the "cheapest"...its a minefield!

A fix benefits the company because -

a) people stay with them when they fix their rates (for a year or longer) and pay to exit
b) their profits are so high that even a fixed rate lower than the variable makes them a profit
c) the point of a fixed rate is it's a risk for them and you, if the rates go sky high you benefit from being fixed, or if they drop hugely they benefit as you're on a higher fixed tariff

You can use a comparison website if you know your usage to find a cheaper company but I've found everyone's rates very similar for us.

The rise will happen based on prices the previous 6 months so it’s highly likely prices will rise in October

you don’t have to go with the fixed price bg offer and you can also choose to leave a fixed rate if you find a better deal (some have penalties tho for leaving early but usually not if you stay with the same company)

lol fixed rates don’t benefit a company when it’s lower than the cost of energy @MrszClaus hence so many companies going bust!

As I said, that's why it's a risk to both sides - when rates went sky high consumers benefited from paying a lower rate. Smaller companies went bust as they didn't have the profit margins to swallow that sort of increase.