To be worried about the number of people who think a ‘fixed’ energy tariff means the monthly price will always be the same - regardless of usage

[Butterflyfluff]

I know there are loads of threads about energy costs at the moment but I have noticed there are quite a number of people who think a fixed price tariff operates in the same way as say a monthly Netflix subscription.

With Netflix, you pay the same each month regardless of how much you watch.

With energy it is only the unit price you are fixing - your monthly bill will vary dependent on usage.

The terms ‘fix’ and ‘cap’ are causing a lot of confusion.

2 year fix and protect with Ovo
46.24p kWh electricity
52.79p daily standing charge

14.61p kWh gas
26.21p daily standing charge

Is this good? We had absolutely no idea

youre wrong. I was going to explain why, but after your next post, I can't be arsed,

you do you.

Unfortunately some people seem to think that the "cap" and fixes really are like the Oyster fare caps where the amount you'll pay per day for journeys within a zone won't increase after the first couple of journeys.

They're not, they're just price controls.

@ThankYouSir you're being REALLY rude about people who understand less than you. Why? How can you be so horrible when people are just trying to explain, we don't know how much YOU do/don't understand and sadly, MANY do NOT understand you pay per unit used & think the cap/their DD is all they have to pay, irrespective of what they use.

People could have been rude that you don't understand how to calculate it, but they weren't, at least do others the same courtesy!

No one really knows whether it's good or bad. If prices rise to beyond the amounts you quote then you're better off with that fix, if they stay static or fall then you'd have been better off on the SVR. Only a good fortune teller will know now whether it was the right thing to do.

@TheNefariousOrange thank you for your reply 😊

I do wonder if part of the problem
is that people hadn't even heard of the price cap before this crisis, so assumed it was more of an emergency measure than it is and that's why they think it's an overall cap in the amount charged??

its not been the best time to have found yourself having to work it out for the first time! On the other hand, at least you know you need to find stuff out, others have been lulled into incorrect understandings by relatively stable rates, so they don't know, what they don't know!!

if you have any questions you have about finances, you just have to ignore the nasty or stupid posts and see what the majority say. Then try to do some independent reading about things, but with MN advice in the back if your mind do you can read the other advice with open eyes!

I hope you're doing well after your divorce!

I always check when the bill has been issued as I dont want to get caught out with a debt and I pay it then if necessary. Was ok for the summer doubt it will be in three months time.

I guess it is an easy oversight to make especially if you have been always on credit in the past.

I would grab that with both hands - the rates are below the October price cap.

i have looked at my bills and made a note of the useage but cannot see all the months of a year
and anyway, whether i know my usage or not, i basically know i need to reduce it!

I must have missed those posts about the bedding and curtains🤔 but I assume they mean duvets etc,not covers and sheets. It makes sense to wash them now anyway(weatherwise and if you're so inclined) if you can dry on the line regardless of energy rises so not sure why people are mentioning price rises in relation to it. I'm still bewildered by the amount of posters, day after day, asking others to work out how much electricity an appliance uses per hour despite constant explanations on what a kilowatt is and to allow 52p for each one used.