Why do some people fix there tariff for gas & electric.

[Itsmeandhim]

I put in to set a fix rate. They wanted £158 per month.
This was from a fixed rate lasting until October 2023.
There are only the 2 of us.
We didn't reserve and still pay £92 per month.
I now pay each month.
Last month our bill was £81 per month. At the moment our bill will be as of 10pm tonight
£94.per month

You do know fixed rate doesn't mean you fix your monthly payment dont you? It fixes the price per unit the £158 they quoted would still be assessed and changed based on your meter readings at certain points usually every 6 months but you can request it in between times as well. Fixed price tariffs just Iver you some stability in terms of the price you pay per unit they are usually quite competitive price wise but not at the moment.

It used to be because it was the cheapest way to pay for energy. It's been like that for at least 20 years and is a mindset people are struggling to get out of.

People are also worrying about prices increasing even further and if they fix now, they might pay more, but won't see bigger rises later this year, that's the big gamble at the moment.

In terms of the price cap, it was about £1100 for a long time, now it's nearly £1300, in April it will be £1900 and I've just read that it could go up to £2400 in October, so doubling in a year, which is very worrying for many.

Yes, it's also worth checking what consumption £X pm is based on, as at least one company is offering long term fixes, based on estimated usage that look good, but are based on estimated usage, which will be too low for many.

Variable rates are restricted by the price cap - as a PP has said expect them to increase in April when the price cap increases.

Fixed rates are crazy at the moment but in normal times they are usually cheaper than the variable rate, or very competitive. Plus it locks in that cheap price for a period.

It is often the cheapest way to pay.

At the moment, the price cap means that variable rate is cheaper, because energy companies are not actually allowed to raise prices to anything like what they're actually having to pay for energy themselves.

However, a year or two ago, it would've been cheaper to be on a fixed rate - and you might have been able to avoid some of the recent price hikes, too.

Iirc current estimates of wholesale gas prices predict a big drop in Q3 of 2022 and an even bigger drop at some point of 2023, so just hold out another 6 months on variable and then fix for one year (that's my plan).

I committed to fixing for 2 years, starting last November, but at the prices that were current last July.

I'm damn glad I did now, because I have the security of knowing that my bills won't shoot up for a good while. And I'm slightly hopeful that by the time my current fix ends in Nov 23, wholesale gas prices might have come down again.

Fixed rates are often cheaper. I was on a variable rate they notified me rates were going up and my bill would triple. So I moved to a fixed rate where our bill would merely double.

If variable rates go down I will switch back (no penalty) but it’s highly unlikely so it’s good to know I’m tied in at a lower rate for a couple of years.