Have I made a big mistake?

ijustcouldntthinkofausername · 2022-08-14T14:03:51+00:00

I took Martin Lewis' advice a few months ago and stayed on a variable rate for my dual energy instead of taking the fixed rate which was £200 a month at the time, same as what the variable was. Have I made a mistake not going on the fixed rate?

hedgehoglurker · 14/08/2022 15:25

I doubt that was his advice. He has been advising to fix IF it meets certain criteria, which it sounds like your offer would have qualified for.

GreenLunchBox · 14/08/2022 15:28

This is odd. I can't imagine his advice being not to fix at the same price you were paying on the variable rate when he's been warning of the energy cap crisis since last year

hedgehoglurker · 14/08/2022 15:29

Also, are you just looking at Direct Debit amounts rather than the tariff? You need to know the fixed unit rates and standing charges to actually compare, not just an arbitrary DD amount that is a guess and likely to change.

Original poster

ijustcouldntthinkofausername · 14/08/2022 15:34

He was telling everyone not to panic and jump onto fixed rates though wasn't he so I didn't and now the fixed rate with my provider is £350 pm 😩😩

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Original poster

ijustcouldntthinkofausername · 14/08/2022 15:35

hedgehoglurker · 14/08/2022 15:29

Also, are you just looking at Direct Debit amounts rather than the tariff? You need to know the fixed unit rates and standing charges to actually compare, not just an arbitrary DD amount that is a guess and likely to change.

Yes I'm just looking at the direct debit costs 😕
I'm awful with things like this. I just don't get it 😩😩 stressing me out

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Jellybean23 · 14/08/2022 15:38

To be fair, Martin was giving advice based on the circumstances when he wrote his column. It has been updated as the situation changed.

Original poster

ijustcouldntthinkofausername · 14/08/2022 15:41

Should I go on the £350 fixed rate do u think? It's only fixed for 1yr

Currently paying £202 on variable

Don't know what to do 😩

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hedgehoglurker · 14/08/2022 15:47

I think the issue is that you don't understand how it works and you didn't read his advice in full - just the headlines or what you heard someone say he said.

This seems to have happened a lot and people are wrongly blaming Martin Lewis for their own mistakes. Or smugly claiming they knew better and fixed when he allegedly said not to, when he has in fact always advised people in what circumstances they should fix.

Yes, sorry, it looks like you have made a mistake, but it's not down to Martin Lewis.

Mybeautifulfriend22 · 14/08/2022 15:48

When our fix ended Martin was advising not to fix but some did meet criteria. We chose not to fix in the end because Ovo upped the rates after a week or so after offering a lower rate.

I can’t blame someone else’s advice as it was our choice in the end. We’ve still not fixed because the rates were so high to fix.

Yes I know it’s going up but we would of been paying all summer at a higher than standard rate. Will just pay for what we use.

Whatthetrolley · 14/08/2022 15:50

This is the current and predicted costs for kwh and standing charge. You need to compare these prices against what you've been offered, the direct debit amount is irrelevant at the moment.

hedgehoglurker · 14/08/2022 15:51

No one can advise you. The figures you give are essentially meaningless.

Do you have a smart meter or give regular monthly meter readings?

hedgehoglurker · 14/08/2022 15:52

(I imagine though at this point, you have missed the worthwhile fix and are currently better off staying on variable.)

berksandbeyond · 14/08/2022 16:00

Yep you've made a mistake.
As far back as October / November last year he was telling people not to fix, I ignored him and fixed and thank god we did

ChillyFloss · 14/08/2022 16:16

ijustcouldntthinkofausername · 14/08/2022 15:34

He was telling everyone not to panic and jump onto fixed rates though wasn't he so I didn't and now the fixed rate with my provider is £350 pm 😩😩

I have been wondering the same thing for a few weeks now. Martin Lewis absolutely did tell people not to fix their rates when they started to rise. At the time, he seemed to be convinced that there would be government intervention and that you risked locking in at high rates that you would be tied into when prices came down. I'm in the same boat. Didn't lock in on the basis of that advice and now am being advisd by various providers that I would be best to stay on my current tariff.

toffeechai · 14/08/2022 16:20

Nobody can advise you without knowing the actual details of your tariff.

Babysharkdoodoodood · 14/08/2022 16:24

berksandbeyond · 14/08/2022 16:00

Yep you've made a mistake.
As far back as October / November last year he was telling people not to fix, I ignored him and fixed and thank god we did

Yup. I ignored his advise and did a 2 year fix in November. Estimated use is about 720 electric and 578 for gas per YEAR!

Currently over paying the direct debit and paying 150/month so we'll be in credit when the fix ends in Nov 23.

Original poster

ijustcouldntthinkofausername · 14/08/2022 19:46

Whatthetrolley · 14/08/2022 15:50

This is the current and predicted costs for kwh and standing charge. You need to compare these prices against what you've been offered, the direct debit amount is irrelevant at the moment.

@Whatthetrolley
This is what's showing for me. It says my tarring is Next Flex (Eon Next is the provider)

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Original poster

ijustcouldntthinkofausername · 14/08/2022 19:46

Tarrif*

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Original poster

ijustcouldntthinkofausername · 14/08/2022 19:47

hedgehoglurker · 14/08/2022 15:51

No one can advise you. The figures you give are essentially meaningless.

Do you have a smart meter or give regular monthly meter readings?

Yes I have a smart meter

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hedgehoglurker · 14/08/2022 20:09

Great, so you will have all of your actual usage figures available on your account as you have a smart meter. They will also be billing you accurately.

The tariff you have shown us looks like the price cap, so when comparing you will know what you pay per kwh, which is each unit you use of electricity. (I think gas may have a calculation it goes through, which should be detailed on your bills/ account.)

Also, the standing charge is the daily rate, which is charged once per day, every day.

When they decide on your Direct Debit, they use lots of information to guess how much you are likely to use per year and divide it into a monthly figure to spread the cost more evenly over the year. However, this is an estimate, so if you are using more or less, they will change your DD to reflect this.

Original poster

ijustcouldntthinkofausername · 14/08/2022 20:24

hedgehoglurker · 14/08/2022 20:09

Great, so you will have all of your actual usage figures available on your account as you have a smart meter. They will also be billing you accurately.

The tariff you have shown us looks like the price cap, so when comparing you will know what you pay per kwh, which is each unit you use of electricity. (I think gas may have a calculation it goes through, which should be detailed on your bills/ account.)

Also, the standing charge is the daily rate, which is charged once per day, every day.

When they decide on your Direct Debit, they use lots of information to guess how much you are likely to use per year and divide it into a monthly figure to spread the cost more evenly over the year. However, this is an estimate, so if you are using more or less, they will change your DD to reflect this.

Thank you so much Hedgehog for getting back to me on this.
I am awful with things like this I'm not so clued up on them and it stresses me out.
We were first time buyers in this house and we just kept the same provider the previous people did, Npower initially but E.On Next took them over.

I shouldn't have just looked up where E.on Next ranks against the rest. But I did HA... ok I'm going to have a wine now.

Thanks guys I guess we're all in the same or similar shitty position. 🍷 cheers

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Original poster

ijustcouldntthinkofausername · 14/08/2022 20:26

Totally off subject but it came across my mind today how uncanny Years and Years is seeming to 'come true' just lately ???
If you haven't seen Years and Years on BBC iPlayer then watch it.
Weird.......

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toffeechai · 14/08/2022 20:32

ijustcouldntthinkofausername · 14/08/2022 20:26

Totally off subject but it came across my mind today how uncanny Years and Years is seeming to 'come true' just lately ???
If you haven't seen Years and Years on BBC iPlayer then watch it.
Weird.......

Yes! I’ve been saying this for ages and am surprised there aren’t loads of articles about it. It has the pandemic, Ukraine…

dementedpixie · 14/08/2022 20:32

Martin Lewis said not to fix if your new rate was over what the predicted price cap was going to be. E.g. my offered fixes are well over 100% of my current rates so I'm staying on the variable rate.

Its price per unit/kwh and standing charge you need to look at rather than the direct debit amount.

Original poster

ijustcouldntthinkofausername · 14/08/2022 21:20

Whatthetrolley · 14/08/2022 15:50

This is the current and predicted costs for kwh and standing charge. You need to compare these prices against what you've been offered, the direct debit amount is irrelevant at the moment.

@Whatthetrolley ok so based off this (thank you for providing me btw) I am going to be paying £336 per month from October...
It's weird my predicted annual usage is more than the average for 3 bed house.
But I had a baby last year so maybe the extra has been since having him 🤷🏼‍♀️
I've just rechecked the fixed rate for 12 months and it was £320 a month not £350 sorry.
However... I am currently in £211 credit so I'm not sure how they work it out but I am assuming that it'll work out roughly the same as variable ??
If costs are expected to rise to £500 come January (so I hear) then maybe the fixed at £320 is better for me??

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