Energy price increases

blobb

Having just moved house, I inherited the previous owners provider - SO Energy - who put me on their 'out of contract rate'. I phoned them up thinking this rate would be like emergency tax. Was told that the all the fixed rates already had the price lift included whereas the out of contract (now re-branded as 'Flex'!) had not. So, at least until ~Oct, it's cheaper to pay the out of contract rate! Go figure...

wesker123

blobb said:

Having just moved house, I inherited the previous owners provider - SO Energy - who put me on their 'out of contract rate'. I phoned them up thinking this rate would be like emergency tax. Was told that the all the fixed rates already had the price lift included whereas the out of contract (now re-branded as 'Flex'!) had not. So, at least until ~Oct, it's cheaper to pay the out of contract rate! Go figure...

Yes, I'm with So Energy too. Same has happened to me since my fixed deal with them expired.

I thought it was bizarre, but if they want me to pay them less for now it's fine with me.

goldtop

^ Same here. Out of contract with Scottish Power, and even Octopus' fixed prices are higher than the variable I am now paying.

But, that's probably a sign that they expect prices to jump even higher, no?

exocet

I have just moved from Igloo (variable) to Avro (12 month fixed). Not much in it - £50 per year) when comparing AVRO against the proposed Oct 1st price Increase for Igloo. For me it's just a bit of protection in case there are further price rises (market conditions appear to be under pressure for further increases). Of course, my notional £50 saving is based upon Avro giving me the price that I was quoted yesterday....

Winny_Pooh

blobb said:

Having just moved house, I inherited the previous owners provider - SO Energy - who put me on their 'out of contract rate'. I phoned them up thinking this rate would be like emergency tax. Was told that the all the fixed rates already had the price lift included whereas the out of contract (now re-branded as 'Flex'!) had not. So, at least until ~Oct, it's cheaper to pay the out of contract rate! Go figure...

Thats because wholesale prices are insane ATM. Biggest jump for well over a decade.... so most out of contract will be cheaper than fixed until the price cap is revised. Even so the price cap is not covering wholesale costs as OFGEM uses an observation period that is a fair bit prior to a change in the capping.

Paul_C

I was with Igloo until just now, but I had an email offer to go back to EDF which has put me on a fixed rate for the next three years of about the same as Igloo were about to go up to, plus £75 credit on the account in a couple of months.

It might not turn out to be the absolute best deal, but I'd rather have peace of mind than anything else, plus Igloo were asking for a meter reading every month instead of every three or four months with EDF, which was a nuisance

Not only that, but I'm currently £160 in credit with Igloo, so hopefully I'll get a fair bit of that back too.

grungebob

Those out of contract prices are because they haven’t added October’s energy rises to them, where they have done to their fixed rates. I’d find a good fixed rate whilst you can. 

exocet

..............and AVRO have gone "pop", of course they took £200 of mine before going bang. The provider that I'm moving from has already been mentioned in despatches as being on the "probably won't be around for long" list - has £300 of mine in account Credit. Things are going to turn quite nasty over next few months......

chillidoggy

I’m into Avro for a few hundred. Advice is to wait until Ofgem appoints a new supplier.

Also Green, Utility Point, People’s Energy Co., PFP Energy, Moneyplus, Hub Energy, Green Network Energy and Simplicity have gone tits up.

exocet

chillidoggy said:

I’m into Avro for a few hundred. Advice is to wait until Ofgem appoints a new supplier.

We’ll see…

Both my current Provider (Igloo) and Avro are stating the same thing with respect to Account Credit balances (encouraging) but I don't feel inclined to keep the DD open for either given that I'm almost £600 in credit across both. My wood burner is going to take a hammering this winter, shame it only heats one room...

chillidoggy

exocet said:

chillidoggy said:

I’m into Avro for a few hundred. Advice is to wait until Ofgem appoints a new supplier.

We’ll see…

Both my current Provider (Igloo) and Avro are stating the same thing with respect to Account Credit balances (encouraging) but I don't feel inclined to keep the DD open for either given that I'm £500 in credit across both. 

I see your point. Hopefully more info will be forthcoming soon. Avro had 580,000 customers, so Ofgem better get a move on.

DiscoStu

If you fancy moving to Bulb then you can get up to £50 credit with my referral link. For clarity, I will also get paid if you use it.

https://join.bulb.co.uk/refer/stuart2759

exocet

DiscoStu said:

If you fancy moving to Bulb then you can get up to £50 credit with my referral link. For clarity, I will also get paid if you use it.

https://join.bulb.co.uk/refer/stuart2759

I'm pretty sure that come Feb, the only providers left will be EDF, EON, NPower, BGas, SSE plus another that I can't remember. All of the smaller providers will go under.

Stratavarious

DiscoStu said:

If you fancy moving to Bulb then you can get up to £50 credit with my referral link. For clarity, I will also get paid if you use it.

https://join.bulb.co.uk/refer/stuart2759

Bulb look like they are going bust too.  

 https://inews.co.uk/news/energy-provider-bulb-nationalised-government-scrambles-rescue-firm-supplies-1-7m-homes-121121

https://www.ft.com/content/11b1f0ec-5a6b-48d1-8d65-be26ead3a68d

The in-laws are on it. 

DiscoStu

Stratavarious said:

DiscoStu said:

If you fancy moving to Bulb then you can get up to £50 credit with my referral link. For clarity, I will also get paid if you use it.

https://join.bulb.co.uk/refer/stuart2759

Bulb look like they are going bust too.  

 https://inews.co.uk/news/energy-provider-bulb-nationalised-government-scrambles-rescue-firm-supplies-1-7m-homes-121121

https://www.ft.com/content/11b1f0ec-5a6b-48d1-8d65-be26ead3a68d

The in-laws are on it. 

Oh, I hadn't heard about Bulb being affected. Eyes peeled!

ArchtopDave

You can now add Avro and Green to the list of collapsed companies, and I think I read that Igloo have stopped taking on new customers.

Kittyfrisk

Oh well, guess who just moved to the USwitch recommended AVRO this year?
Still, it keeps my perfect record of three of my last energy providers being carefully chosen & then them collapsing (no, they weren't always the cheapest ).
Having previously had such fun experiences after being Ombudsman bounced to British Gas & Scottish Power I suppose I should buy an extra large tub of lube & bend over in anticipation... 
Bollocks!

Stratavarious

I suspect we will get scalped on next load of firewood too.

Extra jumpers it is. 

Haych

Yep, I switched to Avro earlier this year too. 

Things are about the get really expensive. Energy, food, transport, fuel. That’ll filter down to everything else as a cascading effect, of course. 

Question, though. Once my account has been moved by Ofgem to whoever, can I not just shop around for the best deal and clear off elsewhere?

exocet

Haych said:

Yep, I switched to Avro earlier this year too. 

Things are about the get really expensive. Energy, food, transport, fuel. That’ll filter down to everything else as a cascading effect, of course. 

Question, though. Once my account has been moved by Ofgem to whoever, can I not just shop around for the best deal and clear off elsewhere?

Of course you can, however I suspect that your options will be very restricted e.g “The Big 6”. It’s very unlikely that any outside of the 6 will survive into next year / beyond winter.