Gas and Electricity - whats currently best?
- Thread starter natarli1
- Start date
xxlshirts_fit_all
Well-known member
By the look of it Octopus is but they seem to want a month in advance from me to move, then a payment 14 days later.. as well as a payment to my current supplier that I’d get back as credit, but I can’t afford all that in one month
afcb_acklam
Well-known member
I find outfoxthemarket hard to beat
Emmersons_BrazillianDong
Well-known member
Do not fix your rates.
There's a massive thread on this first page about the Octopus tracker. Read the first post if nothing else.
My two year fix (old cheap deal) runs out at the end of Sept. I've had a good run but will be joining Octopus tracker myself due to the massive savings made by those who been trying it
There's a massive thread on this first page about the Octopus tracker. Read the first post if nothing else.
My two year fix (old cheap deal) runs out at the end of Sept. I've had a good run but will be joining Octopus tracker myself due to the massive savings made by those who been trying it
uncle_rico
Well-known member
Just switched to utility warehouse and it was by far the cheapest. Can leave anytime and the more things you take out with them (insurance, broadband, mobile phone) the more discount you get.
ThatFragranceGuy
Well-known member
Awful company , and they're an MLM. broadband is really expensive, and they're well known for overcharging people and taking them to collections
ThatFragranceGuy
Well-known member
Gas / elec octopus tracker
All info here it's a long read but you'll save £££
https://fmttmboro.com/index.php?thr...ls-nearly-in-half-with-octopus-tracker.41946/
Todays price is 17.9p elec 4.4p gas
All info here it's a long read but you'll save £££
https://fmttmboro.com/index.php?thr...ls-nearly-in-half-with-octopus-tracker.41946/
Todays price is 17.9p elec 4.4p gas
ThatFragranceGuy
Well-known member
Most suppliers aren't credit accounts so you do generally pay a month to join. Are you in any credit with your current supplier as you could stop your dd and fund the swap with that? The savings are that extreme for most people I'd actually almost encourage people to short term borrow money to do the switch but I'm not that unscrupulousBy the look of it Octopus is but they seem to want a month in advance from me to move, then a payment 14 days later.. as well as a payment to my current supplier that I’d get back as credit, but I can’t afford all that in one month
but seriously, if antone wants to PM me their annual usage in units for gas and elec and what you're paying now, I'll happily send you an estimate of what that would look like on tracker
We've saved an absolute fortune as we are high elec users
ThatFragranceGuy
Well-known member
Just on this it's wrong to say you can leave any time, Utility warehouse has exit fees of £150 if you're on their 8% under the price cap fix but you will then be contracted in for insurance and broadband and whatever else you've taken for often 12-24 months and will then lose some discount so be paying even more
If you're not in their fix then you can leave any time but again still contracted in to those overpriced products which you could get better prices else and benefit from additional money from the likes of TopCashback or Quidco on each product. Often the products have different length contracts which complicates leaving
Octopus is currently 30% or so cheaper than the price cap and prices are forecast to go down not up.
There should be another price cap reduction come oct in line with prices dropping although it will be small
But can't stress enough what a godawful company Utility warehouse are. Their sales reps don't receive a salary so all infest various groups trying to shill their products and have zero shame. Most reps end up earning a few pounds per week for hours of work. Horrible business model that should be legislated out.
uncle_rico
Well-known member
Not in the tarrif I’m on. I’m not an idiot and shopped around. It was by far the best deal and saved £150/month on gas & elec.
uncle_rico
Well-known member
I didn’t get their broadband as got a really good deal with Virgin. My gas and electric with UW is great though, saved me a packet. Don’t let that get in the way of some people’s commission though…
ThatFragranceGuy
Well-known member
What are your elec and gas unit rates?
ThatFragranceGuy
Well-known member
Filling in a quote on UW's website it tells me elec is
& gas is
So on average a few pence cheaper per day on standing charges but about 50% more expensive on unit rates than octopus tracker
And that's assuming I take out their overpriced broadband which is a snip at £23 for 30 odd mb or £36 for 68mb, a SIM card and boiler or income cover which could be had for less elsewhere
- Unit Rate
- 29.734 pence per kWh
& gas is
- Unit Rate
- 7.076 pence per kWh
So on average a few pence cheaper per day on standing charges but about 50% more expensive on unit rates than octopus tracker
And that's assuming I take out their overpriced broadband which is a snip at £23 for 30 odd mb or £36 for 68mb, a SIM card and boiler or income cover which could be had for less elsewhere
afcb_acklam
Well-known member
I too dislike their sales model, I see a lot of usually older people pressurised to switch to their services without being told they will lose their email addresses etc until its too late. That said, they do usually seem happy with the prices, but thats because they've left some horrific contract with BT, BG etc, where they were being royally shafted.
ThatFragranceGuy
Well-known member
It's the fact it ties it up with other services that so often causes the problems as the discounts on all services are linked and a missed DD can lead to 4 services increasing in price.I too dislike their sales model, I see a lot of usually older people pressurised to switch to their services without being told they will lose their email addresses etc until its too late. That said, they do usually seem happy with the prices, but thats because they've left some horrific contract with BT, BG etc, where they were being royally shafted.
A fix comes along for gas and elec so you leave, but then you have broadband and insurance tied up with then or whatever
Plus sales reps tend to "save" people money most often by quoting DD amount which is the biggest red herring going, it's unit rate and standing charge it all boils down to. As you say lot of people seem happy with them hit they've usually "saved" money on broadband from bt where they were paying £45 for 22mb or something ridiculous. Open market comparisons and cashback deals trump all of UW products. I've had many conversations with their reps and they always want to quote dd amount and hide the unit rates.
Theyre also the supplier that force fit the highest proportional percentage of prepayment meters to customers in debt
Home Emergency cover is available for £25 a year in your home insurance and pest cover : boiler cover also available cheaper as well, all with their own cashback and then it's only tied to itself or your home insurance, all on the same length contract rather than some on 12, some on 18. If hit on a fix you can leave energy before the 12 months but then you've got other services with them for 12-18 months and will lose discounts, honestly horrible model.
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ThatFragranceGuy
Well-known member
Also outfox are a good little supplier, they had their issues in the past but always found them responsive etc. price was the only reason I left them and I'd use them again.
xxlshirts_fit_all
Well-known member
Yeah I think part of it is just switching apathy…Most suppliers aren't credit accounts so you do generally pay a month to join. Are you in any credit with your current supplier as you could stop your dd and fund the swap with that? The savings are that extreme for most people I'd actually almost encourage people to short term borrow money to do the switch but I'm not that unscrupulous
but seriously, if antone wants to PM me their annual usage in units for gas and elec and what you're paying now, I'll happily send you an estimate of what that would look like on tracker
We've saved an absolute fortune as we are high elec users
I used to switch regularly when fixed deals were better. I’m a high end user and charge my electric car on it.. it’s the evening tariff that speaks to me but it’s just sorting the account out and the multiple payments I need to sort out..
Also, because I get my car charge paid for I don’t include that in my current DD as I pay it when my expenses clear, but octopus include it in my monthly payment…
I will sort it soon, just need to buck my ideas up…
ThatFragranceGuy
Well-known member
A few people have done the figures and the night tariff works out well if you can load shift and do washing etc over night as well as charging an EV and all that jazz. Or if you have solar and batteries.
The peak time prices tho around 4pm-7pm are expensive eg here is todays;
It can work out great if you can really make use of it but many people benefit from the generally daily cheap prices on the tracker as don't matter if you need to run something at 7pm or 7am , but if you have your energy profile you can run some numbers, Andy W can probably help with that as think he uses it.
Today on tracker it's 17.9p all day
No good for me as all my **** is running during that peak time
uncle_rico
Well-known member
Didn’t get it through their website, I know someone who works for them and after giving them all of my info they found the deal. Depends how you sign up with them I guess, but as I say was much cheaper than everywhere else.
ThatFragranceGuy
Well-known member
So what are your unit rates?
My reason for asking is because it's common for UW to quote on DD amount and not unit rates and therefore I'd be surprised if it was cheaper than anyone out there (which by default includes octopus agile and tracker) as I've looked at the lists of UW tariff and can't see anything close to them, nor is there any mention of there being anything cheaper on any of the energy forums I post on such as MSE Energy.
Knowing someone that "works" for them sounds like a rep, and they're the ones that usually quote DD amount however DD amount isn't a comparable metric for energy costs, but as they receive no salary and therefore don't actually work for them, it's in their best interest to quote you that way as it sounds like a steal and they get a percent of your payment while you're with them.
Average rep makes something like £21 a week, it is a grim industry.
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