UK Energy Prices

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3ewwej0p13o

Energy suppliers in the UK are pulling a raft of fixed-price tariffs from the market following a spike in oil and gas prices caused by the US-Israel war with Iran.

It also mentions Octopus.

Octopus said it has "temporarily" introduced exit fees because of the wholesale price spike, meaning new customers leaving its fixed tariff before the end of their contract will have to pay to do so.

[SnoopZ]

I still have a Octopus fixed rate available to me to select but when clicking through it I still have a £50 exit fee on both fuels for the next 37 days, so I guess I'll just ride it out 7 till early April and see what happens after. One thing I'll be doing is avoiding the Trackers.

[Jaymoss]

The "Switching Window": Ofgem regulations allow you to switch suppliers without penalty during the final 49 days (roughly 7 weeks) of your fixed term.

So Snoop is your fixed term ending in the 37 days or is the end date 49 days after this ?

My tariff had £75 exit fees each (it was a special cheap tariff Octopus only had for a short time) but they notified me of the 49 days I searched and switched

[SnoopZ]

Originally Posted by Jaymoss

The "Switching Window": Ofgem regulations allow you to switch suppliers without penalty during the final 49 days (roughly 7 weeks) of your fixed term.

So Snoop is your fixed term ending in the 37 days or is the end date 49 days after this ?

My tariff had £75 exit fees each (it was a special cheap tariff Octopus only had for a short time) but they notified me of the 49 days I searched and switched

My app says my current tariff ends on 11 April with 36 days remaining.

Edit- I've just emailed them, I'll likely leave everything to late as I don't have time to faff around before work today, I'm in no panic of anything.

[SnoopZ]

Think I've decided to drop onto Octopus Flexible on 11th April and see what happens, I could change to Outfox fixed rate still which says it's £70 cheaper than Octopus fixed rate but I dont like the £150 exit fees.

[Jaymoss]

Originally Posted by SnoopZ

Think I've decided to drop onto Octopus Flexible on 11th April and see what happens, I could change to Outfox fixed rate still which says it's £70 cheaper than Octopus fixed rate but I dont like the £150 exit fees.

So you use a voucher app and get free iptv for a few quid and love the fact you save money but here you go on the expensive tariff and lose money?

How I factored it all was my fix was ending the flexible tariff would have meant a big increase Outfox was the same as what I was already on so no increase now and it will go down by 7% in April on top. Now I did my math and lose out on this we would have to see 2 more drops in the 12 months at least and with the war I doubt we will see any more so I see no way of losing even with the 150 quid to leave

My Octopus had £150 to leave but I won all year long hehe

[SnoopZ]

Originally Posted by Jaymoss

So you use a voucher app and get free iptv for a few quid and love the fact you save money but here you go on the expensive tariff and lose money?

How I factored it all was my fix was ending the flexible tariff would have meant a big increase Outfox was the same as what I was already on so no increase now and it will go down by 7% in April on top. Now I did my math and lose out on this we would have to see 2 more drops in the 12 months at least and with the war I doubt we will see any more so I see no way of losing even with the 150 quid to leave

My Octopus had £150 to leave but I won all year long hehe

I was at work so now I've had time to think more clearly.

I've just tried to switch to Outfox but strangely it won't let me enter a start date after April 2nd, the start date I need should be 11th April when my Octopus Fix ends so I'll try again in the morning on a PC.

Or am I misunderstanding and I can actually switch before the Octopus end date?

Edit - I think I can switch now as I'm in the last 49 day period.

[Jaymoss]

you can switch within 49 days of your contract end date

---------- Post added at 23:35 ---------- Previous post was at 23:32 ----------

Customers are entitled to switch to a new deal or supplier from 49 days before the end of their contract, with Ofgem stating that exit fees should not be applicable to switches from a fixed-term tariff within that window.

https://www.uswitch.com/gas-electric...y-energy-deal/

[SnoopZ]

Just switched and asked for it to start on 1st April, the direct debit starts on March 23rd for some reason.

I actually thought the site had crashed when I clicked the sign-up button as it was spinning for a few mins but it worked in the end.

Can you please tell me how the switch works, I guess it just sorts itself out, but what about any credit on my octopus account?

Edit - the outfox email has confused me it's saying my start date is March 13th even though I selected April 1st!

Originally Posted by SnoopZ

Can you please tell me how the switch works, I guess it just sorts itself out, but what about any credit on my octopus account?

It just works.

They generally ask you for meter readings a day or two before switch date, and use them for switching purposes.
OFE will charge you for usage from the switch, and Octopus work out your final bill and (may even **) charge you.


** In my case, I owed Octopus on the date of switch, so I waited until the day after and payed off what I owed at that point (i.e. zeroed my balance). A few weeks later they did my final Gas bill (only). I zeroed the account again the next day, still no final electric bill, and after about 2/3 months Octopus auto credited me £40 for the delay. I waited another few weeks then asked them to refund my £40 credit, which they did. I never did get a final electric bill to pay.