Top five fixed energy tariffs to protect against price rises

by Mark Vickery on 20 May 2011  |  6 comments
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Don’t wait until after the summer to think about your energy tariff – it will be too late.

It looks like price rises are about to kick off any day now. British Gas has just withdrawn the only remaining tariff under the £900 mark, after its parent company Centrica admitted that wholesale prices were up 25% on last year, which can only mean one thing... more price rises.

SSE is the latest to hint at “steep price rises”, according to the BBC, and even the Bank of England is worried that energy price rises will hit inflation later this year.

So what does this mean for us? We already suffered an average 9% price rise this winter, and when the expected 15% increase hits us we’ll be looking at an average bill of more than £1,200 per year: £100 per month! And with Chris Huhne’s ambitious Carbon Pledge set to add another £400 by 2020, the future doesn’t look rosy for our household bills.

The best way to protect your pockets is to grab one of the last few cheap fixed tariffs. These will ensure your prices don’t go up this year, or even up to 2014 if you opt for the longest term fix. But act fast – suppliers are already withdrawing these tariffs because they know they’ll lose out.

* Based on typical tariff costing £1,150 p.a. Based on Dual Fuel, payment by monthly Direct Debit, average usage as set by Ofgem.

 Compare energy tariffs at lovemoney.com