Hmm, my current fixed rate is coming to an end, looks like I'm looking at a 27% price increase. 

Here are my figures:

Usage Day 6500 / Night 12500 kWh
Current Night 7.84p per kWh / Day 15.35p per kWh = £1978 per year (£164 per month) - EDF

New Prices:
Best Large Supplier Quote -EDF
Night 8.673p per kWh / Day 22.05p per kWh = £2517 per year (£210 per month)

Best Any Supplier Quote - Symbio Energy
Day / Night 12.672p per kWh = £2408 per year (£201 per month)

Interesting that Symbio offer the same Day/Night rate.

Suspect my wife would like to put the washing machine and dishwasher on at any time but I will probably go with EDF given your feedback on Symbio.

Posted by: @jon-c

Hmm, my current fixed rate is coming to an end, looks like I'm looking at a 27% price increase. 

Here are my figures:

Usage Day 6500 / Night 12500 kWh
Current Night 7.84p per kWh / Day 15.35p per kWh = £1978 per year (£164 per month) - EDF

New Prices:
Best Large Supplier Quote -EDF
Night 8.673p per kWh / Day 22.05p per kWh = £2517 per year (£210 per month)

Best Any Supplier Quote - Symbio Energy
Day / Night 12.672p per kWh = £2408 per year (£201 per month)

Interesting that Symbio offer the same Day/Night rate.

Suspect my wife would like to put the washing machine and dishwasher on at any time but I will probably go with EDF given your feedback on Symbio.

 

Seems another price jump may happen in October at the next Ofgem price cap review if some press reports are to be believed. 

@jon-c, that's quite the increase. Symbio have a locked rate, and revise it every two months. So far, we haven't had to deal with them directly, but I shudder to think what dramas we'll have with them if we ever have to switch. 

Problem is we still can't find any other providers that are anywhere near their rate. 

For anyone who uses Symbio on the variable direct debit please check your emails.

I have received an email stating that they are introducing a new billing format with direct debits being fixed for two different amounts for certain times of the year. 

This is frustrating as the whole reason I like symbio is that my direct debit amount changes each month to reflect exactly what I’ve used. I don’t want to be waiting 6-8 months for my account to balance itself out only for it to happen again the following year.

You can reject the new billing format but have to do so by replying. If you ignore the email you will automatically be moved onto the new billing format. 

Here is the email:

@George, I received this this morning too. What I'm unclear about is what their new rate is going to be from July. 

That email is full of mistakes, inconsistencies and misleading claims.  It's complete garbage to be honest.  The more cynical amongst us might say this is simply a way of Symbio borrowing 20% of their turnover at 5% to keep them afloat for a bit longer. They will not be able to borrow at that rate commercially, even if they can borrow at all. 

I would expect Symbio to put up their variable rates as soon as they can.  They are the cheapest at the moment though.

@kev-m, I agree. The tariff is bound to go up, but for the time being they are by far the cheapest provider. I'm getting a bit anxious about tariffs now as all our calculations were based on 15p/kWh. Oil and gas have largely remained unchanged, but electricity is going up and up and up.

@editor, Mars,

you can still get a 12 month fix from PFP Energy for less than 15p.  I'm tempted by that.  My Symbio fix runs out end of July but they won't let me sign up until 21 days to the end. 

I’ll check out PFP to see if we can get a similar tariff.

Posted by: @kev-m

@editor, Mars,

you can still get a 12 month fix from PFP Energy for less than 15p.  I'm tempted by that.  My Symbio fix runs out end of July but they won't let me sign up until 21 days to the end. 

The ofgem rules are you can switch 49 days prior to the expiry date of a fixed term contract as far as I know, without paying any exit fees.

Is that PFP not saying the 21 days? 

@jeff , I'm sure you're right but it's Symbio saying 21days and I don't expect them to comply with much if anything Ofgem says. But in any case, even if the supplier you want has to accept you, if the tariff you want isn't available after a certain date there's not much you can do is there?

Posted by: @kev-m

@jeff , I'm sure you're right but it's Symbio saying 21days and I don't expect them to comply with much if anything Ofgem says. But in any case, even if the supplier you want has to accept you, if the tariff you want isn't available after a certain date there's not much you can do is there?

In theory you only need to sign up to the new supplier PFP 49 days or less before the end of your Symbio contract and then PFP will sort out the switch.

You don't need to contact Symbio yourself to get permission or tell them to start the transfer, you do it via PFP?

Starting the transfer via PFP in theory locks in the new rate from PFP, irrespective of how long the transfer takes unless the transfer is refused, for example outstanding payments and cancellation of Direct Debit too early for Symbio. 

I see some people have issues with Symbio if they don't have a credit balance at the time of the switch or cancel their direct debit too early so something to be careful of. Do you know why the 21 days? 

I can't speak for Symbio but i have had both Scottish Power and Ovo make goodwill payments recently when a small switch issue occurred regarding meter readings. A couple of digits were transposed, sorted out very quickly by them.

Given the reviews of both PFP and Symbio you may simply need to work through some issues in return for a much lower rate. I may take the plunge next time and split my dual fuel tariff across two suppliers to get better rates if prices keep going up, but I know the likely hood of issues will increase.