Hi all,
I have been fooled by Clicked Energy and now looking to join a new service provider. I want to know what a better option overall when choosing a provider that offers On time payment discount (i.e 35% etc) or flat rate?
Gas/Electricity Bills - Would you choose a Flat rate or On-time Payment discount provider?
[Deactivated] on 16/10/2018 - 20:43
Comments
That depends on the rate structure which has been created to make it impossible to compare prices without a spreadsheet and hours of time.
Just another aspect of the great customer service that privatisation has bought in. Combined with paying the highest rates in the world it's what makes the electricity system that the government implemented great. Voters should absolutely not feel like idiots for making this choice.
Your maths would need to be atrocious to need hours of time to work out which one is cheaper at the end of the day. This isn't shopping for canned tomatoes at the supermarket where people can't take a few minutes on each choice. This is a once-per-every-few-years decision.
Don't forget to carry the 1.
It is for VIC, not sure about the other States.
NSW, we've only be deregulated for a short period of time, and the Electricity companies have been very cautious, in case they get the whip regarding prices.
In NSW they're relatively comparably without a calculator if you're mathematically inclined, though its getting harder. Years ago my compare spreadsheet was just 1 page of data and parameters and result. IF I was to do the same it would be a couple of pages
VIC is the perfect example of dodgy privatisation, you need a giant spreadsheet to compare their data.
And the average person is pretty pathetic at maths,
Overall thought I'd be suspicious of so called flat rate, or the those peak/off peak deals (the worse example of dodgyness)
I'm in Vic and chose one of the ones that rated well on their Energy Compare website. It was one with a pay-on-time discount that made it take more time but after doing the multiplications I think it worked out better overall.
Ultimately I don't think you can really pin it down to a consistent answer. Households will just need to crunch the usage and numbers to work out what is the cheapest.
choosing a provider that offers On time payment discount (i.e 35% etc) or flat rate?
If you pay your bill on time, then the one with the cheapest rate at the end of the day (after discounts).
Don't forget to compare the daily service charges between them too ;)
Direct Debit from your credit card. It always comes out on the due date of the bill so you get the pay on time discount.
I'm confident in my ability to pay on time, so whichever one is cheaper including any pay-on-time discounts.
Momentum energy; No bull process. No bloated silly prices. Just flat fees.
Think this way - it's not so much a 35% pay - on - time discount - it's a massive (and likely) late payment fee. Avoid!