Block fresh hikes with a few savvy switches!
Why prices are going up tomorrow (and how you can escape the pain)
Tomorrow yet more price hikes will hit, driving up the cost of fuel, energy, TV and broadband. From midnight, we will have to pay an extra 4c a litre for petrol at the pumps and 3c more for diesel. Also from tomorrow, Eir, Sky, Three and Vodafone will hike TV, broadband and phone bills by up to nearly €100 a year.
And piling on even more pain, our energy bills will spike after April with no more Government ‘credits’ to come from then onwards.
All this comes as household bills have spiralled to record levels.
Just paying two types of bill – energy plus TV/broadband – could cost us as much as €5,000 a year, and we’ll pay more than €4,000 on average.
But the news isn’t all bad – and there’s plenty we can do to avoid the pain.
Fuel and energy supports are unwinding because energy prices and inflation generally are coming down.
To reverse a common adage, this is the ‘storm before the calm’ and prices should ease from here on in.
This week, Yuno dropped its electricity prices for the fourth time this year, likely fuelling yet another round of price cuts.
And there’s plenty of value to be had in the TV and broadband market where some providers are more than 50% cheaper than their rivals.
Here, we examine the markets under price pressure right now – gas, electricity and TV/broadband/ phone. And we’ll show how you could save close to €2,000 on those bills if you’re already paying through the nose.
We also look at how to save at the pumps. But first, a quick search on comparison site Bonkers.ie identifies the dearest energy providers...
PRICE SHOCK
PrepayPower takes this dubious honour for the gas market, charging €1,690 a year on one of its plans.
Another prepaid operator, Pinergy, charges an eye-watering €2,004 a year for electricity.
That means you’d be paying almost €4,000 for energy alone with these plans.
But how low could our bills go if we were to shop around?
ENERGY SAVINGS
Let’s look at energy first. The lowest variable rate gas price is available from Bord Gáis, while Electric
Ireland has the cheapest variable rate electricity.
Fixed prices are lower still but are not recommended right now (see below right).
Snapping up the lowest variable deals saves €799, according to Bonkers.ie, if you’re on average rates.
Or you could earn yourself up to €1,874 extra a year if you’re already paying top dollar in the
market.
That should shield you from any more price shocks – or even pay for a nice sun holiday where you can forget all about those pesky energy bills.
DON’T FIX IT WHEN PRICES ARE FALLING
Avoid fixed rates and pre-pay deals.
A glance at our table suggests pre-payment might not be the way to go.
I’m not a big fan of pre-paying anyway as you’re effectively paying an additional monthly bill.
Alas, it’s not quite that simple. Yuno (actually owned by PrepayPower) is also a pre-payment operator and it’s leading the way with price cuts.
Yuno is certainly the cheapest electricity deal on the market right now, which might tempt you to snap it up, even if it is pre-paid.
However, Yuno’s deal is fixed, as are most of the current cheapest deals, and when wholesale prices are falling, it’s not a good idea to lock into a fixed rate.
Instead, we’re recommending variable rates, which are likely to fall further in the next year.
BOX CLEVER WITH TV & BROADBAND
From tomorrow Eir, Sky, Three and Vodafone bills will rise by between €24 and €96 a year, depending on your plan and provider.
These companies have brought in a more-than-annoying practice of mid-contract price hikes that apply on April 1.
Eir, Vodafone and Three will hit customers with a rise amounting to inflation +3% annually.
With inflation so high – at 4.6% – this means a painful 7.6% jump this year.
Regulator Comreg has expressed concern at this practice – though it has no control over prices.
The issue has also been raised by the opposition in the Dáil, though again there’s no sign that they can do anything about it.
You could always opt for Virgin, which is the only major player to spare its customers thus far.
But as it’s also the dearest provider for long-term pricing, that’s not much consolation.
There’s no point fleeing Eir to go to Virgin to end up paying up to €107 a month to avoid a €3 increase in your €50 monthly Eir bill.
Eir offers by far the cheapest monthly deal of €44.98 – though this is set to jump. It also doubles after year one.
Vodafone has a much dearer €70 a month compared to the other initial offerings.
However, while the other three operators more than double their rates after a year, Vodafone’s stay the same.
Despite their mid-contract shenanigans, Darragh Cassidy from Bonkers.ie still recommends Eir and Vodafone on price alone.
‘It’s a close call,’ he says. ‘But Eir just about edges it because of its tie-in with Apple TV (you get a free Apple 4k box) and its competitive pricing in the first year, perhaps.
However, if longer-term value is important, it’s hard to look past Vodafone, especially given its new improved TV service.’
But brace yourself for prices going up from tomorrow – and every year thereafter.
PUMP IT UP…
There’s still time to ease the pain of rising fuel prices tomorrow.
The obvious one is to top up your tank today. The average tank is about 55 litres, so you could save up to €2 – or even more if you have a petrol car that’s nearing empty.
And if you pay attention to prices at the pumps, you could save even more now and on an ongoing basis.
There’s an 11c+ price gap between the dearest and cheapest garages in Dublin alone, according to the voluntary price inspectors that update the website Pumps.ie
That difference would save you nearly €6 per fill – or around €300 a year.
We recommend checking Pumps.ie for the latest updates but remember that prices are updated by volunteers and are not comprehensive or always up-to-date.