A person I know told me about the Seniors Card offer from AGL, which offers 38% off electricity and 25% off Gas usage. They asked if it was better than their current offer. Their current offer is with Red Energy for 12% off for electricity and 15% off for gas on the total bill.
I did a comparison for their current electricity bill and found they would be worse off with the AGL offer for Seniors Card holders. My own current provider is Dodo and with 40% off electricity usage and 25% off gas usage beats both AGL and Red Energy.
Today I also received the same letter from the government. This made me realise this is one of those paid for offers that uses the Seniors Card marketing database and makes money for the government, but may not be best for consumers, in particular Seniors Card holders.
You shouldn't take any of these offers at face value. Even if the offer is from the government doesn't mean it is the best value for you. The government really shouldn't be using our information in this way but that's their choice. Since people are receiving these offers from a trusted source it makes the ad more convincing to people. Don't trust these offers.
What you should do is create a spreadsheet and enter the figures for your current provider and any offer you receive. It's very easy for energy retailers to offer higher discounts, but in the end their actual charges may be higher to begin with. Only performing a calculation will let you know for sure if the offer is good or not for you.
So far the best offers I've seen have been from Alinta Energy and Dodo Power and Gas. Even so, prices change so it's best to check prices whenever you're reviewing your energy needs.
Kelvin Eldridge
I did a comparison for their current electricity bill and found they would be worse off with the AGL offer for Seniors Card holders. My own current provider is Dodo and with 40% off electricity usage and 25% off gas usage beats both AGL and Red Energy.
Today I also received the same letter from the government. This made me realise this is one of those paid for offers that uses the Seniors Card marketing database and makes money for the government, but may not be best for consumers, in particular Seniors Card holders.
You shouldn't take any of these offers at face value. Even if the offer is from the government doesn't mean it is the best value for you. The government really shouldn't be using our information in this way but that's their choice. Since people are receiving these offers from a trusted source it makes the ad more convincing to people. Don't trust these offers.
What you should do is create a spreadsheet and enter the figures for your current provider and any offer you receive. It's very easy for energy retailers to offer higher discounts, but in the end their actual charges may be higher to begin with. Only performing a calculation will let you know for sure if the offer is good or not for you.
So far the best offers I've seen have been from Alinta Energy and Dodo Power and Gas. Even so, prices change so it's best to check prices whenever you're reviewing your energy needs.
Kelvin Eldridge
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