EDF Energy has said sorry for pushing a £2,100 energy deal that was £400 more expensive than its cheapest tariff.
Energy bills have been soaring due to the rising cost of gas and the Russian war on Ukraine, and experts warn they could soon hit £3,000 for many homes.
Most household energy bills are now regulated by the Ofgem price cap . This limits the yearly price of power to £1,971 for people on variable rate tariffs using an average amount of gas and electricity.
Historically fixed rate deals were far cheaper than variable rate ones, but the price of fixed deals is not subject to the price cap.
Has your energy firm recommended you a more expensive deal? Message mirror.money.saving@mirror.co.uk
As a result variable rate energy deals are now almost always cheaper than fixed rate energy tariffs, which have soared in price as energy firms are free to charge what they want for them.
So one EDF customer, a Mirror reporter, was surprised when he moved home and got a letter from EDF recommending he should 'choose a fixed price tariff for peace of mind'.
When he called up EDF to set up his energy bills, the firm mentioned the fixed rate tariff again and quoted him around £2,100 a year.
The reporter then asked if there were any variable rate deals he could pick, and was told he was eligible for a bill of £1,711 a year - almost £400 a year less.
If he hadn't known to ask, he would have been stuck paying the higher bill amid a cost of living crisis that is seeing high costs for goods like food and petrol too.
EDF has now apologised and said the customer should have been told about the cheaper tariff without having to ask.
An EDF spokesperson told the reporter: "All of our customer service advisors are instructed to share the details of all our tariffs with customers.
"We’re sorry this didn’t happen when you called and we will be reconfirming this guidance to our advisors.”
But energy expert Lynsey Jones, of Quote4Energy, said there may be advantages to the £2,100 tariff if energy costs keep rising.
This is because a fixed term tariff locks in a price for a set term, in this case a year.
A variable rate tariff, on the other hand, can go up or down in price.
So if energy bills rise, the customer could end up paying less over the course of a year with a fixed deal.
However, it is unsure what will happen with energy bills, and most experts agree that variable rate deals subject to the price cap are the cheapest option for most people.
Lynsey said: "If the fixed rate is 25% above the price cap, it could actually be quite a good deal that ends up protecting the customer."
