Edf asked me for a meter reading on Tuesday, I got the bill by email today .. the new rules now say that any cash residue after the bill is settled is to be refunded .. I am to get a nice repayment in my a/c in early July .. goodish news for a change and AT LAST a good piece of work by the Govt
For various reasons we don't have a smart meter so I have to submit readings myself. When I don't, they (Bulb) use estimated readings. On my latest bill and statement they overestimated my electricity use by a massive 893 KwH over just 2 months since my last meter readings at the end of March. Applying their current price of 28.221p/KwH that equated to being overcharged by £252.01 in just 2 months!! The gas has also been overestimated but only by about a month's worth. Un-fucking-believable!
I complained about this of course and they have credited the overcharged amount back to my account (Bulb account, not bank account; so they've still got the money) and reduced the monthly payments a bit. I'm now going to be submitting meter readings every month and calculating how much I'm actually spending rather than the amount they want me to pay.
For various reasons we don't have a smart meter so I have to submit readings myself. When I don't, they (Bulb) use estimated readings. On my latest bill and statement they overestimated my electricity use by a massive 893 KwH over just 2 months since my last meter readings at the end of March. Applying their current price of 28.221p/KwH that equated to being overcharged by £252.01 in just 2 months!! The gas has also been overestimated but only by about a month's worth. Un-fucking-believable!
I complained about this of course and they have credited the overcharged amount back to my account (Bulb account, not bank account; so they've still got the money) and reduced the monthly payments a bit. I'm now going to be submitting meter readings every month and calculating how much I'm actually spending rather than the amount they want me to pay.
Bulb is another one of those energy suppliers which i m o verge on the edge of fraudulent trading .. they are being propped up by the Govt through increased energy bills for all other users .. other companies just prior to going bust have handed out bonuses and dividends to their owners/share holders, knowing the company is failing .. this is evidently OK according to company law, to my mind the recipients of this cash and those who paid it should all spend a few months in the slammer and have their bank a/cs frozen .. https://youtu.be/wNt74QfkmEw
The failures of energy providers and the mess it’s left behind is a classic example of why some basic necessities for living should not be left to the frailties of the market.
For various reasons we don't have a smart meter so I have to submit readings myself. When I don't, they (Bulb) use estimated readings. On my latest bill and statement they overestimated my electricity use by a massive 893 KwH over just 2 months since my last meter readings at the end of March. Applying their current price of 28.221p/KwH that equated to being overcharged by £252.01 in just 2 months!! The gas has also been overestimated but only by about a month's worth. Un-fucking-believable!
I complained about this of course and they have credited the overcharged amount back to my account (Bulb account, not bank account; so they've still got the money) and reduced the monthly payments a bit. I'm now going to be submitting meter readings every month and calculating how much I'm actually spending rather than the amount they want me to pay.
I would say this is a basic, staple requirement if you do not want to be overcharged. I do not have a smart meter however I email my meter readings to Octopus at the end of each month without fail.
For various reasons we don't have a smart meter so I have to submit readings myself. When I don't, they (Bulb) use estimated readings. On my latest bill and statement they overestimated my electricity use by a massive 893 KwH over just 2 months since my last meter readings at the end of March. Applying their current price of 28.221p/KwH that equated to being overcharged by £252.01 in just 2 months!! The gas has also been overestimated but only by about a month's worth. Un-fucking-believable!
I complained about this of course and they have credited the overcharged amount back to my account (Bulb account, not bank account; so they've still got the money) and reduced the monthly payments a bit. I'm now going to be submitting meter readings every month and calculating how much I'm actually spending rather than the amount they want me to pay.
I would say this is a basic, staple requirement if you do not want to be overcharged. I do not have a smart meter however I email my meter readings to Octopus at the end of each month without fail.
Just got my Octopus bill for the past two months and I’m going to have to do the same, they’ve massively overestimated my gas & electricity usage.
For various reasons we don't have a smart meter so I have to submit readings myself. When I don't, they (Bulb) use estimated readings. On my latest bill and statement they overestimated my electricity use by a massive 893 KwH over just 2 months since my last meter readings at the end of March. Applying their current price of 28.221p/KwH that equated to being overcharged by £252.01 in just 2 months!! The gas has also been overestimated but only by about a month's worth. Un-fucking-believable!
I complained about this of course and they have credited the overcharged amount back to my account (Bulb account, not bank account; so they've still got the money) and reduced the monthly payments a bit. I'm now going to be submitting meter readings every month and calculating how much I'm actually spending rather than the amount they want me to pay.
I would say this is a basic, staple requirement if you do not want to be overcharged. I do not have a smart meter however I email my meter readings to Octopus at the end of each month without fail.
Just got my Octopus bill for the past two months and I’m going to have to do the same, they’ve massively overestimated my gas & electricity usage.
Don't understand this as they send me an email on the 28th of each month reminding me to take, and send them my meter readings, if you get these emails and choose to ignore them then overestimated bills are to be expected.
This has been the norm for the last 3 years, nothing to do with the energy price rises.
My electric bill went up drastically when my smart meter was fitted.I would check how your meter is reading before you get a smart meter.
If you want to save money on petrol and diesel I recommend getting an electric bike to commute to work I bought one 6 months ago it’s paid for itself already.
Evens cycles are selling one at moment for £550 instead of £1100. I got a Swifty of Amazon £520 instead of £800 I don’t think petrol or diesel will ever go below £1.50 again so it a good investment if you can commute on a bike. All party’s in government in this country are against motorists and want us off the roads because there overcrowded and there making a fortune out of taxing us in the proceed.
They should shut the railways down and turn them into cycle lanes to commute into London.
They do make me laugh. Was paying British gas £100 a month spring/summer 2021. Come October they owed me £500 and put me down to £60 a month with winter coming, by April this year I owed £300. Now £160 a month.
Our gas bill is currently over £400 a month due to a faulty valve which meant our water tank was being heated 24/7. Must have been going on for at least 6 bloody months. Now I manually switch on the boiler once a day for about an hour and our consumption is down by around 65%. At least we should be one of the few households to see our gas bill go down this winter.
They do make me laugh. Was paying British gas £100 a month spring/summer 2021. Come October they owed me £500 and put me down to £60 a month with winter coming, by April this year I owed £300. Now £160 a month.
Computer says "I'm just as thick as a human being".
Interestingly I was considering switching to Octopus 🐙 today but credit to them, they had a message on their website saying something along the lines of, As Energy prices are very high at the moment it’s probably not advisable to switch suppliers but to stay put and wait until fuel prices come down and then consider it.
Martin Lewis is tweeting about the changes in price cap from October, now predicted to be up by 64%. He has asked people to retweet so that they are aware of what is coming.
NEWS: I feel sick writing this! I've just got the latest price cap predictions from @CornwallInsight. A huge spike in the key year-ahead wholesale price means
OCT cap prediction UP 64% (so £3,244/yr on typical bills) JAN cap prediction UP 4% (so £3,363/yr)
The cost of solar panels and batteries rules out 99.9% of U.K. homes. It might well be the ecological thing to do and over the long game be cost effective but for most people it’s a fantasy.
I agree - the solution lies perhaps in Government subsidy and as part of the overall renewables agenda. If every house in the country had solar/battery technology installed how much would that compare with the costs of on/off-shore wind farms?
This is not a job to be left to the private sector.
Agree
Puts me in mind of the way all victorian terraces that were originally 2 up 2 down have extensions on the back. Like... have you ever seen one that doesn't? V rare.
Know why? Govt made it basically free so that people could have inside toilets and therefore improved sanitation.
Just read this and am flabbergasted. Amazing that this sort of thing was (and probably still is) allowed to go on without someone actually being hauled over the coals for doing something "wrong".
And that's the worst part; even though they appear to have been crap businessmen and ran the business badly - not even collecting money from some customers is pretty shocking! - it's arguable as to whether they actually did anything "wrong" from a legal and regulatory viewpoint. Amazing.
a few hundred quid in credit with ovo. I'm not able to reduce my direct debit (they wont let me). Only started a few months ago. They only have to treat 10,000 other people the same way as me for them to have millions in the bank collecting interest. Complete scam.
Just read this and am flabbergasted. Amazing that this sort of thing was (and probably still is) allowed to go on without someone actually being hauled over the coals for doing something "wrong".
And that's the worst part; even though they appear to have been crap businessmen and ran the business badly - not even collecting money from some customers is pretty shocking! - it's arguable as to whether they actually did anything "wrong" from a legal and regulatory viewpoint. Amazing.
There's definitely a "be careful what you wish for" here. Our regulators keep maintaining that consumers need more choice to stimulate fairness and competition and ultimately enhance consumer benefit. So they lower barriers for entry and whilst some entities deservedly benefit and innovation & growth is encouraged, you also catch some sharks. Financial services is opening up now exactly like energy did a few years ago. It's not just adding competition that should be used as the tactic to enhance consumer value - when it goes wrong and the checks & balances aren't good enough, the consumer ends up worse off!
a few hundred quid in credit with ovo. I'm not able to reduce my direct debit (they wont let me). Only started a few months ago. They only have to treat 10,000 other people the same way as me for them to have millions in the bank collecting interest. Complete scam.
We are in the middle of summer though. A few hundred will likely be gone by the end of winter. Isnt that the point tho, to be in credit over summer in order to even out bills over the year.
I think Marin Lewis is right in as much that if the government don’t intervene in some significant way to reduce the burden on energy next winter then people are going to get very angry. In October bills are said to reach £3850 for most households. There are going to be many that just won’t be able to absorb that without serious difficulty and some not at all.
I think the government are perfectly aware that they are going to have to do something but want to leave it as long as is humanly possible before making any announcement. I’m cynical enough to think that a new Prime Minister would absolutely love that as an incoming flagship policy. If I’m wrong and the government only tinker with this then I really do think civil disobedience is quite possible.
What has so far been done in the U.K. to protect energy customers is appalling. By October the rise over the previous year will have I think gone up by a staggering 64%. In France the increase has been capped by the government at 4%.
There is a lot of talk of helping the poor here, which I support totally. But it is very important that the middle class get respite from the Tsunami approaching. If people are spending too much of their income on this, it will effect the economy as they won't spend it elsewhere, and create a serious recession.
There is a lot of talk of helping the poor here, which I support totally. But it is very important that the middle class get respite from the Tsunami approaching. If people are spending too much of their income on this, it will effect the economy as they won't spend it elsewhere, and create a serious recession.
Very good point. People will have to choose between say energy and eating out as often as they normally would so cut down on going out, which leads to economic downturn, job losses etc. The Government needs to do something and I’m sure they will but will it be enough.
Quite simply, the £400.00 for all households has now been swallowed up & then some by this predicted increase in October (77% on current!) Surely the answer is to increase this to say £600/700.
That way it provides some respite to all? Or am i looking at this too objectively?
Got email saying my fixed deal is ending in September - currently dual fuel ~£180pcm. Default is a switch to variable rate and they want £340pcm. Best (???) 'fixed' deal they are offering is £590pcm...
Quite simply, the £400.00 for all households has now been swallowed up & then some by this predicted increase in October (77% on current!) Surely the answer is to increase this to say £600/700.
That way it provides some respite to all? Or am i looking at this too objectively?
the cash payments whilst welcome, are a sticking plaster on a problem requiring major surgery .. why are our energy price problems so desperate ? .. long list of reasons .. The lack of a long term coherent energy policy, lack of investment in nuclear power and gas storage, too much emphasis (though well meant) on 'green' power.. and mostly, too much governmental pandering to the mostly foreign owned power generators and oil producers .. unfortunately problems that will take a lot of time and most importantly will power to solve, and willpower is a commodity successive governments have simply not had
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I complained about this of course and they have credited the overcharged amount back to my account (Bulb account, not bank account; so they've still got the money) and reduced the monthly payments a bit. I'm now going to be submitting meter readings every month and calculating how much I'm actually spending rather than the amount they want me to pay.
This has been the norm for the last 3 years, nothing to do with the energy price rises.
I don’t think petrol or diesel will ever go below £1.50 again so it a good investment if you can commute on a bike.
All party’s in government in this country are against motorists and want us off the roads because there overcrowded and there making a fortune out of taxing us in the proceed.
Gone up from £96 monthly to £271 a month, absolutely furious.
Will be having some words with EDF!
Was paying British gas £100 a month spring/summer 2021.
Come October they owed me £500 and put me down to £60 a month with winter coming, by April this year I owed £300.
Now £160 a month.
Puts me in mind of the way all victorian terraces that were originally 2 up 2 down have extensions on the back. Like... have you ever seen one that doesn't? V rare.
Know why? Govt made it basically free so that people could have inside toilets and therefore improved sanitation.
We need the same thing with solar panels!
Just read this and am flabbergasted. Amazing that this sort of thing was (and probably still is) allowed to go on without someone actually being hauled over the coals for doing something "wrong".
And that's the worst part; even though they appear to have been crap businessmen and ran the business badly - not even collecting money from some customers is pretty shocking! - it's arguable as to whether they actually did anything "wrong" from a legal and regulatory viewpoint. Amazing.
Shell’s profits hit record $11.5bn, as UK households face winter energy bill pain – business live
Fortunate that I can swallow it but I dread to think about some of the decisions people have to make.
What has so far been done in the U.K. to protect energy customers is appalling. By October the rise over the previous year will have I think gone up by a staggering 64%. In France the increase has been capped by the government at 4%.
That way it provides some respite to all? Or am i looking at this too objectively?
The lack of a long term coherent energy policy, lack of investment in nuclear power and gas storage, too much emphasis (though well meant) on 'green' power.. and mostly, too much governmental pandering to the mostly foreign owned power generators and oil producers .. unfortunately problems that will take a lot of time and most importantly will power to solve, and willpower is a commodity successive governments have simply not had