I’ve submitted my meter readings to BGas for my electric and gas for the past six months since the last meter reading. I’m £282 in credit (summer usage, air con obviously not as expensive as central heating) as a result of my regular £224 pm DDs and they’ve just sent me a message saying that DD figure is likely to mean I’ll end up in arrears…
£224??? What is it a hotel?
I hope so, that is a serious amount to be paying monthly
Our Gas and Electric bills are absolutely off the scale. Calmed down a bit throughout the summer months….winter is a nightmare
anyone else got a smart meter??
Hopefully very few have been conned into getting one.
Completely ignorant to this, why are they a con?
They don’t give you any benefit but old meters generally under measure usage whereas smart meters don’t so you generally end up paying a bit more. And you pay for the leccy that runs it.
So actually you're conning the companies by under reporting usage when you could be being honest. If everyone reports the right usage logically bills should be more fair (even be reduced - though unlikely) as the price won't rise as much to combat underreported usage.
How is it conning anyone by giving them the reading the meter says?
Because he knows it's wrong, therefore a smart meter would give the honest accurate reading Shirley?
But if that's what the meter says then what else are you supposed to do? You can only give the reading that's on the meter.
If you filled up on petrol and the pump (the "meter") said you owed £10 then would you give the bloke behind the counter £11 if you thought his pump was old?
Why are people against having smart meters? I was going to ask to have them…
There isn't really a convincing reason to have one, as far as I can see.
But I can see why the energy company's would want you to have one - no need for estimates, no need to pay people to come and read the meter and all that lovely data they can use or flog off to the highest bidder.
I’ve submitted my meter readings to BGas for my electric and gas for the past six months since the last meter reading. I’m £282 in credit (summer usage, air con obviously not as expensive as central heating) as a result of my regular £224 pm DDs and they’ve just sent me a message saying that DD figure is likely to mean I’ll end up in arrears…
£224??? What is it a hotel?
I hope so, that is a serious amount to be paying monthly
You clearly haven’t got that many females in your house then. Or air con, wine cooler, American fridge et etc, hairdryers, curling tongs, TVs all over the house that are just left on because they are moving from room to room, as are lights - sitting in the kitchen at the moment I’ve just counted 27 lightbulbs (not including ones on appliances) in here that will often all be switched on (obviously not just now because I’m the only one up), a dishwasher that gets used 4 or 5 times a day because somebody is always cooking or baking…it all adds up. Per person it probably isn’t necessarily that bad, though only one person pays the bills. TBF, working from home and the lockdowns have had an impact on the bills.
Take a look at Octopus, we have just changed and they are great. I have a large 4 bed house, under floor heating throughout the ground floor, second freezer in the shed, 32amp hot tub that is on 24/7, a workshop in my garage that contains every electric tool known to man plus everything else a house has today and not far off what you have apart from the AC.
I am paying Octopus £110.00 per month for gas & leccy and at the moment in credit due to the summer months, I suspect the credit will be used up in the winter but I am not expecting any major bills.
They send me a monthly email to remind me to submit monthly meter readings and you can change how much you pay each month with a couple of clicks, no calling customer services.
Not saying your wrong but when you look at what Octopus quoted me on previous page, it was more expensive than OVO. Now I’m paying OVO £120 per month. Live alone in a 3 bed semi, no hot tub, no second freezer, no workshop and pure basic Gas combi boiler. I should double check your figures…. As just can’t see why it’s so cheap.
I am happy with my figures and I am over £100 in credit as said above. It is yours that sounds expensive, the reason I moved to Octopus was because I was with British Gas who we all know are the most expensive provider on the planet.
I was paying them £146.00 per month for all of the above i.e. under floor heating throughout the ground floor, second freezer in the shed, 32amp hot tub that is on 24/7, a workshop in my garage which is only £26.00 more than what you are paying now.
Add in the fact I live in a detached house and you are in a semi yours is deffo on the expensive side.
When you got your quote did you provide them with actual usage figures? I went back over 12 months worth of British Gas bills and provided Octopus with actual usage which then generated my quote/plan.
Agree, I think mine is way over the top, but was best deal I could find. When I looked at octopus they quoted me the following best deal figures.
Electric Daily Standing 23.3p per day and 19.86 per KW Gas. Daily Standing 26.59 per day and 5.33 per KW
id be really interested in what your paying on your fixed deal. An I did quote them usage over the past 12 months, as the calculation for my estimate for the next year.
My Annual usage was calculated at 3850 KWH Electric and 14870 KWH of gas.
Wow, thought I would take a look at whether OVO had changed their prices in recent week. As rising energy costs been all over news. The 1 year deal I have with OVO been re-priced as follows. Both up on their figures from a week or so ago.
Electric Standing 27.88p and 21.88 per KWH Gas Standing 21.42. and 7.49. per KWH
I also looked up Octopus who quoted.
Electric Standing 23.3p and 23.76 per KWH Gas. Standing 26.1 and 6.1 per. KWH
Reading the news at least half a dozen small suppliers could go under this week. Basic problem being they have put retail customers onto low fixed rate tariffs. However, they did not forward purchase enough electricity/gas to cover what they had sold. They now find themselves paying a higher cost in the wholesale market, than they are charging their retail customers. The route to going bust obviously.
All energy supplier shares taking a hit on the markets. I am guessing that this could well be the fear of bad debts as rising energy costs lead to people being unable to pay.
Just watching the news about the price rise in wholesale gas & energy companies going bust.
I realise that this thread was started less than 2 weeks ago by someone saying that theirs was about to rise & lots of people saying who to switch to due to being the cheapest.
Now hearing that the BIG energy firms, like BG are being "asked" (forced imo) to take on the customers from the collapsed companies.
No problem as long as these customers dont expect "cheap as chips" energy deals. Imo BG should be putting them on their regular or fixed price tariff- no special deals at all. You get what you pay for in life - if you've gone chasing the "best priced" deal dont be surprised if it goes tits up later on. There is a reason why companies charge the (higher) prices that they do.. because that's what it costs
Although I'm a Conservative by heart I've never agreed with the Privatisation of the major utility companies. Gas generally comes from one source - underground drilling. That cost is the same whether you buy it from BG, Bulb or Mr Smith the grocer. If someone is undercutting the market generally it wont & cant last.
I'm surprised Bulb are in the trouble they are in, though they would be a bit more resilient.
To be honest, I've seen those little firms on price comparison services, and they just didn't look legit or the offer is too good to be true. I ended up going with OVO a year ago on a two year fixed, and yep that wasn't the cheapest, but I'm dealing with a company that has firstly scaled properly and two is now solid.
Just watching the news about the price rise in wholesale gas & energy companies going bust.
I realise that this thread was started less than 2 weeks ago by someone saying that theirs was about to rise & lots of people saying who to switch to due to being the cheapest.
Now hearing that the BIG energy firms, like BG are being "asked" (forced imo) to take on the customers from the collapsed companies.
No problem as long as these customers dont expect "cheap as chips" energy deals. Imo BG should be putting them on their regular or fixed price tariff- no special deals at all. You get what you pay for in life - if you've gone chasing the "best priced" deal dont be surprised if it goes tits up later on. There is a reason why companies charge the (higher) prices that they do.. because that's what it costs
Although I'm a Conservative by heart I've never agreed with the Privatisation of the major utility companies. Gas generally comes from one source - underground drilling. That cost is the same whether you buy it from BG, Bulb or Mr Smith the grocer. If someone is undercutting the market generally it wont & cant last.
Isn't the issue though that the smaller energy companies cannot afford due to cashflow to buy (lock in) large amounts at the prevailing wholesale price. So they hope the price they offer energy to customers on fixed price deals doesn't fluctuate too much on future wholesale markets. The big boys can lock in prices to protect future fluctuations.
I agree though that privatisation of essential utilities was short-sighted financial gain winning over long-term resource protection.
I posted on page one of this thread, looks as if I got lucky with the timing. My bank has written to me to say the DD to British Gas is up and running. Beyond a phone call I haven’t had to do anything, and my rated is fixed for 23 months. The bloke from Octupus was on the wireless this morning saying they have secured the supply for their customers through the winter.
I’ve submitted my meter readings to BGas for my electric and gas for the past six months since the last meter reading. I’m £282 in credit (summer usage, air con obviously not as expensive as central heating) as a result of my regular £224 pm DDs and they’ve just sent me a message saying that DD figure is likely to mean I’ll end up in arrears…
£224??? What is it a hotel?
I hope so, that is a serious amount to be paying monthly
You clearly haven’t got that many females in your house then. Or air con, wine cooler, American fridge et etc, hairdryers, curling tongs, TVs all over the house that are just left on because they are moving from room to room, as are lights - sitting in the kitchen at the moment I’ve just counted 27 lightbulbs (not including ones on appliances) in here that will often all be switched on (obviously not just now because I’m the only one up), a dishwasher that gets used 4 or 5 times a day because somebody is always cooking or baking…it all adds up. Per person it probably isn’t necessarily that bad, though only one person pays the bills. TBF, working from home and the lockdowns have had an impact on the bills.
Still seems expensive to me but you seem happy so crack on.
Most of the appliances you mention are all small energy consuming devices i.e. curling tongs, hairdryers, light bulbs etc however AC obviously is power hungry. As I mentioned above I have a 32amp hot tub that is left on 24 hours a day seven days a week, 365 days a year so that easily counteracts your AC and I pay less than half what you pay a month.
As I say not here to argue or have a willy waving contest but I think you are paying over the odds.
Just watching the news about the price rise in wholesale gas & energy companies going bust.
I realise that this thread was started less than 2 weeks ago by someone saying that theirs was about to rise & lots of people saying who to switch to due to being the cheapest.
Now hearing that the BIG energy firms, like BG are being "asked" (forced imo) to take on the customers from the collapsed companies.
No problem as long as these customers dont expect "cheap as chips" energy deals. Imo BG should be putting them on their regular or fixed price tariff- no special deals at all. You get what you pay for in life - if you've gone chasing the "best priced" deal dont be surprised if it goes tits up later on. There is a reason why companies charge the (higher) prices that they do.. because that's what it costs
Although I'm a Conservative by heart I've never agreed with the Privatisation of the major utility companies. Gas generally comes from one source - underground drilling. That cost is the same whether you buy it from BG, Bulb or Mr Smith the grocer. If someone is undercutting the market generally it wont & cant last.
Isn't the issue though that the smaller energy companies cannot afford due to cashflow to buy (lock in) large amounts at the prevailing wholesale price. So they hope the price they offer energy to customers on fixed price deals doesn't fluctuate too much on future wholesale markets. The big boys can lock in prices to protect future fluctuations.
I agree though that privatisation of essential utilities was short-sighted financial gain winning over long-term resource protection.
I think the smaller companies could afford to buy those same contracts, they just choose not to, they wouldn't effect cashflow, as they would be paid off over the contract period.
In effect, if the prices stay low/drop/don't rise, we will be the cheapest on the market and make some good cash.
If the prices rise, we go out of business as we haven't hedged the gas price for the year, wind the company up, (and start again?)
It's a gamble, that arguably you have to take to establish yourself in a market that is basically an oligopoly (the big 6).
OFGEM should regulate companies to prove that they have the ability to remain financially solvent if there are changes in wholesale supply (which will be through having hedge contracts on gas etc) in my opinion.
Ironically though, this current arrangement, albeit distressing to customers, is most unfair to the big 6, who will have those hedge contracts.
I'm surprised Bulb are in the trouble they are in, though they would be a bit more resilient.
To be honest, I've seen those little firms on price comparison services, and they just didn't look legit or the offer is too good to be true. I ended up going with OVO a year ago on a two year fixed, and yep that wasn't the cheapest, but I'm dealing with a company that has firstly scaled properly and two is now solid.
Didnt realise bulb was one of them - surely they are too large to fail - 1.6m customers
Or maybe having more customers makes it worse for them !
I’ve submitted my meter readings to BGas for my electric and gas for the past six months since the last meter reading. I’m £282 in credit (summer usage, air con obviously not as expensive as central heating) as a result of my regular £224 pm DDs and they’ve just sent me a message saying that DD figure is likely to mean I’ll end up in arrears…
£224??? What is it a hotel?
I hope so, that is a serious amount to be paying monthly
You clearly haven’t got that many females in your house then. Or air con, wine cooler, American fridge et etc, hairdryers, curling tongs, TVs all over the house that are just left on because they are moving from room to room, as are lights - sitting in the kitchen at the moment I’ve just counted 27 lightbulbs (not including ones on appliances) in here that will often all be switched on (obviously not just now because I’m the only one up), a dishwasher that gets used 4 or 5 times a day because somebody is always cooking or baking…it all adds up. Per person it probably isn’t necessarily that bad, though only one person pays the bills. TBF, working from home and the lockdowns have had an impact on the bills.
Still seems expensive to me but you seem happy so crack on.
Most of the appliances you mention are all small energy consuming devices i.e. curling tongs, hairdryers, light bulbs etc however AC obviously is power hungry. As I mentioned above I have a 32amp hot tub that is left on 24 hours a day seven days a week, 365 days a year so that easily counteracts your AC and I pay less than half what you pay a month.
As I say not here to argue or have a willy waving contest but I think you are paying over the odds.
I suspect it’s less about what uses the electricity in my house and more about who and how. Comparison sites have tended not to offer much better deals unless I want to sign up to a firm which appears to have very little behind it, which may well be the types of firms now experiencing difficulty. I’ll have another look later though given what’s being said
I’ve submitted my meter readings to BGas for my electric and gas for the past six months since the last meter reading. I’m £282 in credit (summer usage, air con obviously not as expensive as central heating) as a result of my regular £224 pm DDs and they’ve just sent me a message saying that DD figure is likely to mean I’ll end up in arrears…
£224??? What is it a hotel?
I hope so, that is a serious amount to be paying monthly
You clearly haven’t got that many females in your house then. Or air con, wine cooler, American fridge et etc, hairdryers, curling tongs, TVs all over the house that are just left on because they are moving from room to room, as are lights - sitting in the kitchen at the moment I’ve just counted 27 lightbulbs (not including ones on appliances) in here that will often all be switched on (obviously not just now because I’m the only one up), a dishwasher that gets used 4 or 5 times a day because somebody is always cooking or baking…it all adds up. Per person it probably isn’t necessarily that bad, though only one person pays the bills. TBF, working from home and the lockdowns have had an impact on the bills.
I have all the above and more and your paying £120 a month more than me . That seems ridiculously high.
The expert being interviewed on the radio this morning was asked if the customer of a failed company would get the same deal from their new supplier. He said absolutely NOT.. ! In some cases the cheap deal they with the company is what caused it’s demise. Customers being passed to. New supplier will be offered the current deals from that suppliers range on offer.
My current tariff with EDF is about to finish, so just shopping around. I currently pay about £30 a month for Gas and Electric.
Can move to Eon Next for about £4 more per month on a 12 month fixed, or £8 more for 24 months. Some of the prices quoted by other firms are very steep in comparison.
My current tariff with EDF is about to finish, so just shopping around. I currently pay about £30 a month for Gas and Electric.
Can move to Eon Next for about £4 more per month on a 12 month fixed, or £8 more for 24 months. Some of the prices quoted by other firms are very steep in comparison.
My current tariff with EDF is about to finish, so just shopping around. I currently pay about £30 a month for Gas and Electric.
Can move to Eon Next for about £4 more per month on a 12 month fixed, or £8 more for 24 months. Some of the prices quoted by other firms are very steep in comparison.
£30 a month for gas AND electric? What do you live in, a dolls house?
My current tariff with EDF is about to finish, so just shopping around. I currently pay about £30 a month for Gas and Electric.
Can move to Eon Next for about £4 more per month on a 12 month fixed, or £8 more for 24 months. Some of the prices quoted by other firms are very steep in comparison.
how do you manage to keep your utility usage and cost so low ? .. I have just moved back to EDF from EON .. I've shopped around, but still the monthly debit will be 40% more than I'm paying now, but with the recent large cost increases and the contract running to Oct 2024 thought it worth the gamble as a lot of 'cheaper' contracts are just for a year and are still not a lot less than the longer deals ..
as you say, I was surprised that the smaller and supposedly less expensive companies are now charging more than the bigger ones like BGas, Eon, EDF ..
My current tariff with EDF is about to finish, so just shopping around. I currently pay about £30 a month for Gas and Electric.
Can move to Eon Next for about £4 more per month on a 12 month fixed, or £8 more for 24 months. Some of the prices quoted by other firms are very steep in comparison.
£30 a month for gas AND electric? What do you live in, a dolls house?
Surely a typo, must have missed another number off, either that or I’m moving in!
My current tariff with EDF is about to finish, so just shopping around. I currently pay about £30 a month for Gas and Electric.
Can move to Eon Next for about £4 more per month on a 12 month fixed, or £8 more for 24 months. Some of the prices quoted by other firms are very steep in comparison.
£30 a month for gas AND electric? What do you live in, a dolls house?
My current tariff with EDF is about to finish, so just shopping around. I currently pay about £30 a month for Gas and Electric.
Can move to Eon Next for about £4 more per month on a 12 month fixed, or £8 more for 24 months. Some of the prices quoted by other firms are very steep in comparison.
£30 a month for gas AND electric? What do you live in, a dolls house?
I pay £105pm for gas and electric with BG. 3 storey townhouse, 4 beds & 3 teenagers. All have tech & games consoles & 2 have ceiling fans which are on most days as the top floor where the bedrooms are is quite warm, even in late September. We have a smart meter and I can see daily the consumption of both gas & electric.
6 people in my house - 4 double beds / 3 bathrooms, it's a pretty large house with every gadget known to man inc a hot tub. 2 teenagers and everything on non stop (TV's, lights, PC's etc) kids have a bearded dragon with vivarium on 24/7. Another Fridge and Freezer in the garage
bills range between summer/winter, but will average £200 per month. In the winter when heating on can be nudging £300.
I WFH and have a separate office with laptop/screens on all day - kettle boils probably a dozen times throughout the day, washing machine/tumble dryer/dishwasher on daily (often more than once).
Just had a smart meter installed so will see what difference that makes
6 people in my house - 4 double beds / 3 bathrooms, it's a pretty large house with every gadget known to man inc a hot tub. 2 teenagers and everything on non stop (TV's, lights, PC's etc) kids have a bearded dragon with vivarium on 24/7. Another Fridge and Freezer in the garage
bills range between summer/winter, but will average £200 per month. In the winter when heating on can be nudging £300.
I WFH and have a separate office with laptop/screens on all day - kettle boils probably a dozen times throughout the day, washing machine/tumble dryer/dishwasher on daily (often more than once). Just had a smart meter installed so will see what difference that makes
£30 per month!!!!.....I can only dream
It won’t make any difference other than increase your bill by using electricity to run it.
Will the smart meter lessen the amount of washing you do a week, or reduce the amount of work you do in the office, or stop the bearded dragon from needing warmth?
6 people in my house - 4 double beds / 3 bathrooms, it's a pretty large house with every gadget known to man inc a hot tub. 2 teenagers and everything on non stop (TV's, lights, PC's etc) kids have a bearded dragon with vivarium on 24/7. Another Fridge and Freezer in the garage
bills range between summer/winter, but will average £200 per month. In the winter when heating on can be nudging £300.
I WFH and have a separate office with laptop/screens on all day - kettle boils probably a dozen times throughout the day, washing machine/tumble dryer/dishwasher on daily (often more than once).
Just had a smart meter installed so will see what difference that makes
£30 per month!!!!.....I can only dream
Well, of course, we had it tough. We used to 'ave to get up out of shoebox at twelve o'clock at night and lick road clean wit' tongue. We had two bits of cold gravel, worked twenty-four hours a day at mill for sixpence every four years, and when we got home our Dad would slice us in two wit' bread knife
Comments
If you filled up on petrol and the pump (the "meter") said you owed £10 then would you give the bloke behind the counter £11 if you thought his pump was old?
But I can see why the energy company's would want you to have one - no need for estimates, no need to pay people to come and read the meter and all that lovely data they can use or flog off to the highest bidder.
http://news.sky.com/story/energy-crisis-how-long-will-it-last-and-what-happens-if-your-supplier-goes-bust-12412648
You clearly haven’t got that many females in your house then. Or air con, wine cooler, American fridge et etc, hairdryers, curling tongs, TVs all over the house that are just left on because they are moving from room to room, as are lights - sitting in the kitchen at the moment I’ve just counted 27 lightbulbs (not including ones on appliances) in here that will often all be switched on (obviously not just now because I’m the only one up), a dishwasher that gets used 4 or 5 times a day because somebody is always cooking or baking…it all adds up. Per person it probably isn’t necessarily that bad, though only one person pays the bills. TBF, working from home and the lockdowns have had an impact on the bills.
Electric Standing 27.88p and 21.88 per KWH
Gas Standing 21.42. and 7.49. per KWH
I also looked up Octopus who quoted.
Electric Standing 23.3p and 23.76 per KWH
Gas. Standing 26.1 and 6.1 per. KWH
Reading the news at least half a dozen small suppliers could go under this week. Basic problem being they have put retail customers onto low fixed rate tariffs. However, they did not forward purchase enough electricity/gas to cover what they had sold. They now find themselves paying a higher cost in the wholesale market, than they are charging their retail customers. The route to going bust obviously.
All energy supplier shares taking a hit on the markets. I am guessing that this could well be the fear of bad debts as rising energy costs lead to people being unable to pay.
I realise that this thread was started less than 2 weeks ago by someone saying that theirs was about to rise & lots of people saying who to switch to due to being the cheapest.
Now hearing that the BIG energy firms, like BG are being "asked" (forced imo) to take on the customers from the collapsed companies.
No problem as long as these customers dont expect "cheap as chips" energy deals. Imo BG should be putting them on their regular or fixed price tariff- no special deals at all. You get what you pay for in life - if you've gone chasing the "best priced" deal dont be surprised if it goes tits up later on. There is a reason why companies charge the (higher) prices that they do.. because that's what it costs
Although I'm a Conservative by heart I've never agreed with the Privatisation of the major utility companies. Gas generally comes from one source - underground drilling. That cost is the same whether you buy it from BG, Bulb or Mr Smith the grocer. If someone is undercutting the market generally it wont & cant last.
To be honest, I've seen those little firms on price comparison services, and they just didn't look legit or the offer is too good to be true. I ended up going with OVO a year ago on a two year fixed, and yep that wasn't the cheapest, but I'm dealing with a company that has firstly scaled properly and two is now solid.
I agree though that privatisation of essential utilities was short-sighted financial gain winning over long-term resource protection.
My bank has written to me to say the DD to British Gas is up and running.
Beyond a phone call I haven’t had to do anything, and my rated is fixed for 23 months.
The bloke from Octupus was on the wireless this morning saying they have secured the supply for their customers through the winter.
Most of the appliances you mention are all small energy consuming devices i.e. curling tongs, hairdryers, light bulbs etc however AC obviously is power hungry. As I mentioned above I have a 32amp hot tub that is left on 24 hours a day seven days a week, 365 days a year so that easily counteracts your AC and I pay less than half what you pay a month.
As I say not here to argue or have a willy waving contest but I think you are paying over the odds.
In effect, if the prices stay low/drop/don't rise, we will be the cheapest on the market and make some good cash.
If the prices rise, we go out of business as we haven't hedged the gas price for the year, wind the company up, (and start again?)
It's a gamble, that arguably you have to take to establish yourself in a market that is basically an oligopoly (the big 6).
OFGEM should regulate companies to prove that they have the ability to remain financially solvent if there are changes in wholesale supply (which will be through having hedge contracts on gas etc) in my opinion.
Ironically though, this current arrangement, albeit distressing to customers, is most unfair to the big 6, who will have those hedge contracts.
Didnt realise bulb was one of them - surely they are too large to fail - 1.6m customers
Or maybe having more customers makes it worse for them !
Can move to Eon Next for about £4 more per month on a 12 month fixed, or £8 more for 24 months. Some of the prices quoted by other firms are very steep in comparison.
as you say, I was surprised that the smaller and supposedly less expensive companies are now charging more than the bigger ones like BGas, Eon, EDF ..
bills range between summer/winter, but will average £200 per month. In the winter when heating on can be nudging £300.
I WFH and have a separate office with laptop/screens on all day - kettle boils probably a dozen times throughout the day, washing machine/tumble dryer/dishwasher on daily (often more than once).
Just had a smart meter installed so will see what difference that makes
£30 per month!!!!.....I can only dream