Likely to drop further still in October so don’t be rushing to fix just yet.
Got to fix ours in January, anyone know if there’s any more expected price drops between October and January, we normally fix for the maximum period, so also wondering if that wise or perhaps we should go the shorter term route (mind you might be an impossible question to answer yet).
Being reported that another small drop in October and then perhaps a slight rise in January. October will be the time to look at fixing I would think.
I heard that too but I did wonder if fixing in October (my deal fixed deal runs out on31st August) might mean missing out on reductions in both April and July ? Hard to know what to do. I don’t want to fix in if there are further drops next year ?
Personally I tend to do what Martin Lewis/moneysavingsexpert recommends, but you need to listen to his advice nearer the time in question.
For anyone who's interested, bracketed was the rounded current rate, standing charge remains the same I believe. This is for paying by DD and UK average.
Electricity
£0.30 per KWh (0.33)
Daily standing charge: £0.53
Gas
£0.08 per KWh (0.10)
Daily standing charge £0.29
I fixed our rate in 2021 for 3 years at:
Electricity 20.43/kWh (s/c 23.3/day)
Gas 4.127/kWh (s/c 26.12/day)
Even this was about £40 more than the previous monthly fix we were on, so hope by next September the current downward trend has continued. One thing I did look at when fixing was the cost to break the contract. For ours it would be £30 so didn't feel that was too bad had prices fallen.
Has anyone used any of Octopus's smart meter promotional things? Saving Sessions etc? I joined them recently and they're prompting me to install one and the bonuses do sound interesting but was interested to know if anyone had any experience.
Has anyone used any of Octopus's smart meter promotional things? Saving Sessions etc? I joined them recently and they're prompting me to install one and the bonuses do sound interesting but was interested to know if anyone had any experience.
I did nearly all the saving sessions. Got £15 credit a month ago.Although did it to help as much as the saving.
We did a fix for 2 years which ends on 30th June, we got our letter from EDF yesterday and we'll move onto the standard variable rate after that.
Electricity old rate 20.37p per kWh new rate 34.17p per kWh Gas old rate 3.57 per kWh new rate 10.343p per kWh
What is ridiculous is that the standing charge for electricity has gone from 24.05p per day to 47.21p per day, gas standing charge increase is only 2.51p per day. I don't know how they can justify that increase for electricity.
We are on the tariff where the monthly payments are reviewed every 6 months, so we'll still be paying £159 per month until the review in September, however with the estimated amount of gas and electricity we use totalling £3,455 under the new tariff, that will mean monthly payments increasing to £288 per month. I hope that prices will come down further so we don't actually have to pay that.
We did a fix for 2 years which ends on 30th June, we got our letter from EDF yesterday and we'll move onto the standard variable rate after that.
Electricity old rate 20.37p per kWh new rate 34.17p per kWh Gas old rate 3.57 per kWh new rate 10.343p per kWh
What is ridiculous is that the standing charge for electricity has gone from 24.05p per day to 47.21p per day, gas standing charge increase is only 2.51p per day. I don't know how they can justify that increase for electricity.
We are on the tariff where the monthly payments are reviewed every 6 months, so we'll still be paying £159 per month until the review in September, however with the estimated amount of gas and electricity we use totalling £3,455 under the new tariff, that will mean monthly payments increasing to £288 per month. I hope that prices will come down further so we don't actually have to pay that.
I’m in a similar position ME. My deal expires end of august.
What is ridiculous is that the standing charge for electricity has gone from 24.05p per day to 47.21p per day, gas standing charge increase is only 2.51p per day. I don't know how they can justify that increase for electricity. ...
I noticed that when checking our charges. Reading up on it a bit, apparently it was a decision by OFGEM as part of it's "Targeted Charging Review" to shift costs from the rate per kWh to the fixed element of bills (affecting low-income/use households more). So even if you can't afford to heat your home, you still have to pay through the nose each month to remain connected.
Just like with the water companies, I think the energy companies have been given a very comfortable ride by this government. I’ll be very disappointed if an incoming Labour government don’t do something to reign in these bandits.
What is ridiculous is that the standing charge for electricity has gone from 24.05p per day to 47.21p per day, gas standing charge increase is only 2.51p per day. I don't know how they can justify that increase for electricity. ...
I noticed that when checking our charges. Reading up on it a bit, apparently it was a decision by OFGEM as part of it's "Targeted Charging Review" to shift costs from the rate per kWh to the fixed element of bills (affecting low-income/use households more). So even if you can't afford to heat your home, you still have to pay through the nose each month to remain connected.
It's disgusting that OFGEM acts more for the energy companies than the consumer. We're being taken for a ride in so many ways with all of the utilities.
I don’t want to make this a political point but I did like what was suggested a year or so ago by Keir Starmer along the lines of creating a national energy supplier to compete with the other suppliers where profits would be helping the country rather than lining shareholders pockets. If he didn’t say that then perhaps he should.
Likely to drop further still in October so don’t be rushing to fix just yet.
Got to fix ours in January, anyone know if there’s any more expected price drops between October and January, we normally fix for the maximum period, so also wondering if that wise or perhaps we should go the shorter term route (mind you might be an impossible question to answer yet).
Being reported that another small drop in October and then perhaps a slight rise in January. October will be the time to look at fixing I would think.
I heard that too but I did wonder if fixing in October (my deal fixed deal runs out on31st August) might mean missing out on reductions in both April and July ? Hard to know what to do. I don’t want to fix in if there are further drops next year ?
Why be that concerned ? The Exit fees are not always that great if the change is going to be significantly beneficial and I have found they don't always apply them if sticking with same supplier but going to a different tariff.
I heard something a couple of weeks ago , that said July was a good time for fixing as the prices would be lower, whether this is true and fixed deals are even available, I don’t know!
I don’t want to make this a political point but I did like what was suggested a year or so ago by Keir Starmer along the lines of creating a national energy supplier to compete with the other suppliers where profits would be helping the country rather than lining shareholders pockets. If he didn’t say that then perhaps he should.
he did say that, it was also going to be a green energy company so good on that front too. Government invests in green energy to help the environment, government sells energy to compete with industry who has been taking the piss.
Given how long it takes to build that sort of thing up i expect it will be a fair few years before its actually an option to switch to for more than a small number of people. But an excellent policy (and one that should have been started decades ago with the proceeds from the sale of north sea oil) and something everyone should support.
We did a fix for 2 years which ends on 30th June, we got our letter from EDF yesterday and we'll move onto the standard variable rate after that.
Electricity old rate 20.37p per kWh new rate 34.17p per kWh Gas old rate 3.57 per kWh new rate 10.343p per kWh
What is ridiculous is that the standing charge for electricity has gone from 24.05p per day to 47.21p per day, gas standing charge increase is only 2.51p per day. I don't know how they can justify that increase for electricity.
We are on the tariff where the monthly payments are reviewed every 6 months, so we'll still be paying £159 per month until the review in September, however with the estimated amount of gas and electricity we use totalling £3,455 under the new tariff, that will mean monthly payments increasing to £288 per month. I hope that prices will come down further so we don't actually have to pay that.
That doesn't seem right. My standing charge on variable for electric is currently 36.36p per day.
I heard something a couple of weeks ago , that said July was a good time for fixing as the prices would be lower, whether this is true and fixed deals are even available, I don’t know!
a message from British Gas the other day said they would very soon be offering fixed deals again
We did a fix for 2 years which ends on 30th June, we got our letter from EDF yesterday and we'll move onto the standard variable rate after that.
Electricity old rate 20.37p per kWh new rate 34.17p per kWh Gas old rate 3.57 per kWh new rate 10.343p per kWh
What is ridiculous is that the standing charge for electricity has gone from 24.05p per day to 47.21p per day, gas standing charge increase is only 2.51p per day. I don't know how they can justify that increase for electricity.
We are on the tariff where the monthly payments are reviewed every 6 months, so we'll still be paying £159 per month until the review in September, however with the estimated amount of gas and electricity we use totalling £3,455 under the new tariff, that will mean monthly payments increasing to £288 per month. I hope that prices will come down further so we don't actually have to pay that.
That doesn't seem right. My standing charge on variable for electric is currently 36.36p per day.
I've checked the letter and it definitely states it as 47.21.
For me, raising interest rates is a very blunt tool to try and get down inflation, and it seems like we largely only have blunt tools, there is no precise surgery for this, so hear me out, don't let perfect be the enemy of the good.
What would happen, if instead of raising interest rates, governments (not central banks) stated that they were going to raise tax rates, and effectively draw that same amount of money out of the economy, and use it to pay off debt (obviously this only works when you have a massive amount of debt), or spend that money on things which don't increase inflation by much at all (eg long term infrastructure projects).
I know that this isn't a million miles off of the concept of quantitative easing, apart from it actually takes money out of the system as well as reinjecting it (at hopefully a low multiplier, in theory the government would either pay debt or spend the cash in a way that doesn't cause inflation).
I'm guessing it's the difference between "those banks have ruined my life with mortgage rates" Vs the same person saying "the government has ruined my life with high taxes." It would be politically unpalatable. I might be completely missing something though, but my mortgage went up by £500, wouldn't it be better if that instead went on paying down national debt and interest?
For me, raising interest rates is a very blunt tool to try and get down inflation, and it seems like we largely only have blunt tools, there is no precise surgery for this, so hear me out, don't let perfect be the enemy of the good.
What would happen, if instead of raising interest rates, governments (not central banks) stated that they were going to raise tax rates, and effectively draw that same amount of money out of the economy, and use it to pay off debt (obviously this only works when you have a massive amount of debt), or spend that money on things which don't increase inflation by much at all (eg long term infrastructure projects).
I know that this isn't a million miles off of the concept of quantitative easing, apart from it actually takes money out of the system as well as reinjecting it (at hopefully a low multiplier, in theory the government would either pay debt or spend the cash in a way that doesn't cause inflation).
I'm guessing it's the difference between "those banks have ruined my life with mortgage rates" Vs the same person saying "the government has ruined my life with high taxes." It would be politically unpalatable. I might be completely missing something though, but my mortgage went up by £500, wouldn't it be better if that instead went on paying down national debt and interest?
That sounds like way too much common sense for a government obsessed with sound bites to follow through.
For me, raising interest rates is a very blunt tool to try and get down inflation, and it seems like we largely only have blunt tools, there is no precise surgery for this, so hear me out, don't let perfect be the enemy of the good.
What would happen, if instead of raising interest rates, governments (not central banks) stated that they were going to raise tax rates, and effectively draw that same amount of money out of the economy, and use it to pay off debt (obviously this only works when you have a massive amount of debt), or spend that money on things which don't increase inflation by much at all (eg long term infrastructure projects).
I know that this isn't a million miles off of the concept of quantitative easing, apart from it actually takes money out of the system as well as reinjecting it (at hopefully a low multiplier, in theory the government would either pay debt or spend the cash in a way that doesn't cause inflation).
I'm guessing it's the difference between "those banks have ruined my life with mortgage rates" Vs the same person saying "the government has ruined my life with high taxes." It would be politically unpalatable. I might be completely missing something though, but my mortgage went up by £500, wouldn't it be better if that instead went on paying down national debt and interest?
Find a three word soundbite and you might get some traction. Sadly I think three words are about as much as the British public can cope with by way of explanation.
We did a fix for 2 years which ends on 30th June, we got our letter from EDF yesterday and we'll move onto the standard variable rate after that.
Electricity old rate 20.37p per kWh new rate 34.17p per kWh Gas old rate 3.57 per kWh new rate 10.343p per kWh
What is ridiculous is that the standing charge for electricity has gone from 24.05p per day to 47.21p per day, gas standing charge increase is only 2.51p per day. I don't know how they can justify that increase for electricity.
We are on the tariff where the monthly payments are reviewed every 6 months, so we'll still be paying £159 per month until the review in September, however with the estimated amount of gas and electricity we use totalling £3,455 under the new tariff, that will mean monthly payments increasing to £288 per month. I hope that prices will come down further so we don't actually have to pay that.
Standing charges for electricity have increased due to TCR set by Ofgem to switch how they recover transmission and distribution charges from a fixed p/kWh to fixed pence per day
For me, raising interest rates is a very blunt tool to try and get down inflation, and it seems like we largely only have blunt tools, there is no precise surgery for this, so hear me out, don't let perfect be the enemy of the good.
What would happen, if instead of raising interest rates, governments (not central banks) stated that they were going to raise tax rates, and effectively draw that same amount of money out of the economy, and use it to pay off debt (obviously this only works when you have a massive amount of debt), or spend that money on things which don't increase inflation by much at all (eg long term infrastructure projects).
I know that this isn't a million miles off of the concept of quantitative easing, apart from it actually takes money out of the system as well as reinjecting it (at hopefully a low multiplier, in theory the government would either pay debt or spend the cash in a way that doesn't cause inflation).
I'm guessing it's the difference between "those banks have ruined my life with mortgage rates" Vs the same person saying "the government has ruined my life with high taxes." It would be politically unpalatable. I might be completely missing something though, but my mortgage went up by £500, wouldn't it be better if that instead went on paying down national debt and interest?
But it's not really about collecting cash, it's a very blunt instrument to stop spending at this point. A much simpler way would be VAT, push it up considerable on true luxury items and in 18 month time trickle it back down slowly. That and very small increase in interest rates, they could have capped that out at around 1-1.5%.
No one will lose their home as the cost of a new BMW M5 Sport is now £15k more. But they will as fix rates are getting towards 4x what they were 2 years ago.
For me, raising interest rates is a very blunt tool to try and get down inflation, and it seems like we largely only have blunt tools, there is no precise surgery for this, so hear me out, don't let perfect be the enemy of the good.
What would happen, if instead of raising interest rates, governments (not central banks) stated that they were going to raise tax rates, and effectively draw that same amount of money out of the economy, and use it to pay off debt (obviously this only works when you have a massive amount of debt), or spend that money on things which don't increase inflation by much at all (eg long term infrastructure projects).
I know that this isn't a million miles off of the concept of quantitative easing, apart from it actually takes money out of the system as well as reinjecting it (at hopefully a low multiplier, in theory the government would either pay debt or spend the cash in a way that doesn't cause inflation).
I'm guessing it's the difference between "those banks have ruined my life with mortgage rates" Vs the same person saying "the government has ruined my life with high taxes." It would be politically unpalatable. I might be completely missing something though, but my mortgage went up by £500, wouldn't it be better if that instead went on paying down national debt and interest?
But it's not really about collecting cash, it's a very blunt instrument to stop spending at this point. A much simpler way would be VAT, push it up considerable on true luxury items and in 18 month time trickle it back down slowly. That and very small increase in interest rates, they could have capped that out at around 1-1.5%.
No one will lose their home as the cost of a new BMW M5 Sport is now £15k more. But they will as fix rates are getting towards 4x what they were 2 years ago.
Yeah completely agree, the taxation system would be a much better way of doing it (although I am guessing there's a reason we are wrong). I hope it isn't just political difficulty that is preventing it.
Comments
I fixed our rate in 2021 for 3 years at:
Electricity 20.43/kWh (s/c 23.3/day)
Electricity old rate 20.37p per kWh new rate 34.17p per kWh
Gas old rate 3.57 per kWh new rate 10.343p per kWh
What is ridiculous is that the standing charge for electricity has gone from 24.05p per day to 47.21p per day, gas standing charge increase is only 2.51p per day. I don't know how they can justify that increase for electricity.
We are on the tariff where the monthly payments are reviewed every 6 months, so we'll still be paying £159 per month until the review in September, however with the estimated amount of gas and electricity we use totalling £3,455 under the new tariff, that will mean monthly payments increasing to £288 per month. I hope that prices will come down further so we don't actually have to pay that.
Given how long it takes to build that sort of thing up i expect it will be a fair few years before its actually an option to switch to for more than a small number of people. But an excellent policy (and one that should have been started decades ago with the proceeds from the sale of north sea oil) and something everyone should support.
What would happen, if instead of raising interest rates, governments (not central banks) stated that they were going to raise tax rates, and effectively draw that same amount of money out of the economy, and use it to pay off debt (obviously this only works when you have a massive amount of debt), or spend that money on things which don't increase inflation by much at all (eg long term infrastructure projects).
I know that this isn't a million miles off of the concept of quantitative easing, apart from it actually takes money out of the system as well as reinjecting it (at hopefully a low multiplier, in theory the government would either pay debt or spend the cash in a way that doesn't cause inflation).
I'm guessing it's the difference between "those banks have ruined my life with mortgage rates" Vs the same person saying "the government has ruined my life with high taxes." It would be politically unpalatable. I might be completely missing something though, but my mortgage went up by £500, wouldn't it be better if that instead went on paying down national debt and interest?
No one will lose their home as the cost of a new BMW M5 Sport is now £15k more. But they will as fix rates are getting towards 4x what they were 2 years ago.