Energy Prices (Strictly NO referrals!)

dlockers said:
You gave me grief for making "50 quid" out of EON but then you suggest making 0.75% on a top-up!!!

(that is a genius tip though thank you).
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Apologies didn't mean to give you grief! :D

Out of interest how did you wind up getting £1000 off them even as a short term interest-free loan? Usually the energy companies want you to settle outstanding balances and won't accept just not paying it, if you owed them £1000 you must have not been clearing the balances.

This is where the headache/grief stuff comes in I think, getting into a situation where you owe them so much rather than the other way around, and them not pursuing you for it.

The cashback stuff is relatively straightforward by comparison as I don't have anyone chasing me for the cash!
 
HungryHippos said:
Apologies didn't mean to give you grief! :D

Out of interest how did you wind up getting £1000 off them even as a short term interest-free loan? Usually the energy companies want you to settle outstanding balances and won't accept just not paying it, if you owed them £1000 you must have not been clearing the balances.

This is where the headache/grief stuff comes in I think, getting into a situation where you owe them so much rather than the other way around, and them not pursuing you for it.

The cashback stuff is relatively straightforward by comparison as I don't have anyone chasing me for the cash!
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I think it may have been virtue of the time - cost of living, massive bills etc. So I was only paying 80/mo (no idea why so low) and they didn't ever propose correcting. Ended up at a high of £900 I think.

I then complained a bunch of loads of trivial things and got like £200 in credits. :D
 
dlockers said:
I think it may have been virtue of the time - cost of living, massive bills etc. So I was only paying 80/mo (no idea why so low) and they didn't ever propose correcting. Ended up at a high of £900 I think.

I then complained a bunch of loads of trivial things and got like £200 in credits. :D
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I think that was my main point, it's just no so simple to owe money to the supplier vs the other way around, which is pretty common.

If you polled people in here, most would have a balance sat with the supplier, because the supplier will be doing it's best to have enough of a balance sat there to cover their costs, they will not like having customers who owe them lots of money.

As a general rule I will follow the easiest path even if it's not quite the most profitable one!

For me personally I also prefer not having lots of debt spread around, if I focus all of my purchases into my Amex I get the cashback and one thing to clear each month :)
 
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I just had a look at my cost usage over the last 12 months.

Total cost - £770.03 for elec and gas (actual bill amounts added together)
Currently paying £70/month with an excess balance of £67 so I am pretty much bang on
 
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MatsyLR said:
Yeah but your a compitent person (guessing haha) most people are ignorant to their usage.
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These same people are the ones who used to complain that when their £500 utility bill for the quarter plopped onto their mat at the end of February that they could not pay it.
Trust me it was one of the most common gripes people had. It was why the new suppliers started allowing people to pay a flat amount as a way of budgeting.

There clearly isnt a best way. Each individual needs to work out whats best for them and do that. But some basic ability to review and control costs is really needed as a base point.
I mean how many times do people post in these sorts of thread something like "I am paying £150 a month am I being ripped off, can I get it cheaper elsewhere!?"
These are exactly the people who would have complained years ago when the utility bill for their gas (forget the dual fuel, that wasn't an option) landed on their mat and they couldn't afford to pay it.
 
HungryHippos said:
Apologies didn't mean to give you grief! :D

Out of interest how did you wind up getting £1000 off them even as a short term interest-free loan? Usually the energy companies want you to settle outstanding balances and won't accept just not paying it, if you owed them £1000 you must have not been clearing the balances.

This is where the headache/grief stuff comes in I think, getting into a situation where you owe them so much rather than the other way around, and them not pursuing you for it.

The cashback stuff is relatively straightforward by comparison as I don't have anyone chasing me for the cash!
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Generally when you sign up it triggers an account year. When I switched to BG in January one year they did the annual calculation, divided by 12 and I was happy with that amount.
By the end of March I owed them loads, was pretty much neutral by late summer and by the end of Dec I had a decent balance.

The calculation was to basically work exactly that way. Had I switched in say April the equation would have meant I was overpaying basically from day 1.

They are in theory looking at DDs a little more frequently. now. And they are trying based on gov pressure to stop people ending up owing them lots of money.

Also, its often harder to switch if you have a large balance owed. They need to convinced that they will get their money so they may delay a switch.
 
Just out of interest, does no one simply pay for what they use month to month?

I’m not a fan of paying more than I’m using for to potentially build up credit, or worse yet underpaying and then them bumping up my payments!

As soon as they tried getting me to commit to a fixed monthly payment based on my predicted usage I shut them down. Really not a fan…
 
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ChocAndGray said:
Just out of interest, does no one simply pay for what they use month to month?

I’m not a fan of paying more than I’m using for to potentially build up credit, or worse yet underpaying and then them bumping up my payments!
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I much prefer paying what I use at the end of the month. Too much faffing any other way.
 
ChocAndGray said:
Just out of interest, does no one simply pay for what they use month to month?

I’m not a fan of paying more than I’m using for to potentially build up credit, or worse yet underpaying and then them bumping up my payments!

As soon as they tried getting me to commit to a fixed monthly payment based on my predicted usage I shut them down. Really not a fan…
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Thats what I do...well I wait until they ask me for money based on an estimate, then I give them a meter reading, then they send me a revised and cheaper bill as they always grossly over estimate, which I then pay.

It's not rocket science, I know my gas bill over the coldest part of the year will be about £600, rest of the year, living alone, I pay more in standing charges than I do actual consumption.
My electricity consumption is basically static.
 
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Is anybody else with EDF and received several bills this month? I've had about 6 emails from EDF this month telling me that my energy statement is ready. When I look at my account history, I'm only billed for a few days at a time. They also appear to be billing me separately for gas and electric and they email me for each one.
 
ChocAndGray said:
Just out of interest, does no one simply pay for what they use month to month?

I’m not a fan of paying more than I’m using for to potentially build up credit, or worse yet underpaying and then them bumping up my payments!

As soon as they tried getting me to commit to a fixed monthly payment based on my predicted usage I shut them down. Really not a fan…
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More to the point, how do you do it I'm not seeing it in the account dashboard do you have to contact the company directly? I'm £300 in credit and it keeps going up even during winter though the last week or two will take a chunk out of that as heating is on full tilt at present
 
Blackjack Davy said:
More to the point, how do you do it I'm not seeing it in the account dashboard do you have to contact the company directly? I'm £300 in credit and it keeps going up even during winter though the last week or two will take a chunk out of that as heating is on full tilt at present
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Depends on supplier, with Octopus I had to contact them and ask for Variable DD to be setup.

Was the same when I was with EDF I think, had to ask them for whole amount DD to be setup.

There seems to be a different term for it depending who you speak with, but it's the same principle on each supplier. DD taken is just matched to actual usage and billed to a point in time.
 
Blackjack Davy said:
More to the point, how do you do it I'm not seeing it in the account dashboard do you have to contact the company directly? I'm £300 in credit and it keeps going up even during winter though the last week or two will take a chunk out of that as heating is on full tilt at present
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I’ve been with 3 different energy companies and each one requires you to contact them directly.

They don’t tend to advertise, or offer that option unless it’s specifically asked for, which says a lot about their motives.

I had to jump through a few hoops on the phone with British Gas, who were making it as difficult as possible to pay for what I used.

When I recently switched to octopus they were set on putting me on a fixed cost payment based on what they estimated my annual usage to be, and I had to endure a bit of back and forth, but they ended up putting me on what I asked for. Although this did involve a few phone calls as they would claim they set my payment method correctly but it was still showing fixed payments of £200 per month.

I’ve had a fair bit of issues with Octopus, long response times to any queries and lots of issues with my account, such as being told I’m on a specific tarriff but the changes not actually taking effect.

Finally on the tracker tarriff, paying for what I use so fingers crossed I’ll have no further issues.

I hate having all electric underfloor heating, takes ages to warm up and costs an absolute fortune, but I guess that’s for another thread lol….
 
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HEADS UP OCTOPUS CUSTOMERS:

Saving Sessions Title

Use less power today for 1 hour between 17:30 - 18:30
 
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£258 for a month of electric in a 2 bed flat!!
248 night units, 582 day units used from 9/12 > 08/01.
We have been having a radiator on in the day and at night in the bedroom on a low ish temperature so its that driving up the unit usage and cost.

We've now bought 2 electric heated throws which ive got one on now over a chair im sitting on. Nice and toasty and saves having a radiator running all day.
It was 10c in my lounge yesterday in the morning - frosty!

At night we put an electric throw on the bed which keeps it nice and warm. Just wish there was a timer longer than 2 hours so we could leave it on a low setting all night (Silent night heated throw) - https://www.silentnight.co.uk/silentnight-luxury-heated-throw.html
We bought a couple from Amazon but have since returned them as they sometimes dont heat up at all 'Cosi Home® Luxury Heated Throw'
 
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krooton said:
We have saved a buttload sitting on a heated throw on the sofa and having a dual heated blanket for the bed, I keep the main living areas to 18ºC for the most part, but we are also usually in bed by 7pm, so no radiators after then.
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18c, id have to run radiators all the time to hit this. Currently 11c in the lounge and 14.5c in the second bedroom where I work
 
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