Energy Prices (Strictly NO referrals!)

413x said:
But I have 600 credit. It'll only go up to about 130. And with the 400 that will Cover it.

130 is only 50 more. That would last 12 months of winter months. Not 6

I'd rather them return the cash and up the DD. Not many people carry 600 of credit.
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At summer I normally nil my balance if it's in credit, giving me time to build up any credit for winter. I use my annual usage to set my direct debit - so if I use £900 a year, I would set the direct debit to £75/pcm and not alter it unless I noticed my usage was rising all of a sudden when I do my monthly meter readings.

Of course, with the prices going up in October, I would take any credit it, less a month's direct debit. So, using your £600 balance and my £75/pcm as an example, I'd ask for £525 credit back. If the supplier resists, I tend to remind the creditor I can trust them with my credit balance for 6 months, so why can't they do the same? This usually makes them see sense and I see my credit back usually 10 working days later.
 
darael said:
At summer I normally nil my balance if it's in credit, giving me time to build up any credit for winter. I use my annual usage to set my direct debit - so if I use £900 a year, I would set the direct debit to £75/pcm and not alter it unless I noticed my usage was rising all of a sudden when I do my monthly meter readings.

Of course, with the prices going up in October, I would take any credit it, less a month's direct debit. So, using your £600 balance and my £75/pcm as an example, I'd ask for £525 credit back. If the supplier resists, I tend to remind the creditor I can trust them with my credit balance for 6 months, so why can't they do the same? This usually makes them see sense and I see my credit back usually 10 working days later.
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That's kind of what I'd go for.
Happy to trundle about with 50-100 credit.
 
200sols said:
Well when the average bill reaches £3k that is about £150. I dare say many people would be desperate for that right now.
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If it were £3,000 all at once, sure you'd notice £150, but it's not is it.

It's £250 a month which would be £12.50 and that's not enough for most people to really be worried about, except maybe the lowest earners or those on benefits, but then most of them won't be using excessive amounts of electricity because they would have already cut down substantially.

Now you might say, but pensioners will be hit hard also, and I'd agree they will, which is why there are so many schemes available to ofset most of this increase in cost and likely to be more available as the months go on if matters don't improve. Am I concerned about my own mother who is 70 when it comes to these issues. Absolutely, and the entire family will ensure she can manage/cope without having to worry. Probably helps that she was an accountant for 40+ years so is able to budget and plan effectively.
 
cheesefest said:
There should be a limit on the number of times fuel is increased. A customer said she drove to her employer’s head office in Nottingham and the same again the following day. The fuel at one station went up three times in two days by 4p.
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They probably tracking wholesale and ignoring the price paid for whats still in the tanks at the station. I would agree to some kind of limit on that basis alone.
 
cheesefest said:
There should be a limit on the number of times fuel is increased. A customer said she drove to her employer’s head office in Nottingham and the same again the following day. The fuel at one station went up three times in two days by 4p.
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Maybe they had a delivery between visits
 
I don't pay by DD I pay manually every month since green went bust and they moved me to Shell energy. They can go do one if I am giving them what they want.
 
Feels like the BBC and other news orgs are playing a blind eye to the cost of living. Nothing on the news homepage despite surpassing £2 per litre. It feels like we're sleep walking off a cliff (the cliff being this winter). We could all be preparing for winter right now, funding extra loft insulation in our roofs etc
 
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Wizzkidy said:
Err, maybe? To be honest with you I didn't bother to look. It might be true but either way I can manage how much they get off me.

I cant' find any information on if its more expensive...

EDIT - I found this https://help.shellenergy.co.uk/hc/e...129-Why-is-it-cheaper-to-pay-by-Direct-Debit-

But I am not sure what it actually means. I just pay online every month, not with cash or yee oldie cheque
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Direct Debit is cheaper, you get a slight discount 2-3%, the unit rates are ever so slightly lower.
You can pay by whole amount so you pay for your exact bill to the penny every month, basically the same as you are doing now but its automatic by a direct debit payment.
DD's are cheaper due to being a more "secure" payment so the energy companies know they are going to get the payment on a set date.
 
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Wizzkidy said:
I think I will take that 2 or 3% for the control lol
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You can setup the whole amount DD so you get the discount and then just manually pay the bill online when it comes through as you do now, literally nothing changes for you. The payment is taken 10 days after the bill is produced, so if you pay it before then no payment will come out as the balance on the account will be £0. You will technically have a direct debit but it will never actually do anything.

Think how many pints those few % will add up to :D
 
Wizzkidy said:
I think I will take that 2 or 3% for the control lol
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But really the control comes from how much you energy you consume. If you don't want big bills, don't use a lot of energy. Even though it's only around 3%, you're still paying over the odds for your energy.

You mention that you like the control, but really it's just costing you more money. Just average out your annual usage, divide by 12 and set your direct to the next £5-10. If you take monthly meter readings, you will soon know if your direct debit needs tweaking.
 
lookitsjonno said:
Feels like the BBC and other news orgs are playing a blind eye to the cost of living. Nothing on the news homepage despite surpassing £2 per litre. It feels like we're sleep walking off a cliff (the cliff being this winter). We could all be preparing for winter right now, funding extra loft insulation in our roofs etc
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A lot of higher up people at the BBC and other media outlets are heavily invested in property. They don't want to keep drawing people's attention too much to the cost of living as that only reinforces the fact that much higher interest rates are required. This would affect their personal wealth.

The BBC in particular will hide behind their "diversity" agenda as a reason for not forcing very serious issues very often.
 
darael said:
But really the control comes from how much you energy you consume. If you don't want big bills, don't use a lot of energy. Even though it's only around 3%, you're still paying over the odds for your energy.

You mention that you like the control, but really it's just costing you more money. Just average out your annual usage, divide by 12 and set your direct to the next £5-10. If you take monthly meter readings, you will soon know if your direct debit needs tweaking.
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The problem is you can't just set your dd without using whole amount monthly. The providers will keep switching it around on you if they think it's not right via algorithm.

Setup whole amount monthly dd then you just get billed for actual usage, it's the cheapest unit rate and no credit or debit gets built up.
 
im still on pre payment meter and topped up the max before the new charges come in, SSE said they wont back track the new fees when i next top up, if this lasts me till prices rise again, ill have a heart attack at how much my electric has gone up
 
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