Report them to Ofgem anyway TBH.
Energy Prices (Strictly NO referrals!)
- Thread starter DXP55
- Start date
Report them to Ofgem anyway TBH.
I've just emailed Octopus to get my bill moved over to whole amount direct debit and asked for a refund of my credit less £50. My bill is on track to be total £80 per month and with the £66 that means my payments likely £14 a month then. This would take my DD down from £150 so a big chunk I can put into the Barclaus Rainy Day Saver and get 5% interest instead tbh.
It's also mental to think that £22.50 of that is the daily charge tbh!
It's also mental to think that £22.50 of that is the daily charge tbh!
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Octopus wanted to put my DD up to a total of £340 a month (which currently includes the £66 gov grant) from around £240 previously (on the previous price cap). That was with a £900 existing credit.
However much it was a shock, it does actually calculate correctly if I take my predicted usage over the next 12 months / 12. So I don't see how those who are saying they are being overcharged now can be if they apply the same calculations to everyone...
I mean in just December and January alone it predicts over £1000 in a actual gas/elec usage. So that would mean eating £300 of that £900 credit buffer.
However much it was a shock, it does actually calculate correctly if I take my predicted usage over the next 12 months / 12. So I don't see how those who are saying they are being overcharged now can be if they apply the same calculations to everyone...
I mean in just December and January alone it predicts over £1000 in a actual gas/elec usage. So that would mean eating £300 of that £900 credit buffer.
I’m still in debit from last winter (only -£6) but that will start building again with the heating going on.
I got an electric car last winter and my supplier didn’t seem to notice my electricity bill was significantly higher than I had projected. I ended up upping it myself and they haven’t touched it. I’ll probably be in credit by next summer, it depends on how many miles I do over the winter.
I got an electric car last winter and my supplier didn’t seem to notice my electricity bill was significantly higher than I had projected. I ended up upping it myself and they haven’t touched it. I’ll probably be in credit by next summer, it depends on how many miles I do over the winter.
Octopus account is way off. Its over double what I've ever used for last 24 months with them.
On top of that I'm 1 person instead of 3 adults. So it's about double again to what I'm using now so yeah significantly off for myself at least.
I still don't understand how Shell do their calculations. They just sent our annual usage summaries, we've only been with them since Jan, so not quite a year but plenty of data there. Their estimate for our next year of electricity has us using 65kWh a month more than we've ever used in the past 11 months, 95kWh more than we've averaged in the past 6 months. Where do they get these numbers from? 
Before anyone asks, yes our bill is set to pay in full every month.
Before anyone asks, yes our bill is set to pay in full every month.
what % increase does 95kwh represent ... you expect winter to be 3x summer month gas use, but, agree, jan/feb use should indicate what you will use this winter.
but, you can ring them up and correct their projections,
their goal maybe to ensure a credit pad, for the April increase, by overestimating annual use.
I’m not sure how it’s going to work in April. Gas prices have fallen a lot and as we will be through winter by then they will have fallen more. Electricity prices could be falling. Perhaps the government are waiting and seeing on what the situation is after winter to decide what to do.what % increase does 95kwh represent ... you expect winter to be 3x summer month gas use, but, agree, jan/feb use should indicate what you will use this winter.
but, you can ring them up and correct their projections,
their goal maybe to ensure a credit pad, for the April increase, by overestimating annual use.
Are you on a smart meter?
Yep I've been on smart meter for 7yrs and they take readings every day etc and yet still way way off.
My predicted energy use for electric is 435kWh which is almost double the 220kWh it was with 3 adults in house over the last 12 months and 4x what it is going ot be for my November usage for just me now.
My prediction for Gas is 1233kWh, we used 350kWh a month last winter with 3 adults considering basically no heating on. And the summer months was 250kWh. I haven't looked at this months gas but I expect it probably half considering 1/3rd less showers/baths alone tbh.
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This is specifically the Kaifa smart meters. I checked mine and it is Toshiba.
Plus this is the dailyfail reporting this…
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Definitely not on a smets2 meter.
Vast majority of Smart meters in the UK are Toshiba EDMI's
It's very wise having a large energy credit balance going into Winter.
With the gas and electric unit price being 3-4x what is was last year, and the standing charges up about 2x, it's natural for the energy suppliers to be concerned about people's awareness and actions if they are reducing DD payments and/or have low credit balances. It'll be too late come March when some of these households owe the suppliers thousands and typically it's everyone else who's at fault when this happens.
With the gas and electric unit price being 3-4x what is was last year, and the standing charges up about 2x, it's natural for the energy suppliers to be concerned about people's awareness and actions if they are reducing DD payments and/or have low credit balances. It'll be too late come March when some of these households owe the suppliers thousands and typically it's everyone else who's at fault when this happens.
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It's very wise to have it if they are accurately reflecting your usage over that period and youve evenly split your 12 months payments to a totalnyears usage.
However when they are utilising predictions that are 2x to 4x larger and/or a significant change in circumstances such as myself going from 3 adults all week + 2 children at weekends to just 1 adult then it seems resonable enough to talk to them to adjust their prediction of usage and to actually use the last 12 months readings.
So for instance in my case their usage calculation should be halved as they have doubled the estimate to previous years readings and then halved again approx due to household change.
I don't need massive credit as my total monthly if wasn't receiving the £66 would be around £80-£85 of which almost £25 is daily charge.
I can review in April my account again when the support stops and I'll have a fuller picture of average monthly although I don't expect it will change. I've been same usage and routine since March.
If you a medium to high user as I was prior to this with the other household members and not caring as much about usage like I'd been prior to March then yes everything you say I feel makes sense.
I think you missed part of my post, I was talking about electricity and I pay my bill in full each month, so no credit involved. It represents a 21% increase in monthly electricity usage.what % increase does 95kwh represent ... you expect winter to be 3x summer month gas use, but, agree, jan/feb use should indicate what you will use this winter.
but, you can ring them up and correct their projections,
their goal maybe to ensure a credit pad, for the April increase, by overestimating annual use.
Id say the wise thing to do is have your excess money working for you earning interest then pay any companies only what you owe them.
Its wise for people that are incapable of budgeting to allow the energy companies to build up a credit, but they're usually the same people that keep complaining about the very same credit.
For sure, completely agree on this
Let's be honest though - This 'you have my money and i'm losing interest' is exaggerated. At a household level, a supplier holding £500 for 3 months is a few pounds lost in interest