Energy price hikes - how much for YOU

OurCreature · Post by **OurCreature** » Mon Feb 13, 2023 1:52 pm

Well done for giving them a reading, Furby - I hope they use it.

I have looked at our close and only 8 out of the 23 houses have energy certificates, and three of those have expired. I guess those 8 will turn out to be the most recent houses to have been sold; 3 were rated C and the rest were D.

Furby · Post by **Furby** » Tue Feb 14, 2023 5:37 am

My houses were d and e. There was one c which was the house next to my mum's so don't know how theirs is so high. It was one that had declared cavity wall no insulation and that was only "poor" whereas my mum's had correctly solid walls which were "very poor" but others had declared cavity walls and were d. It has to be wrong because two adjacent terraced houses can't have solid then cavity and were cavities even invented in Victorian times.

Water bills are going up a lot for no better water and they are even getting let off the fines for worse water. The fines should be forced spending on improving drains because having rainwater with sewers is daft. I don't know why it's such a problem now it's always rained hasn't it.

Furby · Post by **Furby** » Wed Feb 15, 2023 6:19 am

My water is going up 8% and council tax 5%. Not seen the actual bill for council yet and is probably a bit more because 5% is what councils are allowed without a vote and we get extra added on here for the mayor fund for homeless people shelters and free bus passes and leisure activities for teenagers and other mayors things and that added extra bit wasnt capped. I suppose I though be glad I am not Pani who will have to pay even higher increase to pay for bankrupt councils. I can't see the point of having caps if in tough times they just say oh let them have some more then. Not really a cap is it.

OurCreature · Post by **OurCreature** » Wed Feb 15, 2023 7:10 am

My HCC council tax is going up 5% as well, and the policy now is to put it up by the maximum allowed by HMG for the next few years. Even so, the budget report that went to Cabinet on 7 February says that in the medium term the County's financial position is unsustainable ie HCC will go bust unless HMG does something radical about local government finance. The full Council is meeting to approve the budget on 23 February.

Patience · Post by **Patience** » Wed Feb 15, 2023 8:47 pm

Scottish councils haven’t announced theirs yet.

eccles · Post by **eccles** » Mon Feb 20, 2023 1:59 pm

Some potentially good news for energy users?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64706726

Furby · Post by **Furby** » Tue Feb 21, 2023 11:00 am

I will believe in lower prices when I see them because British Gas didnt store gas and that was a problem and they started up the store again so will have bought gas already at last years prices. And the effect of banning pre payment meters when people dont pay their bills has yet to feed through into our standing charges. This could be a very large amount because pre payment meters at least stopped people running up future bills. Electricity prices are rigged to be many times dearer than gas however much electric costs to make so its gas prices really matter for our bills.

Octopus Energy have given gas customers who refused to switch to smart meters free gas all winter and they wont have to pay it back. They will pay going forward though once octopus fix their computers. I didnt really understand their sums because imperial meters run 2.83 times slower than metric meters so how it ended up at 99% discount is a mystery.

Furby · Post by **Furby** » Sat Feb 25, 2023 11:16 am

I haven't had my gas bill yet two weeks later. I usually get it in January which was why I was checking. So don't know if they have recorded my meter reading. I know I should be in credit because I already paid more than i use and now the cookers gone should be even less. But they base their actions such as breaking doors down on what they think not what furbies know so I prefer to have the bill to see.

Gas bills are now such a story they are in coronation Street. One character had been asked to send readings and the app wasn't working so they had to ring and be holding on for ages and have a bill for 4000 pounds.now.

OurCreature · Post by **OurCreature** » Sat Feb 25, 2023 11:43 am

I sent in my monthly gas reading online earlier today; a message flashed up to say it would be of the order of £155 but the statement won't be ready for another few hours at least. That plus my electricity usage will knock my credit balance with E.ON down by another £70 but I shall still be in credit. Despite my blanket that They like and a thick pullover I still feel the cold much more than I did even 5 years ago and I refuse to be cold when I can afford to pay to be warm.

eccles · Post by **eccles** » Sat Feb 25, 2023 6:01 pm

I owe Eon money as of today when I sent my two readings.

Furby · Post by **Furby** » Mon Feb 27, 2023 9:34 am

I am determined not to be in debt because I can't get on the vulnerable services register for a couple of years and they are allowed to force fit meters if people are in debt and aren't legally vulnerable so as their meter fitters are a bit bored not being allowed to install for real debtors I suspect they will use the chance to install smart meters where people haven't yet agreed. I am ok with electric as they send bills all the time it's beyond annoying especially since they forced email bills during lockdown and I now have to pay for printing costs. It's trickier with gas as they only send every 6 months and not even that this year so I can know I am not in debt in reality but can't know what they are thinking. The estimate system has always been think of a number and there seems a general gas problem with gas smart meters switched off and all the ways to submit readings that don't involve speaking to a gas employee taken away so the estimates system will be on overtime.

Price cap has come down but it's still higher than even the increased government cap so we will be paying 900 pounds more with the stopping of the 400 pounds at 66 a month and 500 more on the government subsidy cap. It's quite confusing isn't it and I suppose that's the plan.

Furby · Post by **Furby** » Sun Mar 05, 2023 5:41 am

The government cap is being extended three months in the hope that by then the energy price cap will be lower than government cap. So we will still lose the 66 pounds a month 400 pounds but bills won't rise 500 pounds until July then they will only rise 499 if we are lucky. If not anything might happen.

The government guarantee help is welcome and the energy price cap has been a wonderful thing one useful thing thereaa may did. But the way bills are calculated for direct debits doesn't really fit in with the help. The governement 66 pound help only in winter has been designed for people who pay bills on receipt of bill companies don't change monthly direct debits just for winter. Quite how direct debits are calculated is a dark art no one has ever been able to tell about. This has been a long standing problem pre dating the energy crisis I am surprised some whistle blower hasn't revealed the calculations yet.

Furby · Post by **Furby** » Thu Mar 23, 2023 9:48 am

I have received an electric update re the April changes. The headline says I save 15p a year but no details as to how they work that one out. What can I buy for 15p. Maybe because standing charge has gone up and usage charges down a fraction and I use a lot in the winter. But its spring now and by winter it will all be different.

eccles · Post by **eccles** » Thu Mar 23, 2023 10:41 am

I checked Asda's website for what I could get for 15p and there was nothing. You can get jelly babies for 25p if you save up.

Patience · Post by **Patience** » Thu Mar 23, 2023 10:04 pm

Apparently I’m due to pay £22 more. Who knows

Furby · Post by **Furby** » Fri Mar 24, 2023 9:33 am

Standing charges do vary across the British isles don't they and Scotland has the very worst. I do think with the standing charges now they are so very much the companies should be made to put the pie chart back on the bills. There used to be one showing how much went on pipes and wires and phone lines and green subsidies and debt relief for non payers and subsidies for needy people all that sort of thing. One of the previous governments stopped it can't remember which one but could have been any of them couldnt it.

I got my gas bill eventually but they still estimated my usage. Instead of doing a bill as soon as I got though on their 16 pounds an hour phone line they waited another 10 days and estimated my usage as a massive amount in those days. The reading is now higher than I will use for months so I am not sure what to do. They have closed off all the ways to submit readings except by phoning them and jointing the general hour long queue with new alphabetic accounts which isn't a customer choice and don't know how I was selected for one. So it's costing me more in phone calls than just leaving it wrong but it will be cumulative won't it. Next estimate will be based on more than this estimate and will creep up and up.

I did think meters had to be read at least 2 years and knew it was more because of lockdown but the useless ofgem let them off and it's only vulnerable customers can get meter readers now. I do feel sorry for vulnerable customers and am nearly one so they need to be looked after obviously but I am getting just a bit sick of every little thing ever being only vulnerable people matter.

eccles · Post by **eccles** » Fri Mar 24, 2023 10:40 am

That must be so annoying. Can you write or email them?

Furby · Post by **Furby** » Fri Mar 24, 2023 10:59 am

I have written to the po box number but they didnt reply and they don't currently use email as an inbound contact channel.

eccles · Post by **eccles** » Sun Mar 26, 2023 12:51 pm

Switching is about to start again as Ovo Energy launches a new fixed deal. MSE's Martin Lewis is advising waiting as more, lower, deals will be on the way by July.
Furby, you might be able to call on an 0800 number to save that £16 an hour. There appear to be several options listed here:
https://www.saynoto0870.com/companysearch.php

Furby · Post by **Furby** » Thu Mar 30, 2023 10:28 am

I could only find a 0800 for PAYG maybe I could ring that and ask to be transferred. But that question probably isn't on the script list of questions given to overseas staff. It's an 0330 number I have and it's £16 because British gas stopped doing weekends and British telecom have made all their phonecalls 25p a minutes. My phone package is weekends only so long term I need a minutes package but am putting it off because of the compulsory fibre rules in my town for any changes.

I am luckier than working people because at least I can spend 16 pounds an hour and get it sorted eventually but when at work they wouldn't have let me stay on phone that long and an hour's dinner isn't long enough to get it sorted. I wonder if this is something to do with pre payment meters they told parliament had to install them as people didn't engage with the supplier to set up debt plans but maybe people who can't pay gas bills also can't afford 16 pounds an hour to not get though or be cut off.

Grant shapps has a plan for net zero. I don't understand what it is but probably he doesn't either. Gas will be more expensive to stop people using gas or something. I have thought all costs being lumped on electric bills to stop people using gas didn't make much sense and would be better on gas bills but their logic was 25% of people don't have gas (remote areas and blocks of flats) so they would have got out of paying taxes. I am not sure how helpful plan will be because gas has tripled and people are still using it arent they. With all the extra taxes from higher gas bills they have grand plans for catching carbon and hydrogen houses things like that.