Monthly Electricity Direct Debit DOUBLED!

smh_poole

Hi All,

I'm with NPOWER for my Electricity and Gas on 'Standard Sign Online 7' which I pay a monthly fixed amount y direct debit.

This has been £25/£30 per month for Electric for the last few years, depending on the season.

I've recently had a letter advising that the new monthly payment will be £59!!

The last reading was an estimate, although looking at the meter now, I can see its actually below what we would have used.

I guess my questions are...

- Is this new monthly price the reality of the price increases?
- How does 'Standard Sign Online 7' weigh up against others?

We have cavity wall insulation, energy saving bulbs, a new combi boiler...cant see what else we can do to reduce our fuel usage! (Apart from shouting 'Who left the light on?!' a bit more!! )

Seriously, any advice here would be appreciated...£59 seems like alot (Family of 4 in a 4 bed semi)...although perhaps we've been paying too little for the last year or so.

And yes, I know...we should have switched a while back.

Thanks!

smh_poole

Just checked energyhelpline.co.uk - They reckon we can save 40% with British Gas. British Gas themselves quote an average saving of £240 PA for customers that switch, they currently have a fixed til 2011 deal going...any thoughts on this appreciated...to be honest, I dont really know how to make a clear, considered comparison! (For example, I dont really know how much we use in a year!)

Thanks!

brysiewysie

smh_poole wrote: »

............Seriously, any advice here would be appreciated...£59 seems like alot (Family of 4 in a 4 bed semi)...although perhaps we've been paying too little for the last year or so.

Sounds a reasonable sum to me!

Magentasue

brysiewysie wrote: »

Sounds a reasonable sum to me!

To me, too. Family of six in three bed house paying about £60 a month. That said, we are heavy users (four teens/20somethings with gadgets galore and laundry for six etc.). Our monthly payment is increasing, partly because we've just switched but we've cut consumption so hoping to cut it after the winter.

If you know your annual consumption and unit rate, you can calculate what you need to pay over the year and divide by 12. I've read posts where people have found suppliers unwilling to negotiate but in my experience, so long as you are being reasonable, they're quite willing to reduce payments if they've set them too high.

DGJsaver

smh_poole wrote: »

Hi All,

I'm with NPOWER for my Electricity and Gas on 'Standard Sign Online 7' which I pay a monthly fixed amount y direct debit.

This has been £25/£30 per month for Electric for the last few years, depending on the season.

I've recently had a letter advising that the new monthly payment will be £59!!

The last reading was an estimate, although looking at the meter now, I can see its actually below what we would have used.

I guess my questions are...

- Is this new monthly price the reality of the price increases?
- How does 'Standard Sign Online 7' weigh up against others?

We have cavity wall insulation, energy saving bulbs, a new combi boiler...cant see what else we can do to reduce our fuel usage! (Apart from shouting 'Who left the light on?!' a bit more!! )

Seriously, any advice here would be appreciated...£59 seems like alot (Family of 4 in a 4 bed semi)...although perhaps we've been paying too little for the last year or so.

And yes, I know...we should have switched a while back.

Thanks!

Not once have you mentioned knowing your usage and your unit prices , you need to know these facts before deciding if your being ripped off

Magentasue

smh_poole wrote: »

(For example, I dont really know how much we use in a year!)

Thanks!

As DGJ says, you need to know this. There are ways of finding this out:

- Find two bills with readings a year apart
- Ring NPower and ask them

jackieb

I used to pay £101 a month for my electricity direct debit. Never missed a payment in all the years I had DD set up, so the high amount wasn't due to missed payments. This was for a family of 5 in a 3 bed house.

We've since moved and there are now 6 of us in a 4 bedroom house, and my DD has been dropped to £70 due to overpayment. I'd be chuffed at having to pay £59 a month!

DGJsaver

How much is the OP`s gas payments ???

smh_poole

Monthly gas payments are £30, I've just given Npower a meter reading for both Electric and Gas.

- Gas - Ok as is, we are actually £50 in credit
- Electric - We've used 435 units more than the estimated amount

So, it looks like our monthly payment will actually be substantially higher than £59

That said, lets say it comes out at £65. That would make my total utilities bill, per month, including Gas Electric and Water £110.50

DGJsaver: I've just seen your replies to the person who has moved into Bournmouth, where you reckon on £120 p/month, so assuming you are right...we're not far off.

Magentasue

At the end of the day, it comes down to what you can afford and what you are willing to pay for. If you are happy to pay £110 a month for utilities, then there isn't a problem. I don't think it's excessive. We're a family of six (adults and teens) paying about £170 so you're doing better than we are! We can afford this; however, we are making an effort to cut down wastage - it'll be interesting to see what our annual works out after the winter. If I can pay less without sacrificing too much comfort and convenience, I'm sure I can find things to spend the money on.

Onslowette

We have just received our npower bill. We had been paying a total of £34pm for gas & elec combined. The 3 of us live in a tiny 1bed flat - there is a living room with kitchen in corner, 1 bathroom (no elec shower or anything) and 1 bedroom. Total of 3 radiators, 4 lightbulbs in total. Our new DDM is for £96pm!!!! Trying to talk to anyone at npower who talks sense seems impossible. ............