Will the British Gas rise really happen?

Former_MSE_Andrea

This is a Chat Forum discussion on Martin's 'Will the British Gas rise really happen?' blog that you can read here

kenshaz

Received a phone call from BG asking why I left,my response price,they said can we cointact you if we reduce. I believe that after trapping some into a price freeze ,they will reduce

alared

Of course the 25% price rise won`t happen.
It`s the oldest trick in the book to spread rumours about a 25% hike and then when they ONLY put it up 15% everyone breaths a sigh of relieve saying well that wasn`t soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo bad.

nelly_2

alared wrote:

Of course the 25% price rise won`t happen.
It`s the oldest trick in the book to spread rumours about a 25% hike and then when they ONLY put it up 15% everyone breaths a sigh of relieve saying well that wasn`t soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo bad.

Exactly what I was thinking too.

robdaly209

I move to BG electricity on Dec 12th.......a saving on Scottish Hydro of £100 per annum. Then in early January I had a letter telling me of price increases. Using the same figures that I used to swap my electricity bill will increase by 33%!!!! or £150!!! If I had stuck with Scottish Hydro, even after their recent increase I would be paying less!!! BEWARE. Who really gains from the "swap sites"

badmad

Phoenix gas in N.Ireland recently announced a price rise of 17%.
This goes on top of a rise in Oct 05 of 30%.
So be prepared for the worst.
I don't know when or by how much BG last put up their prices, but hopefully you can use Phoenix as a guide.
see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4649746.stm
for the story.
And be thankful if you have the option to choose between gas suppliers!

Stonk

It's a bit like council tax rises. Every year we're fed scare stories about it rising, say, 15%, and then when it's "only" 8% people are actually happy. Well I'm flippin' not! It's still 3 to 4 times inflation.

My guess is also about 15% for gas. I don't mind this as much as I mind council tax going up. The wholesale cost of gas is far higher than it used to be, and we cannot expect the gas companies to sit these making a loss (they aren't charities).

tip

A call from British Gas this week, to tempt me to go dual fuel with them (the day before the price rise news) prompted me to think of switching using the comparison search engines. I'm armed with all the info now of the current best buy, but not sure if it's worth waiting until BG announce the rise and all others follow suit.
How can you tell the right time to switch? I'm a virgin switcher and nervous!Any help gratefully received.

alared

There is no "right" time to switch
I`ve always said that as long as you get both gas and leccy from the same company you won`t go far wrong in the long run.
The only exception to this rule is to stay well clear of British Gas!
The search sites make their money by getting you to switch,they get a fat fee every time someone changes.
You might call it "vested interest",in the city it`s known as "churning" (getting people to change their investments for no other reason than to make commission)

tip

Thanks for that.... Just seen Martin's mail tip on the subject so will do my virgin switch for dual fuel.....staying well clear of BG. Ta.

alared

Stonk wrote:

The wholesale cost of gas is far higher than it used to be, and we cannot expect the gas companies to sit these making a loss (they aren't charities).

From BBC News

"Scottish Power has warned its 5.2 million customers to prepare for a "double-digit" hike in bills, despite reporting a 95% jump in profits."

That just about sums up the "charity" power suppliers!