Fed up with baffling bills and confusing energy tariffs?

Premier_2

damienuk wrote: »

...The real issue is lack of competition, ...

I'm not sure why you believe that.

Most people have a choice of up to 14 different suppliers to choose from (the big 6 plus the little 8) with all the variations in tariff they provide.

Admittedly those in Northern Ireland are not so lucky though!

I'm not sure how you can increase the number of suppliers. There's no significant barrier to entry other than financial constraints. No supplier will enter a market if they don't think they can make money from doing so. Conversely, if a supplier believes there is significant profit to be made, I'm sure they will be in like a flash.

CaroJones

Ease of comparison of tariffs and simplicity of billing are absolutely Which?'s two main issues with utility companies. It's like you say Damienuk, using incomparable units is one of the reasons peoples' energy bills are so meaningless at the moment.

The 4111 tariffs figure takes into account various measures - direct debit, online account, type of fuel; and additional tariff options e.g. green tariffs and special offers - and counts each one as a separate tariff option. It doesn't take into account geographical areas.

We will never campaign on an issue unless we have practical solutions. The changes we propose are detailed in full on our website but to answer your query as far as tariffs go, we're calling for:

- No hidden charges – no more 'no standing charges' tariffs when these costs are just built into the overall price and no unfair penalties if you want to change energy tariff
- A time guarantee if you change tariff - tariffs should be guaranteed for a minimum of 12 weeks
- Reasonable warning about price changes - a minimum of 12 weeks if a tariff is going to be changed, or when special deals are going to end
- An itemised summary box for all tariffs - so you can see key information at a glance and can more easily compare your tariff with others on the market.
The summary box would contain:
> The name of your tariff
> The rate of gas/elec per kwh and how this is broken down on a daily basis
> How the cost has been calculated
> Any discounts you are benefiting from and when they end
> Any fees you will have to pay if you change supplier, up front
> The type of account you have (online or paper)
> The payment method and frequency of payments.

I hope this goes some way to answering your questions. Thanks for engaging!

A_fiend_for_life

Thanks for this thread.

I have suggested using the Ebico model for single meter households especially. ie include VAT and standing charge in the cost per unit.

Thumbs up to Ebico.

Social tariffs are supposed to be the cheapest a company provides. The Ebico model should be the standard model for social tariffs at the very least.

Out of curiosity how many price comparison sites can specifically compare social tariffs?

Paulgonnabedebtfree

CaroJones wrote: »

Ease of comparison of tariffs and simplicity of billing are absolutely Which?'s two main issues with utility companies. It's like you say Damienuk, using incomparable units is one of the reasons peoples' energy bills are so meaningless at the moment.

The 4111 tariffs figure takes into account various measures - direct debit, online account, type of fuel; and additional tariff options e.g. green tariffs and special offers - and counts each one as a separate tariff option. It doesn't take into account geographical areas.

We will never campaign on an issue unless we have practical solutions. The changes we propose are detailed in full on our website but to answer your query as far as tariffs go, we're calling for:

- No hidden charges – no more 'no standing charges' tariffs when these costs are just built into the overall price and no unfair penalties if you want to change energy tariff
- A time guarantee if you change tariff - tariffs should be guaranteed for a minimum of 12 weeks
- Reasonable warning about price changes - a minimum of 12 weeks if a tariff is going to be changed, or when special deals are going to end
- An itemised summary box for all tariffs - so you can see key information at a glance and can more easily compare your tariff with others on the market.
The summary box would contain:
> The name of your tariff
> The rate of gas/elec per kwh and how this is broken down on a daily basis
> How the cost has been calculated
> Any discounts you are benefiting from and when they end
> Any fees you will have to pay if you change supplier, up front
> The type of account you have (online or paper)
> The payment method and frequency of payments.

I hope this goes some way to answering your questions. Thanks for engaging!

In addition to that, I find that the waters are further muddied by how and when any direct debit discounts are paid. My current supplier (Npower) give a fairly heavy discount to dual fuel users of £100 (up from £80) but they will only payout once per year instead of giving a discount of £8.33 a month. This makes it probably unviable to switch until just after an annual DD discount - which is undoubtedly why they do it. Even if they were to continue doing this once per year, I would like to see them forced to refund customers on a pro rata basis who leave part way through an accounting year. Maybe other suppliers have a similar system but I don't know as I'm not with them.

JohnG

Just viewed our latest Eon statement which shows we are now over £300 in the red :eek:. Presumably this is a result of increased charges a while ago, especially gas, so our monthly payments are not enough to cover it!
I'm keen to switch to another supplier again but feel I ought to wait until the Autumn even though I can't help thinking I'm going around in circles and simply end up paying more in the end! :mad:

I absolutely hate this system of having to keep switching - I would much prefer a fair price that I can rely on over a longer period so that I don't have to worry that I'm not being over charged just because I'm not smart enough to figure out the right tariff etc. It's difficult enough for me so I feel badly for those who are too scared to look at changing (I suspect that's the majority of British gas customers). I know we have these comparison sites which are helpful but once you've switched the suppliers tariffs/discounts are still extremely confusing to understand especially when they start altering their tariffs.

I will look at contacting our MP about this but can't help thinking this will be a low priority for parliament for some time to come. They've got too many of their own financial issues they are trying to sort out (so they don't lose out themselves :rolleyes:)

Cheers

Lugh_Chronain

The letter reads as follows:

RE: Energy and Tariffs

Thank you for your email regarding simpler energy bills and tariffs and I completely agree with your statement. I have written a letter on your behalf to the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, and will notify you once I have received a response.


In the meantime, you will be pleased to know that I and many of my Liberal Democrat colleagues have signed Early Day Motion 1010, Green Energy Bill that reads:


“That this House supports the provisions contained within the Green Energy Bill introduced by the hon. Member for East Surrey and a cross-party group of hon. Members, on promoting the revision of the Government's microgeneration strategy, reforming planning law, and exempting microgeneration developments and energy efficiency measures from a potential council tax and business rate penalty, thereby ensuring that a range of measures designed to promote green energy through small scale renewable and sustainable sources will enable people and businesses to benefit from generating their own energy; recognises the need to use green energy to protect the environment and to slow down climate change; and therefore calls on the Government to support the Bill.”


And early day motion 1064, Local Spending Reports that reads:


“That this House welcomes the provisions of the Sustainable Communities Act 2007 requiring the publication of local spending reports; believes that people have a right to know how their money is spent by public bodies; especially welcomes the assurances given by the Minister for Local Government, the hon. Member for Oldham East and Saddleworth, that the local spending reports will include all public agencies; further welcomes the Minister's assurance that the purpose is to achieve a report that identifies how much will be spent in each area by the authorities; is therefore very alarmed that the consultation now issued on the local spending reports proposes only to include local authorities, including fire authorities and police authorities, and primary care trusts, and to exclude all other public bodies despite the assurances of the Minister; believes it to be unacceptable that this document is now in blatant contravention of the expressed assurances of the Minister; and calls for proper local spending reports to be published, which give effect to those assurances.”


If you may have any further concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.


Yours sincerely,


Susan Kramer MP for Richmond and North Kingston