My mums electric Bill - advice please!

nikkiandmidgets

Hiya,

I used to be quite good at doing all the online pricing and such but since my marriage breakup my brain cant handle that kind of stuff so well so any help you can give me is greatly appreciated - I am reasonably intelligent, its just my brain is like a filing cabinet in disarray at moment!

My mum is in a 1 bedroom local authority flat with storage heating...She is with Scottish Hydro and has day and night energy readings and tariff ib her bill is quoted as 'Domestic Energy'...She is 58 soon, has osteoarthritis, and I think she gets tax credits to bulk up her income as she takes home approx £171 a week.

Her bill info...

09 Sept 2009 - 12 March 2010

Day Energy - 1360 units at 13.73 per unit £186.73
Night Energy - 4659 units at 6.11p per unit £284.66

Standing Charge at 17.810 for 185 days £32.95

Less your Monthly Direct debit Discount -£23.56

Total Charges before Vat £480.78

Vat at 5.00% on charges of £480.78 £24.03

Total Charges this bill including Vat £504.81

She is currently paying £119 per month, and had a high bill last time too. I think she was previously paying £50.00 per month - same monthly amount as she paid on her old flat which was panel heaters.

When she got the last bill in she stopped using her immersion heater and now using this switch she has beside her sink which lets her heat enough water to wash her dishes. The flat doesnt have a bath or a gas supply, and has a communual Laundry room. She does have a tv, electric cooker, and microwave, has a shower daily, and likes her cups of tea.

Since her new bill she now only has her heater in her bedroom coming on for 30 minutes in evening before she goes into bed, I ought her a hot water bottle for her bed as her feet were like iceblocks and she was struggling to sleep and sore in the morning. the heaterin bathroom and hall and kitchen are switched off now and living room is set to 6 and late boost I think?

Would she be entitled to any kind of social tariff? Would it be worth her switching utilities via one of the switch companies, and can she then approach them after switching to see if she qualifies for a social tariff if they have one? She doesnt have a house phone, and she argues that she has been smoking since she was 14 and doesnt want to stop just cut down as she sees it as her only pleasure in life as she doesnt smoke\have nights out etc...Can it all be done online or would she or somoeone acting on her behalf, have to phone the utility company?

Also, as a side note, have unit costs on prepayment meters changed - I have one for my electric, but not my gas. I have bad credit from my marriage breakup and as I get maintenance I dont qualify for income support but do get tax credits and full housing benefit\council tax and will probably get my prescription\dental once I get my form for low income sent off. I have been paying in approx £20-£25 a week in electric costs (Dont have a bath in my rental and have an electric shower (Myself and 4 and 5 year old daughters), have an old electric oven, and a tumble drier which i use as weather in my area of Scotland is useless for drying clothes\bedding\towels and there is only 1 radiator which I can hang things on due to small rooms). Just wondered what unit cost will be now and whether they will re-set meter to different tariff if this is the case, or how it will all work? Also, are there any suppliers who do social tariff (if I qualify) for prepayment meters, or would put me on an ordinary meter if I paid a deposit (I have about £170 in credit on my gas acct!)...

Sorry to ask so much but I am trying to get my life back on track and hopefully be better organised for this Xmas!

kjsmith7

For a 6 month bill, this means, in an all-electric house, that your mother has only used an average of £84 per month. This is brilliant, because even though she has a one-bedroomed flat, the storage heaters will be quite expensive, and the Winter was exceptionally cold. The system may not be very energy efficient, and to be honest most storage heaters/immersion heaters aren't anyway.

If she is paying £119 per month, over a year that is £1,428. Even if she used £500 again over the other six months of the year (unlikely as she'll probably have the heating on a little less in the Summer?) then her yearly spend would be £1,000 or roughly £85 per month. If she was previously paying £50 per month, she has been under paying by around £35 per month, which even over 1 year would give her a debt balance of £420. £1,000 yearly spend with £420 debt would merit a £119 payment, until the balance has cleared, which would then lower the payment to £85 per month after that. Remember, if you switch companies, any debit balance would have to be cleared.

Only having the heating on for 30 minutes before she goes to bed is not how the storage heaters are best used. It is better to 'charge them up' over night (roughly between 12 midnight and 7am, but the times do vary a little by region, but not by much) and then release heat during the day. The 'night' rate is a lot cheaper than the 'day' rate (usually less than 5p per unit instead of around 12p per unit). If your mum is 'boosting' her heating by only having it on for 30 minutes before she goes to bed, and she goes to bed before midnight, that may, in fact, cost more, as the storage heaters are being used at a more expensive time. Sadly, I don't know if having the heaters on "6 and late boost" is good or bad.

You've got to remember that the biggest charge on the bill is the "night" charge - which is (or should be) the storage heaters charging up at £284.86 + VAT (5%), that means on average she only used about £12 per week on her charging up her heaters - very good going! The day rate is everything else, or if she boosts her heating, and that works out as £186.73 + VAT (5%), which is only £31 per month. Her usage is, in fact, very low, which is probably due to her being frugal.

As for social tariffs, these are not available on switching web sites. I would telephone the supplier, with her present to verify data protection, to get information on the tariffs. I think all suppliers offer a social tariff now (of the big 6 at least) so it might be worth phoning around to other suppliers with her kWh usage (just add it up from the last years bills, remember to keep day and night rate separate). As it is electricity you are talking about, 1 unit = 1 kWh and they are one and the same. They should then be able to give an exact quote. Make sure she continues to pay via direct debit to get the best discounts.

As for prepayment meters, many suppliers recently removed the price differential between credit/quarterly bill/direct debit meters and prepayment meters, meaning (except for Online tariffs and Direct Debits discounts that you can get with a credit meter) there is little price difference per kWh for Standard/normal tariff. Again, get your yearly usage figures in kWh for gas and electricity, and whilst you are making enquiries regarding your mother's account with other suppliers, check for your own as well. Hope that helps.

nikkiandmidgets

Hiya, thanks for that - its a panel heater in her bedroom - well its flat and has a dial with little teeth you can push in or out to set when you want it on or off so thunk thats what kind it is?...She has never had storage heating before, and her DD for her last place was £60 a month, but with the credit she received from that supplier when she left that property, it equated to £50 a month...she just cant understand why this one is sooo much dearer when her house is sooo much colder, guess storage heating is just a poor choice by her housing company, and in her last place she had a washer dryer and she doesnt have in this property!

I think her best solution will be to try and transfer into somewhere with gas heating as she cannot afford this size of bills when her house isnt at a level of heat she feels comfortable with - the reason she is paying £119 is cos that what they set it at after her last bill, and she tried cutting back after it which did reduce her bills, but still not to a level she would be happy paying monthly..

I will try approaching her supplier and seeing what they can offer her though, and then compare it to the best deals for switching....

Will also see if I can get meter readings for mine so I can work out usage, or take reading for a typical weeks utilisation and then equate those into average monthly or annual usage, and check to see what my unit cost is, and compare it with their unit costs on their website...and maybe contact them once I know if i should be querying this and then see if I can get onto a social tariff, or if they would consider taking my repayment meter out if I pay a security deposit.

Thanks for that info so far - if anyone has any further input or any info on social tariffs, that would be great!

Sue-UU

Hi nikki.

If your mum's with Scottish Power and disabled due to her osteoarthritis, she could be entitled to a special rate. She should enquire about this by ringing them and asking outright.

We're on night storage heaters and have economy 7 so they heat through the night, and quite frankly we wouldn't have any other form of heating, not now! It's far cheaper and can be altered according to the weather so that we can use it at a minimum now it's milder or turn it up through the winter, especially during bitter winters like we've had this year. Not having any heat in her bathroom won't do her a scrap of good, she ought to be putting heat on in there for about 5 minutes before she goes in and keep it on at least until she comes out of the bath/shower.

Re the bedroom, putting the flat heater on for 1/2 an hour soon becomes wasted heat as it doesn't last through the night and often escapes through the windows any way. Why does she not treat herself to an electric blanket? Putting that on for 15 minutes before she goes to bed would ensure she's able to be warm to start the night, and that alone would make so much difference to her night's sleep. Night storage heaters would be far better for her, she could put it to a level so that it only used a small amount to heat up through the night at the cheaper rate.

Give her company a ring with her there in case they need to speak to her. IF they can't offer anything cheaper (which I'm sure they should be able to) then put a search in Google to seek out the cheapest for her needs.

All the best for her and for getting your own life back on track too Nikki, use the tumble dryer at a minimum though as they EAT it!!!

Sue x

nikkiandmidgets

She was going to get an electric blanket but was worried it would be expensive - as for her bedroom, she just puts the heating on to take the chill off the room as she reads in her bed for 30 mins before sleeping....

I went to see her yesterday though and her house is a lot warmer as she gave in and put the storage heater back on in the hall as she said she was far too cold and hated walking around fully clothed with her dressing gown or jacket on, or opening her living room door and feeling the cold rusing into the room!

She doesnt get disability or any kind, she is just on painkillers and other tablets for her stomach. her bathroom is quite small and am not sure what kind of heater is in there - it may be another dimplex storage heater - bulky, old things?! I know she had wanted to get a bath in so she could soak when sore, and a different heater in (She wanted a towel rail to heat her towels up, but think she wants to try and save up money then ask the clerk of works for the Housing Association to see what she will and wont be allowed to do!

Thanks for the kind words, my electricicty seems to be lasting longer so fingers crossed they have changed my unit rate in the last few weeks as before this it was unreal how short a period of time the money lasted on it!

macman

A double electric blanket uses maybe 300W, so maybe costs at most 2p an hour to run if set on medium?