Phoenix gas increases

metalgal

Reading on the BBC that there will be a 40% increase on phoenix gas for customers in belfast. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-13141300

How can they justify 40%? I don't have gas heating but my pensioner aunt does. She has just had to find over £200 for her bill for the first quarter (when it was freezing and snowing). She lives on her own in a 2 bed flat. She is surviving on pension and pension credit. She'll be terrified to turn her heating on! Whilst it nice at the minute, what about if next winter is as bad as the previous one?? She can just about make ends meet at the minute and this is ridiculous!! How can the government allow companies to do this when its going to be vulnerable people who suffer for it due to low pension levels????

This is disgraceful. I'm researching getting her changed to firmus.

belfastgirl23

Oh this is scary - we already pay an arm and a leg for heating! Will be interested to see how the research into firmus goes!

And why is it only in Belfast????

bigsy

I think Phoenix only supplies gas in the Greater Belfast & Larne areas.

I made the switch to firmus in December. Painless. Seems like a logical decision to move if you can.

NAR

It will be interesting to see their profits the next time they are published. :mad:

bigsy

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-13147146

It's a 39% price increase!

From the above link, 'Phoenix users in ten rural towns will not be affected by the changes.'

Would these by any chance be 'rural towns' which also have a firmus supply?

Chickabee

When i moved into my house it had a pre-pay phoenix meter which i never bothered to change- it doesn't cost me that much to heat my house anyhow.

I guess it would make sense to top it up as much as i can now and buy as many units at the lower price before the price hike.

39/40% is a disgrace

donnac2558

I remember hearing at the beginning of the year it said that people with gas heating had it easy for so long compared to oil users. But they would be in for a shock as prices had gone up big time. The expert who was on the BBC News back in January went on saying he thought they would put a price increase and then do another later again.

So perhaps Phoenix have decided to do the rise all in one go? Crap I would hate to think of another rise to come!!!!

I remember they put up the prices before and it was a big increase compared to what it was. Then the prices dropped twice, which was brilliant.

It will be interesting to see how much Firmus put up their prices in September?

Since I am £200+ in advance with an easy pay card, I can't really switch over. Also I don't use direct debit because they want too much. I pay £50 a month all year, yet a friend who went DD and in the same property type two bedroom flat they wanted £90 a month!!! Sorry no way. I know what I use and even now pay too much in each month to cover the bill. Oh for me that is a good thing.

Chickabee

donnac2558 wrote: »

Since I am £200+ in advance with an easy pay card, I can't really switch over. Also I don't use direct debit because they want too much. I pay £50 a month all year, yet a friend who went DD and in the same property type two bedroom flat they wanted £90 a month!!! Sorry no way. I know what I use and even now pay too much in each month to cover the bill. Oh for me that is a good thing.

Are you going to top up any more on your easy pay card before the hike?

donnac2558

Yes well I just keep putting in the same amount every two weeks.

I think of it as a safety net for the winter bills.

36square

Even allowing for the fact that gas prices seem to have been stable for a while, 39% is a thumping increase in one go. I'm not a gas user but I'm sure it will still be cheaper than oil.
The simple fact is that traditional energy are becoming scarcer and more expensive to get hold of. In the long term, oil, gas and electricity is just going to become dearer and dearer. The rational response is to use less of it but how many of us are and do we even know how much we're using?
I'm always shocked by the extent to which workplaces - schools, offices and shops (but not supermarkets usually) are overheated with people sitting around in their shirtsleeves . If people are used to that for 8 hours a day, it must be hard for them to get used to lower temperatures at home, whatever the cost. Even in this recent spell of warm weather, people tell me they've still got heating on. In my experience, the best form of heating indoors as well as out is a woolly jumper. And there's always the benefit of higher circulation through exercise.
In my opinion, there's a lot of scope for most people to reduce their energy bills if they try.

Old_Git

rather than blame phoenix think about improving your insulation .