David Cameron writes for MSE on his plans to help on energy bills

Rikki

magyar wrote: »

No-one is stuck on the standard tariffs, you can always phone up one of the suppliers or comparison sites.

What I would do is to deliver this leaflet from Consumer Focus to every household in the country.
http://www.consumerfocus.org.uk/files/2010/01/Switching.pdf

Clearly lists both web sites and phone numbers.

...and if you don't feel comfortable with direct debit?


I have someone in mind when asking these questions. They don't use a computer, are not very good on the phone and get easily confused.

magyar

Rikki wrote: »

...and if you don't feel comfortable with direct debit?

Then you'll pay more. It's entirely fair that companies charge less for direct debits (and utilities are not alone in this). Statistically those customers are far lower credit risks plus they have the money in their account, not yours.

tgroom57

I don't like direct debit either. It involves banks.

alexlyne

When I logged into my account a few days ago, I had a big message saying "pay by direct debit - and save 1%" - I think I'm happier keeping control of my payments for the sake of what is around £11 a year (plus saving time on the calls after building £00s in credit).

VAT is 5% on fuel.

Remember also that fuel costs HAVE risen. And by quite a lot - there is nothing anyone can do about it - and the arguments always tend to get drawn away from the excessive profits by companies and onto the 'how are we going to eat' arguments. It's a bind, but unless you can pick up another tesco value blanket there isn't much you can do about it (assuming you have already done all the insulation stuff that is mentioned every time).

Of course, if all this makes your blood boil, then that'll help warm things up a bit

Oh, a just heard chris huhne on Jeremy Vine... what a politician!

tigercubrvj914

Why not have a basic power allowance per household at a basic price , then have a rising scale -the more you use, the more you pay pro rata- the same should apply for water bills; graded variations for the housebound/retired too or weather extremes.

irnbru_2

willow_loulou wrote: »

Id like to know why as I pre pay on a key meter, there for my payment is secured and no bill run up - I pay more per unit than others.

AIUI you pay no more than someone who pays on receipt of a quarterly bill.

magyar

tigercubrvj914 wrote: »

Why not have a basic power allowance per household at a basic price , then have a rising scale -the more you use, the more you pay pro rata- the same should apply for water bills; graded variations for the housebound/retired too or weather extremes.

Yes I like that idea too. At the moment it's the opposite, effectively people who use more pay proportionately less. Hardly encourages energy saving.

In fact I always think a good 'halfway house' between those who call for nationalisation would be to for the government to underwrite the first [x] kWh of electricity for each household, i.e. everyone gets a basic allocation for free. This should be obviously set pretty low - I have no desire to subsidise people to watch plasma screen TVs - but if could be set to a level allowing you to heat and light a small house, plus provide basic cooking etc.

Baggerz1

How on earth can the Govt. say that they will reduce fuel bills ?
Through our taxes we are paying a huge amount of money to mostly foreign companies to build so called "Green" windfarms.
Our Govt. AKA you and I the Taxpayers, have agreed to pay windfarm companies a massive 9 pence pr KWh EXTRA above the market price for wholesale electricity for the next 25 years !
That is almost £2 Million per week !
Surely there must be someone in Govt who is brave enough to mention the "Emperors New Clothes" !

irnbru_2

Rikki wrote: »

What can be done to help those people that are stuck on the standard tariffs?

The Big Society can help .....

G-Heat is an example.

Instead of spending £850M on weekly bin collections why not expand the number of households who can get insulation.

magyar

Baggerz1 wrote: »

Our Govt. AKA you and I the Taxpayers, have agreed to pay windfarm companies a massive 9 pence pr KWh EXTRA above the market price for wholesale electricity for the next 25 years !

Where do you get those figures from? The value of a ROC is about £42/MWh or 4.2p per kWh, and it's for 20 years not 25.

I understand the total paid under the RO per year is about £1bn or £50 a year, but that's all technologies. Wind farms make up about 75% of that, so if you took away all wind farms then you'd reduce prices by about £35 a year.