Staywarm Gives Us Another Price Rise

pennym_3

We live in London and have received a letter from Powergen Staywarm telling us the monthly direct debit will go up to £62.57 a month on June 1st.

So in the last 2 years we have had price rises of nearly £20 per month.

We live in a 2 bedroomed flat in Central London and the Staywarm price does not include hot water which comes from a central boiler and is paid via our service cahrges.

I rang Staywarm and they admitted that the fixed charge does depend on location. We have friends in Northumberland living in a detached property much bigger than ours who pay less.

I have looked online and it seems we may be better off with Pwergen's Online Dual fuel Tariff, where you manage the acct. online. It also gives Tesco cub points.

We are in the dark a bit as we have been with Staywarm for about 3 years so do not know our consumption.

I did ask at Powergen, as the meter people still check our meters, but was told I need to tell them current reading, so they can check the account. I would have thought they had access to our past readings.

is anyone else changing their scheme or supplier because of the latest price rise.

Any advice appreciated.

djohn2002uk

It does seem from my enquiries that the farther north you live the cheaper tarifs Staywarm apply. I got caught up in the Staywarm debacle last September/October time when they were throwing people off Staywarm for high usage (Due to Staywarm miscalculating our gas usage to the tune of 2.5 times the correct usage. And even on leaving them in December they still billed us for £107 untill we got Energywatch involved when they then changed it to a rebate of £8, a difference of £115, which some poor people not able to query it may have paid). I then was pleasantly surprised to find that I could be paying almost £8 a month less with Scottish Power and capped untill 31st Dec this year. More than enough to take care of a bad winter which we never had. Needless to say we switched in December and am more than happy to carry on untill the capped price ends in December and I'll be on the lookout again, but NOT in the direction of either Staywarm or Age Concern. Both catch penny schemes and surprise surprise both run by Powergen.

margaret_3

djohn2002uk wrote:

It does seem from my enquiries that the farther north you live the cheaper tarifs Staywarm apply.







I'm not sure that this is true. We live on the west of Scotland and we have a two bedroomed cottage and our staywarm bill has gone up to £65 a month.

millie

Our Staywarm went from £53.90 to £63.25 in December that is for a 3 bedroom semi in the West Midlands. I am reading both the meters myself every month this year and then I will have a better idea when it comes to the next renewal. That will be with consumption that I could economise on if Iwere paying by the metered account. So I should be able to work out if I am paying over the odds.

djohn2002uk

Margaret, I was paying that in Gloucestershire last September.
Then Powergen moved us on to their "standard tariff" which on my calculation was cheaper than Staywarm. But because of their error in calculating the gas consumption (they insisted we had an imperial meter when we had a metric one since around 1990) that we found a cheaper and capped supplier in Scottish Power. Look around, the safety of being able to use what you like is costing far more than it is worth to people of our age to whom it is natural not to waste utilities and so the only benefit is to Powergen. And they know that. I had anticipated saving in the region of £80 to £90 this year but reading of the Staywarm increases in this thread has increased that figure to over £100. Too much for me to pay to Powergen just for "Peace of Mind". The "Use all you want for a fixed monthly price" lures people to pay for something they just don't use.

margaret_3

djohn2002uk wrote:

Margaret, I was paying that in Gloucestershire last September.
Then Powergen moved us on to their "standard tariff" which on my calculation was cheaper than Staywarm. But because of their error in calculating the gas consumption (they insisted we had an imperial meter when we had a metric one since around 1990) that we found a cheaper and capped supplier in Scottish Power.






I hadn't realised that staywarm was not the bargain we thought it was. In fact, our postman told us that we were lucky to be with staywarm as they were turning away applicants as they had become so popular.
Should we move do you think?

Paul_Varjak

Here is some info from 2003 that showed that STAYWARM increased prices to their customers in London and the South East but not in the north:

https://www.energywatch.org.uk/media/show_release.asp?article_id=362&display_type=

However, I live in the north and, when I joined in STAYWARM on 23/11/2000 I was charged 21.66/month. That has now increased to £35.90p/month.

Unfortunately, I have not kept a chek on my gas/electric meter readings so I don't know if it is worth switching!

millie

I am finding it really difficult to find the price per therm of gas, and the price per unit of Electricity, so I can work out what my winter bill would have been on an ordinary tariff. All the sites I can find just want to know consuption for the year, or the price you pay per month. Which with Staywarm does not bear any resemblance to the actual cost. Also on the comparison sites they ask who your current supplier is, and there is not an option for Staywarm, only Age Concern.

MY next problem when I do find the tariffs is how I work out what a therm is calculated from as it is so long since I had a proper bill

Can anyone give me a clue Please

f107btx

Try This Site

http://www.ukpower.co.uk/staywarm.asp

djohn2002uk

Margaret and Millie, I am in a rush now but when I get back in around nineish I'll answer both of you.

djohn2002uk

Margaret, I can't really advise you on whether to move or not, you need some meter readings over a period of months, 12 months being the best. You know what you are paying staywarm per month and from the readings you can work out what it would cost you per month with another company by getting their unit costs. Use the comparison sites to find the cheapest 2 or 3 and ring them and be nice but firm in asking them for the cost of any standing charges (makes not much difference if you choose standing charges or not unless you are a very light user) and their unit costs and make it clear that you need time to work the costs out. I was fortunate in that I had my reading from 12 months previous when I joined Staywarm so could work out my years usage and costs with Staywarm and Scottish Power and Atlantic. That is how I did mine. I was paying almost £65 per month with Staywarm and am now paying £58 per month with Scottish Power. If you need any more info just ask. Good luck.