Are there any genuine fixed rates for gas?

NorthernBird

My flatmate and I recently had a huge gas bill for over £800 debt. This is after we had arranged a fixed monthly rate and asking repeatedly if that is correct and that there'd be no debt accrued as we're well aware that our flat isn't economical to heat. I hate pre-payment metres and would prefer to know for sure what my budget is.

Can anyone recommend a reliable provider? It doesn't have to be the absolute cheapest - just sane.

Wywth

NorthernBird wrote: »

My flatmate and I recently had a huge gas bill for over £800 debt. This is after we had arranged a fixed monthly rate and asking repeatedly if that is correct and that there'd be no debt accrued as we're well aware that our flat isn't economical to heat. I hate pre-payment metres and would prefer to know for sure what my budget is.

Can anyone recommend a reliable provider? It doesn't have to be the absolute cheapest - just sane.

There are fixed rates available to those with credit meters (but that is not the same as fixed cost, all you can consume )

Your choice will be severely restricted if you have a prepayment meter.

Use a compariosn site to find the best deal suited to you
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity

But you won't be able to switch supplier with a £800 outstanding debt, so arrange to get that paid off first

dogshome

In industry terms *'Fixed Rate' applies to the price you pay for each Kwh of Gas, what it doesn't fix is the size of your bill - Tesco may have Baked Beans on offer for 35p, but if you put 10 cans in your basket you pay £3.50

*There are some 'Fixed Rates' on offer which aren't quite what they seem. The rate is fixed at X% below the suppliers 'Standard' rate, but if the Standard rate goes up so will it's associated Fixed Rate

I get the impression from your post, by 'Fixed Rate' you may mean the amount of your monthly Direct Debit.
Your D/Debit is a payment on account towards your Yearly Bills, but if there is no historical record of what you used the year before, the level of your D/Debit can only be a guess.

Your supplier is always behind the curve on your use - They issue a bill for past months and don't know what you are useing now untill they bill again - so it's rare that D/Debit levels are exactly right.

However, the meter they base the bills on is in your flat, so by looking at it weekly you can work out what your costs are and what the cost of the next bill will be.

£800 is a lot of money and buys appx. 20,000Kwh of gas, which is a lot even for a family home, so I would guess that you have had series of bills that were based on Estimates and not meter readings - Do not accept Estimated bills, if you get one phone in your meter reading and get a new bill.

With an £800 debt you cannot change supplier, but get onto them to see if they have a cheaper tariff .
The supplier will increase your D/Debit to pay for both the gas you are useing and pay off the debt, usually over 12 months. If the total is more than you can manage get onto the supplier to negotiate a longer period to pay off the debt

PS There is a fairly rare co*k-up in the billing system that just maybe has occured
Look at your Gas Meter, in quite small type it will be marked m3 for a Metric type, or ft3 if it's an Imperial model
Look at the bill and divide the Kwh charged by the number of Meter Units used
If the answer is around 11 you are being charged for a Metric meter - If the answer is around 31 you are being charged for an Imperial meter.
If the billing method doesn't match the meter's marking, get onto your supplier immediately

Nada666

"just sane"

A business offering a gas supply where you can use as much as you like for one fixed price. Yup, that sounds like a sane business idea to me.

The meters are in your home. Read the meter. Multiply X by Y. Compare with how much you are paying. Then you will know yourself before an £800 debt is accumulated that you need to put some money aside or pay some more.

"I don't like prepayment meters" "I don't want to check my usage myself" "I don't want to run up a debt" Sorry, these are not ideas that can be kept at the same time - make your decision as to which path you want to take and behave accordingly.

macman

No supplier knows what your actual usage will be in advance, so your DD can never be guaranteed to cover your consumption.
Fairly fundamental misunderstanding of 'fixed rate'. It doesn't mean 'fixed price'.
By failing to submit readings regularly, you've been hit with a huge catch up bill. Submit proper quarterly readings and your DD will be adjusted as necessary to follow your actual kWh usage.

NXV839

I understand that you hate pre-payment meters but it may be the best for you, that way you know exactly how much is going out of your account. With such a high debt to repay it may be the easiest option to avoid getting into more debt.

You could also check out the governments green scheme since your flat is so badly insulated. That may be able to make your flat more energy efficient and help cut bills