Standing Charge or Gas Usage Charge ??

moneyspendexpert

I have a pre-payment gas meter, which was fitted due to financial problems. I was advised the meter would pay the bills and I would only be paying for the gas that I use.

The meter has been in place for 3 months now and I have not used the gas but the meter is showing a debt of £28!!. Contacted supplier and was told this was a standing charge, charged on a daily basis to the meter.

Hmmm, seems I'm now in more debt just for having a meter attached to the wall of my property that is not being used. I don't shop at ASDA but they do not charge me to keep their store open and available just in case I do decide to use their store.

Can a standing charge be applied to a pre-payment meter in this way ?

ValHaller

So has there been a change to a standing charge tariff? Was there a standing charge before which you did not notice because it was disguised by a monthly DD?

Otherwise are the supplier justified to change yo to such a tariff? I don't know the answer to that.

moneyspendexpert

The tarrif I was on included the standing charge in the primary unit rate for first amount of units used in each quarter. I explained I couldn't afford the direct debit amount they wanted each month and was forced to take a pre-payment meter.

After the pre-payment meter was fitted, I wasn't using that much if any gas. The supplier decided to change or simplify their tariffs to a single daily standing charge.

The standing charge on the prepay meter is currently set at £0.23 per day (£1.60 per week). Not that much but it builds up into debt if I do not use the meter.

thanks.

Nada666

Ofgem are seeking to deprecate two tier tariffs. Most suppliers are happily complying with this licence to print money and are gaily introducing standing charges on their tariffs.

Your complaint is with Ofgem not your supplier. Write a letter of complaint to Ofgem.

From your post it does not seem as if you have no intention of ever using gas or do not have any appliances hooked up to your supply. As such you have to pay the standing charge (or change supplier/tariff to one with no SC).

It is important over summer to pay something to your gas meter as otherwise 70% of top-ups can be used to recover unpaid standing charges.

ValHaller

Nada666 wrote: »

Ofgem are seeking to deprecate two tier tariffs. Most suppliers are happily complying with this licence to print money and are gaily introducing standing charges on their tariffs.

The other licences to print money, the tier 1 units and the sculpted tariffs were so unobvious that you couldn't work out how much money was being printed or see which supplier was printing most money. But hey, it was so well hidden, so if you don't think you were being mugged previously, that's OK

Nada666

ValHaller wrote: »

The other licences to print money, the tier 1 units and the sculpted tariffs were so unobvious that you couldn't work out how much money was being printed or see which supplier was printing most money. But hey, it was so well hidden, so if you don't think you were being mugged previously, that's OK

What trash. For people with a low consumption (which I define as using less than the tier 1 threshold for gas and around the threshold for electricity) there is absolutely nothing unobvious.

There is no difference in complexity between comparing tariffs 'then' and 'now'. The difference is only that there are now fewer tariffs and they are more expensive (by hundreds of percent for some users).

moneyspendexpert

Nada666 wrote: »

Ofgem are seeking to deprecate two tier tariffs..

Your complaint is with Ofgem not your supplier. Write a letter of complaint to Ofgem..

..As such you have to pay the standing charge (or change supplier/tariff to one with no SC).

It is important over summer to pay something to your gas meter as otherwise 70% of top-ups can be used to recover unpaid standing charges.

I don't see a problem with hiding or not disclosing charges within prices to cover costs. However, I'm not comfortable with paying a full years standing charge for only 1 days use of gas supply through a pre-payment meter.

I thought the whole idea of a pre-payment plan was pay for what you use. If Ofgem have not picked up on this yet, then I doubt any complaint about it now would make any difference.

ValHaller

Nada666 wrote: »

What trash. For people with a low consumption (which I define as using less than the tier 1 threshold for gas and around the threshold for electricity) there is absolutely nothing unobvious.

There is no difference in complexity between comparing tariffs 'then' and 'now'. The difference is only that there are now fewer tariffs and they are more expensive (by hundreds of percent for some users).

Trash, exaggeration and drivel from you. The 'hundreds of percent' are actually pence per day.

Even if you don't use much energy, you still require a certain amount of infrastructure to support your low level of use. Someone who uses 10kWh to cook a christmas dinner over 4 hours and no electricity for the rest of the year requires 2.5 kW of transformer and cable capacity. Off the top of my head that is probably £750 of assets one way and another. So why not a standing charge of £50/year - never mind the fixed costs of billing?

Why should other energy users such as myself subsidise the likes of you?

moneyspendexpert

ValHaller wrote: »

Even if you don't use much energy, you still require a certain amount of infrastructure to support your low level of use. Someone who uses 10kWh to cook a christmas dinner over 4 hours and no electricity for the rest of the year requires 2.5 kW of transformer and cable capacity. Off the top of my head that is probably £750 of assets one way and another. So why not a standing charge of £50/year - never mind the fixed costs of billing?

Why should other energy users such as myself subsidise the likes of you?

Fine, if you look at that way and think it's ok to charge someone the same costs of supplying energy to a property for a days usage vs someone who uses it all year round to heat their slippers. Little old me won't be putting alot of strain on those transformer cables.

I cannot see how my energy usage would be subsidised by you. I am a very low energy user but I pay more for the less amount of energy I require.

ValHaller

moneyspendexpert wrote: »

Fine, if you look at that way and think it's ok to charge someone the same costs of supplying energy to a property for a days usage vs someone who uses it all year round to heat their slippers. Little old me won't be putting alot of strain on those transformer cables.

If you just cook on Christmas day or you cook every day of the year you require the same amount of infrastructure. So you should pay the same amount towards it. But you will use 365 times as much energy if you cook every day, so it is right to pay 365 times as much for the energy.

I don't agree with nada's rants about standing charge as a principle. But at the same time, I think it is wrong of BG to slam you to a standing charge tariff simply for taking a PP meter.

moneyspendexpert

ValHaller wrote: »

If you just cook on Christmas day or you cook every day of the year you require the same amount of infrastructure. So you should pay the same amount towards it. But you will use 365 times as much energy if you cook every day, so it is right to pay 365 times as much for the energy.

BTW. I'm a vegetarian and mostly eat salads

If the gas doesn't pass through my meter 365 days a year then the meter is not being used.

If the standing charge is to cover costs to supply the energy to the property then surely no energy usage means no supply charge.

I'm not disputing a general charge to cover infrastructure costs. I just think careful energy consumers on pre-payment meters pay a higher premium.

Do you think people who drive huge gas guzzling cars should pay the same amount of road tax as people who drive small eco cars ??

What infrastructure would be required if everyone drove tractors?