Threatened to be cut off.

quidsy

You need to look for a cheaper accommodation. Where you currently live is out of your means.

What work do you both do, is there any chance of over time or a second job?

If you are on a PPM you need to economize with the power you use, turn off everything at the plug at night, unplug anything you do not use all day. Use a slow cooker instead of the oven as it is cheaper to run.

lazer

NorthFin wrote: »

Thanks for the advice everyone, so lest week they fitted the PPM metres. I agreed to everything they did not need a warrant. I have the keys that need topping up, we went to post office and put £10 on each of them.

My thinking is to always have a £10 spare if the one runs out, until I get the other topped up.

So we had it fitted last week and we topped up £10. We did normal TV and PC etc, a little cooking as normal, so today we are sitting there watching TV and browsing the net, and all the lights go out!!!!!!

£10 in a few days, no !!!!!!! way. We have put the other spare £10 top up in but wont be able to top up again until our benefits come through next week.

My phone still works even though no electric in the house. I phoned them up and they said they can give me an emergency power supply because we have kids. But all the icecreams in the freezer are melting.

Is inflation really that bad that utilities are so expensive? I know I am paying off my debts but £10 for a few days is just crazy. I wish it was clear how much I was paying per unit and how much I was using etc, but I hear people say dont get a smart meter.

We are trying to get a DRO through, then we can shop around for the best offer with our PPMs? Is that right once the DRO has gone through I can try and get a better deal with any utility company?

The price you are paying depends how much debt you are paying off. My electricity is around £15 every 2 weeks, however, no one is in the house during the day, showers are mainly at the gym, lights are LED etc.


PS - you should post an SoA (Statement of affairs) on the Debt free wannabee board and people could help you prioritise your spending, as electricity should come before ice cream!

SwanJon

As above - you are now paying for today's electricity alongside thge balance you owe.

You can check how much the balance is by putting the key in the meter and pressing the button - the screen will change and there will be an identifying letter

E.g.
Screen A - how much credit you have (or how much emergency credit you have used)
Screen F - Weekly standing charge PLUS weekly recovery payment
Screen I - The cost per unit of electricity (p/kWh)
Screen S - the total remaining balance to pay on the meter
Screen T - the weekly recovery payment.

As well as charging for the electricity as it is used it will recover the amount on screen F over the week.
It does this by breaking the week into 100 equal time slots and recovering 1% of screen F in each slot.
This time works out as around 1h41.
So if you have agreed to pay back £10/week, and have £2/week standing charge the metwer will take £12/week = 12p/1h41

If you use emergency credit the meter will make the credit last as long as possible - it wont take the 12p, but will remember that it is due and take all the missed payments when you next top up.

molerat

Do you understand the readings on your meter ? https://edfenergyuk.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/208/~/what-do-the-different-buttons-on-an-electricity-prepayment-meter-do%3F

sheffield_lad

If you think it's expensive now just wait until the winter comes!!!


I would advise anyone on PPM to get topping the gas one up during the summer/autumn you need plenty of credit on the meter for the cold months ahead. GL

Andy_WSM

NorthFin wrote: »

I phoned them up and they said they can give me an emergency power supply because we have kids. But all the icecreams in the freezer are melting.

I suggest you look at your priorities very carefully if you can't afford energy but can afford Ice Cream for the kids.

I can't afford to buy ice cream, but my lights haven't gone out...

helping_hand2014

a lot of WORKING People are subsisted by the tax payer as well not just people on benefits low income working people/families get working tax credits child tax credits child benefit /housing benefit council tax benefit

help4help2013

you can always try and apply to your energy providers trust fund if you owe a lot and cannot afford to pay it this is always an option for you just google your supplier and trust fund and they will have information for you on their website

if they want to recover the debt after they install a prepayment meter there is usually a set amount the can take each week from you if your on benefits i think its around £3.50/.5.00 a week depending on your energy supplier

Richie-from-the-Boro

helping_hand2014 wrote: »

a lot of WORKING People are subsisted by the tax payer as well not just people on benefits low income working people/families get working tax credits child tax credits child benefit /housing benefit council tax benefit

A lot of working people are subsidising the employers of this kingdom.

As long as employers exploit their workers by outsourcing part of their wage bill to the general taxpayer by paying low wages, working tax credit and the childcare element of working tax credit will need to be paid by the state. If the minimum wage rates [£7.65 an hour] paid by employers was in line with the living wage rate [£8.80 per hour from next month] these state subsidies would not be needed, and the cost of living crisis would not be as it is, was, and will continue to be. Work your way through these 10 myths and decide for yourself.

Myth 1: ‘We do not need more homes’

Reality: For more than three decades the UK has been building fewer new homes than any major country in Europe. Residential floorspace per household is now the lowest in Western Europe. Planning liberalisation is the closest thing there is to an economic silver bullet.

Myth 2: ‘Brownfield development can solve our housing crisis’

Reality: There is a significant amount of brownfield space deemed suitable for development, but much of it is unsuitable for housing. Clean-up costs for many sites are prohibitively high, too. We must relax inflexible planning restrictions on green belt sites.

Myth 3: ‘The market has failed to build, so we need a public house building programme’

Reality: The UK’s archaic planning laws date back to 1947, and planning restrictions have only become more stringent over time. Green belt status has been continually expanded, especially in high-demand areas. Housebuilding rates in the UK did not fall because the public sector stopped building. They fell because existing constraints became much more stringent. Building has been in an almost continuous state of decline since the 1960s.

Myth 4: ‘Greedy landlords are to blame for high rents, so we need rent controls’

Reality: There is no evidence landlords are ‘greedy’ – rent levels have risen by less than inflation, whilst rents on new tenancies reflect housing market dynamics. The cause of high rent levels is restricted housing supply caused by planning laws. Tenancy rent controls cannot improve the affordability of renting, only an increased supply of housing can.

Myth 5: ‘Privatisation of the energy markets is to blame for high energy bills’

Reality: The nationalised energy sector was incredibly dysfunctional, serving the interests of producers, not consumers. Bills fell significantly after energy was privatised, and the price increases of recent years have been associated with rising wholesale costs and government-induced environmental and regulatory policies. Average bills for a typical UK consumer for gas and electricity have increased by 170% and 67% respectively since 2004 in real terms, partly as a result of government policies. Re-nationalisation will do nothing to help this. Instead, the government should abandon significant parts of its green industrial policy, which could reduce electricity and gas bills by 22% and 4% respectively.

Myth 6: ‘Privatisation of the railways is to blame for high fares’

Reality: Part-renationalisation and price freezes will make an already inefficient sector still more dysfunctional, eventually pushing fares higher. Greater intervention in the railways would be a bad way to help the least well off, as almost 60% of spending on rail fares is undertaken by the richest 20% of households.

Myth 7: ‘Subsidies are good for the economy because they get women back to work’

Reality: There is no economic rationale for increasing childcare subsidies. They can increase maternal employment, but this in measurement terms is no different to subsidising longer working weeks or people working until they are much older. It would be far better to deregulate childcare so that it is more affordable.

Myth 8: ‘Sin taxes are justified because there are social costs of smoking, driving and drinking’

Reality: Sin tax levels are extraordinarily high – the poorest fifth of households spend on average almost £1,500 per year on them. Alcohol, tobacco and fuel duty rates cannot be justified by the cost of drinking, smoking or driving on the broader community. Fuel duty rates raise more revenue than spending on roads and far exceed the environmental cost of burning carbon. Alcohol duty rates are higher than the costs of drinking to health and policing. Tobacco duty rates are four times higher than needed to account for the health costs of smoking.

Myth 9: ‘Most people in poverty are in work’

Reality: Work is still a good route out of poverty. Saying ‘most people in poverty are in work’ is like saying ‘most people in poverty are white’ – meaningless. Figures show the more work which occurs in a household, the less likely that family will suffer material deprivation. The chance of a household being in poverty is 10% or less if at least one adult is in full-time work; the chance of household poverty if no adult works is 39% or more.

Myth 10: ‘The taxpayer subsidises employers through tax credits, so we need a higher minimum wage’

Reality: Tax credits are likely to subsidise wages for some workers. But many people who receive them do not work at all or work less than a full working week. Whilst tax credits are targeted at poor households, raising the minimum wage as a substitute would benefit very different groups – often second earners or young people in affluent households. Higher minimum wages could also erode job opportunities for young, unskilled workers.

Thread reality - the high cost of living suffered by the O/P NorthFin and the reason for his/her dilemma with energy bills is directly down to the fact that electricity and gas bills have zoomed in real terms by 170% & 67% in the past 10 years encouraged by the no fewer than 13 overlapping green initiatives put in place by sandal wearing, hairy shirt, tree huggers and green pressure groups and extortionate grabbing green installers helped by fundamentally flawed [new secret expenses U turn] politicians and their fundamentally flawed thinking.

SwanJon

help4help2013 wrote: »

you can always try and apply to your energy providers trust fund

Good shout - three of the big six are managed by charis - http://www.charisgrants.com/application-forms/

I'm not sure if/how the others do it.