TOO RICH TO SWITCH: tax cut for wealthy - yay!

Sledgehead

Great news. :j

People who are so rich they simply can't be bothered to switch their energy supplier, could be £200 to £500 better off by 2020!

The government, with the support of lazy, bleating folk who want something for nothing, will impose a cap on energy suppliers standard variable rate.

This means that if you didn't get around to switching your energy provider at the weekend, because of that waterside soiree at Lake Como, never mind. In the future, the government will simply insist that saps from sites like this, have their fixed tariffs hiked, just so that your svr rate can be lowered.

There! You can pour that extra bottle of Cristal into your bath without a care after all! :beer:

The sad thing is members of this site won't be receiving any thanks for their subsidies to the rich any time soon. Moreover they will have to live with the knowledge that it has been the sites like this, continuously criticising energy companies, that has allowed government to make this move.

In the meantime, if social justice warriors here want a new cause, maybe they should look at pensioners, whose utility shares (that they bought through proper saving - remember what that used to means before Martin subverted the term?) will surely no longer pay a dividend sufficient to buy a hot water bottle, let alone an SVR heating bill for a stately home.

To add insult to injury their price-comparison website shares have also been hit. Poor old Martin. Still, even he with his £50m can benefit from the svr cap.

It's all good.

michaels

But it is so much worse, once the idea has gained acceptance for energy prices then it can't be long before the govt decides it needs to set the price for tv, broadband, mobiles, mortgages, insurance, cars etc etc.

I hear Venezuela is a socialist paradise that we can all aspire to emulate

AndyPK

It helps OAP's too.


And what does Martin say? Only 30% are on a fixed deal? Some small number.


SO it doesn't only help the rich

[Deleted User]

Hi,

why should the poor get all the handouts, freebies?

It's the folks who have worked hard and made a wee bit who are subsidising the hangers on.

PixelPound

You are making some basic assumptions, such as a cap will mean lower SVR than it is now.

It may actually have the opposite affect. There isn't one SVR, there is a whole range. I'm now with Tonik, and if I don't swap at the end of my fix I will go onto their standard variable tariff that will cost me about £130 per year more. My current tariff is £270 per year cheaper than B.Gas SVR if I hadn't switched, so Toniks standard tariff is about £140 cheaper than B.Gas. The SVR for other suppliers all vary, SSE would be £70pa cheaper than B.Gas, EDF £24pa more expensive and Scotish Power £35pa more expensive, and npower £63pa more expensive. Okay, this is only for my usage, but just shows there is no standard SVR.

So will the cap be on the amount of the increase or the maximum unit charge. If its the former, then we may see big SVR increases before the cap comes into effect. If it's the latter then based on whose? Will it have the effect like student Tuition fees did and we see suppliers increasing their SVR to bring it inline with the maximum allowed?

Cardew

nic_c wrote: »

The SVR for other suppliers all vary, SSE would be £70pa cheaper than B.Gas, EDF £24pa more expensive and Scotish Power £35pa more expensive, and npower £63pa more expensive. Okay, this is only for my usage, but just shows there is no standard SVR.

Not only just for your usage, but for your Geographic area!

Throw Geographic area into the equation and

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reeac

Absolutely .. I blame Ed. Milliband, he's the one who introduced this idea of capping energy prices. Much jeered at at the time but lo and behold, it's come to pass.

PixelPound

reeac wrote: »

Absolutely .. I blame Ed. Milliband, he's the one who introduced this idea of capping energy prices. Much jeered at at the time but lo and behold, it's come to pass.

Really, I blame Jeremy Corbyn :rotfl:
I mean because he managed to chip away at May's majority, then she feels she needs connect with the people to try and preserve her premiership.

brewerdave

Elsewhere on MSE, there is a suggestion that many of the Utility Cos. will have done away with SVRs fairly soon; so ,once again, a solution too late!!

PixelPound

http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/you-need-shop-around-cheaper-13757201 wrote:

A Huddersfield University economist warns that imposing energy price caps could lead to higher costs for consumers elsewhere

states the obvious, but doesn't say anything new. The market already adapts well so I expect that by the time the cap comes in its effect will be muted.

badmemory

The rates are already going up so that the utility companies don't actually suffer a shortfall in profit. And who are we to complain about the rich using us to save them money, after all they have been doing it for centuries! It is just a little more obvious when we have to pay more for power so that they can save something.