Just switched and monthly cost has increased but on fixed rate???

CG2017

Hello everyone,
I am posting on behalf of my parents, they switched gas and electric supplier in March via uswitch and my Mum signed up to a 12 month fixed rate tariff, at the time she was priced in at around £53 per month, its just the 2 of them living in a bungalow and they are very particular with turning off lights/applainces when finished with and when not in use.

My Mum is worried as she has received an email from her new provider (Shell) informing her that her monthly price will increase to £92 per month from July!  They are currently £13 in credit and she is trying to find out why such a big increase?  They say its down to estimated usage etc but it is such a big jump - could there be any factor into why it has increased so much (i know that using more energy isn't one of them)  she said she is on an economy 7 meter which may contribute to this, can she do anything to get this reduced or looked at?

Thank you in advance 

Hasbeen

If they use more energy. They will pay more.

CG2017

I know that, but I am wondering if there is an error as they switched, got told it would be cheaper, i know they haven't used more energy they have been spending most of their time in the garden - so wondering if it could be something to do with readings of being on economy 7?

MWT

Basics first.

Have they been providing meter readings and is their most recent bill based on actual readings?

If it is based on actual meter readings is the estimate reasonable or not?

Do keep in mind that since they switched in March, they should currently be building up a reserve to cover the higher bills they will receive in the winter, so if their balance is only £13 right now Shell are probably correct, the amount they pay each month should go up somewhat.

Also as a general point, when they switched, did they use their actual annual consumption or did they pick one of the estimated models to base their payments on?

Neil_Jones

Monthly payment is not a "bill".

Please read this:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/lower-energy-direct-debits/

Ectophile

Sometimes it's just because the energy company is getting greedy and wants more money.  By paying too much every month, you are giving them an interest-free loan.  One day they might give you your excess money back, but they have had the money for months to improve their cash flow.

Robin9

Are they really £13 in credit?  Do your own sums using the readings from when they switched and today and take into account the DD's they have paid.


What actual figure did they use for the annual consumption ?

matelodave

Have they been sending in regular monthly meter readings and even more importantly checking their bills to ensure that they are using the readings that they send in - make sure that all the readings on the bills have the letter A or C next to them, any that have E or D will be guesses and they should have got them corrected..

You can only know what you are using if you read your meters and understand what your consumption is

TBH £53 a month sounds a bit too low - even if they do think they are careful although it's probably OK for this time of the year but could be far to low come Autumn & Winter (especially if they use leccy to heat the place) and they could end up with a large arrears at the end of a 12 month contract. The idea of a direct debit payment is that it should smooth out your payments over 12 months and should therefore be about 1/12 of your annual bill  so 53 x 12 = £636 which is a lot less than most. What sort of heating have they got if they are on E7. Are the readings for day and night being read and billed correctly.

Most people only use about 35% of their energy between April and October (seven months) and 65% or more between November and March (only five months) so you can work out roughly what your consumption should be especially if you've got actual annual consumption from your previous supplier (not estimates). Look back over previous bills to make sure that they aren't estimates but based on actual meter readings



 

matelodave

Ectophile said:

Sometimes it's just because the energy company is getting greedy and wants more money.  By paying too much every month, you are giving them an interest-free loan.  One day they might give you your excess money back, but they have had the money for months to improve their cash flow.

That's rubbish - if you give a proper estimate of your consumption and do your own sums then your direct debit should work out correctly. It's usually those who don't do that or dont bother to read their meters, dont check their bills and dont understand the difference between a bill and a direct debit that have a problem.

dogshome

ECO7 meter?

If this is an All Electric house with no gas, £53 a month seems too low - It's important to go through billing to see what the Day use and Night figures are, and run everything possible, ( Clothes washer/Dishwasher/Hot water storage ), on the Night rate.

Way back when, when the ECO7 system started, the Day rates were common no matter if it was ECO7 or Standard meter, so there was a true discount to the customer - Not so today - Compare any suppliers Day rate with it's Standard meter rate and it's more expensive, so that 'cheap' Night power is not quite the bargain it seems

Robin9

dogshome said:

Eco7 ?

If this is an All Electric house with no gas, £53 a month seems too low - I 

OP's 1st post says gas and electric but later says E7. Either way we await further info.