So is everyone locking in Fixed Deals right now?

Hannimal

bristolleedsfan said:

Hannimal said:

I think you all probably have bigger houses and families etc. I am a single woman and on my income £89 is A LOT. Especially as it nearly doubles. My council tax is £209 pcm and water is £62. All of which have gone up way more than my salary over the past year. With this rate and groceries being more too, I don't know how I'll be able to afford basic living expenses - and I am not even low income!

Council tax £209 pcm indicates either you are not claiming 25% single person discount or you live in a bigger/more expensive house  than most, I pay £117 x 10 months for Band B, 3 Bedroom house with 25% single person discount

Thanks. I think this is because I moved mid tax-year and have to pay higher as it took a while for them to bill me. I'm also band B in Bristol. I will contact them to ask them again to make sure it's right because it doesn't sound it is as I should be paying what you're paying. 

energychap

Personally I'm waiting this spike out before fixing. Short term pain and all that. The current market pricing isn't sustainable and someone is going to have the be the adult in the room and ease supply. I don't want to fix at the top of the market and then have to pay to get out of that. It really depends on your appetite for risk though. If this peak is sustained then all variables will go to the cap, so check the most expensive variables on your price comparison of choice and decide if you can afford that in the short to medium term. If a few months at the cap would be hard going, time to fix.

I've added this just for a bit of context - comparison of this year to last year in terms of £ per MHw electricity wholesale. Prices are more than triple what they were this time last year so I'm glad we have the supply industry providing a buffer between wholesale and retail prices.

Swipe

Hannimal said:

I think you all probably have bigger houses and families etc. I am a single woman and on my income £89 is A LOT. Especially as it nearly doubles. My council tax is £209 pcm and water is £62. All of which have gone up way more than my salary over the past year. With this rate and groceries being more too, I don't know how I'll be able to afford basic living expenses - and I am not even low income!

You should also consider a water meter if you are the sole occupant. If a meter cannot be fitted you will eligible for an assessed charge (at least less than 50% you are currently paying). As an example, I recently moved into a house where the water rateable value was £60ish per month. I've just had a meter fitted and my new monthly plan is around £17 as a low user. I know it will be definitely around this figure based on my water usage at my previous metered address.

Gerry1

Hannimal said:

My council tax is £209 pcm and water is £62.

Two outgoings which could probably be slashed dramatically.  You need to get a water meter installed PDQ !

There's also likely to be a small discount that can be claimed on the sewerage element if rainwater from the roof goes to soakaways rather than a drain.

bristolleedsfan

Hannimal said:

bristolleedsfan said:

Hannimal said:

I think you all probably have bigger houses and families etc. I am a single woman and on my income £89 is A LOT. Especially as it nearly doubles. My council tax is £209 pcm and water is £62. All of which have gone up way more than my salary over the past year. With this rate and groceries being more too, I don't know how I'll be able to afford basic living expenses - and I am not even low income!

Council tax £209 pcm indicates either you are not claiming 25% single person discount or you live in a bigger/more expensive house  than most, I pay £117 x 10 months for Band B, 3 Bedroom house with 25% single person discount

Thanks. I think this is because I moved mid tax-year and have to pay higher as it took a while for them to bill me. I'm also band B in Bristol. I will contact them to ask them again to make sure it's right because it doesn't sound it is as I should be paying what you're paying. 

I am not in Bristol now, https://www.bristol.gov.uk/council-tax/council-tax-charges-and-bands   £1262.13 with 25% single persons discount equates to £126.13 if paid over 10 months, £105.18 if paid over 12 months

Hannimal

Swipe said:

Hannimal said:

I think you all probably have bigger houses and families etc. I am a single woman and on my income £89 is A LOT. Especially as it nearly doubles. My council tax is £209 pcm and water is £62. All of which have gone up way more than my salary over the past year. With this rate and groceries being more too, I don't know how I'll be able to afford basic living expenses - and I am not even low income!

You should also consider a water meter if you are the sole occupant. If a meter cannot be fitted you will eligible for an assessed charge (at least less than 50% you are currently paying). As an example, I recently moved into a house where the water rateable value was £60ish per month. I've just had a meter fitted and my new monthly plan is around £17 as a low user. I know it will be definitely around this figure based on my water usage at my previous metered address.

Thank you. I have a water meter but I don't think I have had any actual readings taken from it as of yet. 

bristolleedsfan said:

Hannimal said:

bristolleedsfan said:

Hannimal said:

I think you all probably have bigger houses and families etc. I am a single woman and on my income £89 is A LOT. Especially as it nearly doubles. My council tax is £209 pcm and water is £62. All of which have gone up way more than my salary over the past year. With this rate and groceries being more too, I don't know how I'll be able to afford basic living expenses - and I am not even low income!

Council tax £209 pcm indicates either you are not claiming 25% single person discount or you live in a bigger/more expensive house  than most, I pay £117 x 10 months for Band B, 3 Bedroom house with 25% single person discount

Thanks. I think this is because I moved mid tax-year and have to pay higher as it took a while for them to bill me. I'm also band B in Bristol. I will contact them to ask them again to make sure it's right because it doesn't sound it is as I should be paying what you're paying. 

I am not in Bristol now, https://www.bristol.gov.uk/council-tax/council-tax-charges-and-bands   £1262.13 with 25% single persons discount equates to £126.13 if paid over 10 months, £105.18 if paid over 12 months

Thank you - I wasn't billed for 2 months so I think I am paying it over 8 months. I'll write to them to get this clarified and double-checked. Much appreciate the help. 

And sorry for hijacking the thread!!

t1redmonkey

Hannimal said:

Thank you. I have a water meter but I don't think I have had any actual readings taken from it as of yet. 

You should save a lot with a water meter.  I have had one for a few years, can't remember what mine was before, but since I've had a meter I've never paid more than about £18/£19 for water per month (also single person living alone).

MiserlyMartin

Hi all, back to energy costs. Quick question. I'm on a fix from last winter expiring December (no exit fees) DO I save more if I switch now on todays lower fixes - compared to when the cap is removed, or wait until my current fix expires? Is that what Martin Lewis's email is all about?

elsien

Is there an exit fee in your current fix? 

MSE_Kelvin

y3sitsm3 said:

Andrewzy said:

d000hg said:

The latest MSE newsletter (https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/latesttip/ - sorry can't find the article on its own anywhere) paints a bleak picture about energy prices continuing to rise, but is mainly focused on those using standard tariffs and the caps in place... which presumably isn't the typical MSE user who knows about switching(?)

Our current fixed deal is expiring and the cheapest variable dual-fuel I can see is £550/yr more than I currently pay - a 25% increase. 
The cheapest fixed deals I can see are an additional £350 (1yr fixed) or £400 (2yr fixed). Clearly suppliers are expecting prices to rise and baking this in to their fixed deals, but it's tough to decide if it's worth paying an extra £400 a year! A variable tariff would have to on average increase £800/year before it's a worse deal... clearly providers don't offer these fixed deals to save you money, they do so to make money.

So, any thoughts? I haven't been following the energy market news so am totally out of the loop.

What worries me about the latest MSE newsletter is that it says "My email bag is swamped with people angry and horrified as their cheap fixes set up a year ago are ending, and they're being asked to pay many £100s/yr more" and suggests that people who don't like this should write to their MP. Does this mean that fixed deals are, in effect, not worth the paper they aren't written on? I expect I'm missing the point but that's how it sounds. My cheapest fix is also about £500 over what we're now paying for two years but if that doesn't mean anything - if the supplier can just ignore fix and charge more - why bother? I'm sure I've missed an essential point but I don't have a lot of time to research this, all advice very welcome!

You're missing that MSE often includes completely irrelevant points in its articles to try and make mountains out of molehills and to whip its (less intelligent) readers into some sort of frenzy.

If someone is on a fixed deal they must have done so knowing that the alternative is variable pricing and that as variable pricing means prices can go up or down, it's hardly a surprise that prices might have risen between fixing and their deal expiring. If they aren't aware of that they're idiots.

I suspect, however, that it's a load of nonsense, much like their "moral dilemmas" that almost certainly are made up by MSE staff.

Hello there y3sitsm3,

Just thought I'd weigh in here to say that, as the member of the MSE team that writes Money Moral Dilemma each week, I can only assure you that they are genuine.

Obviously I'm unable to share the details of any contributors here, but suggestions are emailed to us by MoneySavers like yourself or suggested by other members of the MSE team, either their own or those mentioned to them by friends and family.

As another forumite mentions in this comment, contributors occasionally pop up in the forum thread for their dilemma to get involved in the debate (which is very brave of them ), so I hope that goes some way towards assuaging your doubts.

Cheers,

MSE Kelvin