HELP - Energy price hike scare

skullduggery65

Need help please

My Mum is with Energy together and they have informed her that her new joint energy direct debit will rise from £138 a month to £247 a month this has really scared her

Is this type of rise normal? She is on a fixed rate till 2024 and no she is not drastically exceeding her usage, she is only £14 in debit so can understand a slight increase but not that much surely

Anyone else in same situation and how did you resolve it? Thanks

Regards

Steve

TheMilkmansDad

Many questions before we can help.

My main question would be when was the fixed rate agreed and what was the rate before?

You should be able to work out the annual estimate based on usage over the past year; divide that by 12. If that number is significantly less than the new DD request then they need to justify the reason.

MWT

Unfortunately, if she is in debt right now, even by a small amount, it does suggest that a significant increase in her DD is needed as she is about to go into winter without anything saved up to cover the increased winter bills.

You do need to help her check what her winter usage is likely to be and to make sure that her last bill used actual readings not estimates so that you know her current balance is accurate, not better or worse. 

Once you've done that she can propose a reduced amount based on her estimated usage over the winter period and see if that can be agreed...

Keep_pedalling

We are moving into winter when our energy use will rise sharply. Even though she is currently only has a small deficit that would increase by a large a amount if she continues paying the same amount and that amount is not enough to cover her summer usage, 

Is her usage based on estimates or actual meter readings?

Larrythelamb_2

We have been with Together Energy for four years, paying generally £80p.m., we are low users of energy generally. This summer they sent a bill for £750, even though a) we had been in credit the previous month and b) we were away for 2 weeks of the month billed for, we refused to pay and the request disappeared. They then hiked our monthly DD to £162 in November 2021 and now say that we have to increase the Variable DD at the end of December to £450p.m. They answer emails 2 months after and getting through on the phone takes over an hour. We will be switching in two weeks to another provider.

EssexHebridean

Who have you found who will accept you to switch to them on their SVR Larry? My understanding is that it’s incredibly difficult to get any new provider to take folk at the moment other than on an expensive fix, so it would be useful to have an idea of companies who are still willing to accept new custom to a variable capped tariff. 

QrizB

@Larrythelamb_2 can you answer the usual questions:

• Does your latest bill reflect an actual meter reading?
• Have you been giving meter readings regularly?
• What is your typical annual energy use?
  
• What tariff are you on?
  

Maybe then we can help you understand what's going on. I would however note that £80pm is'nt a particularly low number, and in previous years would put you near the middle of the range of energy users. You might be using more than you think!