Bill has doubled!

Foxymum1977

Hi all, we live in a 3/4 bedroom semi and have always paid around £120 a month for gas and electric, I do use a tumble dryer so I know my bill will be higher than a lot of others. I was with Octopus for 2 years fixed at around £122 per month, then it was going to rise a lot so I changed to Peoples Energy for £132 a month and then they went bust so in October I was switched to British Gas, anyway I’ve just paid a bill to them from October 28 up to 11 January for £220, but they have emailed me last night to say that I owe another £249 for my December-January bill due to me paid by the end of this month. Really helpfully they are closed today so got to wait until Monday to ring them, I’m so worried that this is out new monthly payment more than double 🙈 
And also worth the rises coming again in April, I’ve looked to switch but no deals really for anyone. Anyone else in a similar position? 

mclaren32

Have you not been watching the news much recently?

Unfortunately this is only the start of increased utility costs and something that we will have to contend with for a while.

Many millions of people are in this exact position.

Good luck.

MattMattMattUK

Foxymum1977 said:

Hi all, we live in a 3/4 bedroom semi and have always paid around £120 a month for gas and electric, I do use a tumble dryer so I know my bill will be higher than a lot of others. I was with Octopus for 2 years fixed at around £122 per month, then it was going to rise a lot so I changed to Peoples Energy for £132 a month and then they went bust so in October I was switched to British Gas, anyway I’ve just paid a bill to them from October 28 up to 11 January for £220, but they have emailed me last night to say that I owe another £249 for my December-January bill due to me paid by the end of this month. Really helpfully they are closed today so got to wait until Monday to ring them, I’m so worried that this is out new monthly payment more than double 🙈 
And also worth the rises coming again in April, I’ve looked to switch but no deals really for anyone. Anyone else in a similar position? 

Pretty much the entire country are in a similar position. This has been heavily reported in the news for many months now, energy prices are rising significantly and will likely stay there for at least two years, probably longer.

What is the point of ringing them, you have the bills which show usage and costs?

JJ_Egan

OP you should sign up to the MSE News letters . where rising energy costs have been posted for months .

bagand96

Hundreds of thousands maybe millions are in the same position.

When you were moved from People's Energy to British Gas your PE tariff ended and you were placed onto a BG tariff called "The People's Tariff".  This is a variable tariff and is at the Ofgem price cap.  The rates vary slightly based on your region, but will be something like:

Gas
Standing Charge 26p/day
kWh 4.05p

Electricity
Standing Charge 25p/day
kWh 20.6p

This is likely more than your PE tariff hence why you will be seeing a rise.  Unfortunately the Ofgem cap is going to rise again in April so you will see another hit.  There aren't any good fixed tariffs around at the moment due to the massive wholesale prices - the rates BG are currently supplying you energy are actually loss making.

Aside from the unit rate rises, there are a couple of things you can sense check on the bill.  Are you giving BG regular meter reads? Is the bill based on estimated reads or actual reads?

Foxymum1977

bagand96 said:

Hundreds of thousands maybe millions are in the same position.

When you were moved from People's Energy to British Gas your PE tariff ended and you were placed onto a BG tariff called "The People's Tariff".  This is a variable tariff and is at the Ofgem price cap.  The rates vary slightly based on your region, but will be something like:

Gas
Standing Charge 26p/day
kWh 4.05p

Electricity
Standing Charge 25p/day
kWh 20.6p

This is likely more than your PE tariff hence why you will be seeing a rise.  Unfortunately the Ofgem cap is going to rise again in April so you will see another hit.  There aren't any good fixed tariffs around at the moment due to the massive wholesale prices - the rates BG are currently supplying you energy are actually loss making.

Aside from the unit rate rises, there are a couple of things you can sense check on the bill.  Are you giving BG regular meter reads? Is the bill based on estimated reads or actual reads?

Thank you and yes I know it’s going up again, I’ve looked further into my billing and what I was paying before I’m basically paying now for each electricity and gas now which I can’t understand! 

So come April I’ll be possible paying £350 a mont which is crazy for a semi detached house, my eldest has moved out so also one less person living here, 
we had a smart meter out in by Octopus so BG said they are taking the reading from that.

MWT

Foxymum1977 said:

we had a smart meter out in by Octopus so BG said they are taking the reading from that.

Take a close look at the meter readings on the bill and make sure they are actually smart meter readings, not estimates...

JJ_Egan

As above  and you could post us your last few meter readings .

frederick1950

Post your annual usage figures so people can advise you better Anyone who was on a good fixed tariff last year will probably find that come April they are paying more than double the price for their energy if they are now  on the SVR.

MattMattMattUK

frederick1950 said:

Post your annual usage figures so people can advise you better Anyone who was on a good fixed tariff last year will probably find that come April they are paying more than double the price for their energy if they are now  on the SVR.

Exactly that unfortunately, I am electric only, currently my unit rate is £0.164 per kWh, my fix ends in May and I will end up on the SVR which is likely going to mean unit costs will be £0.310 per kWh. I don't want to be spending twice as much on energy, but that is the nature of life.

savers_united

You were paying PE £132 a month which you say was lower than what Octopus offered at the time for a 2 year fix back prior to October when prices were still below where they are now.

With BG for the periods you have mentioned Oct 28th -  Jan 11th you have been billed just over £470, (approx 10 weeks use). So it's around £188 a month needed to cover this period.

Those prices are going to increase in April from current cap you could be doubling the Gas unit rate and 50% increase on Electric, but it will be spread over the year, at the minute it looks like your getting charged for what your using with zero credit built up on the account due to recent switches.

So you need to get accurate annual usage and then work from there, but on the face of it I don't think even after the April increase it will £350 a month, but more like £250.