Monthly bill now at approx £500!!

Xbigman

You should also post on the benefits board. Your parents should be getting several benefits and you can get good advice there. You will need to know exactly what they get already if you want accurate advice. You might want to leave out the energy bill issue when posting on that board as its a side issue as far as benefits are concerned.

Darren

Spies

JSCM said:

It’s well insulated which is why they have no conventional heating. Problem is they relocated from Spain and rather than wrapping up like the rest of us they will put their air con on - a big mistake putting that in - and oil filled radiator. Also their attitude is at their age they shouldn’t be penny pinching. They are financially in a very different position to us though. They pay a £100 a month towards energy costs. 

Then they simply need to pay more?

JSCM

Yes it is 

bagand96

Do you have your use figures in kWh?  At a quick guess the gas looks about right for  the middle of the winter in a gas CH home.  The electricity could also be correct given that your parents are using electricity for heating and as you say are quite liberal with their use.  I would expect that a large proportion of that £335 would be for heat (electricity is around 4 times more expensive per kWh than gas)

Sea_Shell

JSCM said:

It’s well insulated which is why they have no conventional heating. Problem is they relocated from Spain and rather than wrapping up like the rest of us they will put their air con on - a big mistake putting that in - and oil filled radiator. Also their attitude is at their age they shouldn’t be penny pinching. They are financially in a very different position to us though. They pay a £100 a month towards energy costs. 

Is their financial situation much better than yours or worse?

If better, then you need to have a serious conversation about them upping their contribution towards the bills.

You should not struggle if they are comfortable on their pensions etc.

JSCM

Sea_Shell said:

JSCM said:

It’s well insulated which is why they have no conventional heating. Problem is they relocated from Spain and rather than wrapping up like the rest of us they will put their air con on - a big mistake putting that in - and oil filled radiator. Also their attitude is at their age they shouldn’t be penny pinching. They are financially in a very different position to us though. They pay a £100 a month towards energy costs. 

Is their financial situation much better than yours or worse?

If better, then you need to have a serious conversation about them upping their contribution towards the bills.

You should not struggle if they are comfortable on their pensions etc.

Much better off! 

tim_p

JSCM said:

Yes it is 

So actual meter readings, so something like 100kWh per day?

JSCM

bagand96 said:

Do you have your use figures in kWh?  At a quick guess the gas looks about right for  the middle of the winter in a gas CH home.  The electricity could also be correct given that your parents are using electricity for heating and as you say are quite liberal with their use.  I would expect that a large proportion of that £335 would be for heat (electricity is around 4 times more expensive per kWh than gas)

1256 KWH day at 22.65p
211 KWH night at 11.96p
Standing charge 22.717p per day

JSCM

Thank you to everyone that has posted so far. I’ve no idea if I am posting correctly!?

FaceHead

As tim_p says - is that bill based on estimated or actual readings, and when did you last report actuals?

If it's based on one actual and one estimated reading, then it might be a catch up bill as you've been underpaying for some time, and you won't get hit with this every (winter) month, making the bill a bit of a red herring.

Get smart meters (if you don't already) to avoid shocks from estimated bills. Manage consumption through insulation, low energy lighting etc.  

Part of your problem is that you are getting a £100 /month contribution, which may or may not be fair. Consider renegotiating this in light of recent energy price changes. Everyone knows prices have gone up by 25% recently, and are due to go up another 50% in april. To keep it simple you could ask for £125 for Feb and Mar, and £175 for april onwards. 

Perhaps get an electricity meter fitted (privately, not a separate one by the electricity company) so you can see what the parents are using, and divide it up fairly. You can get cheap clip on electricity meters if you can access the right wire where it enters their or exists your property, or get an electrician to do it. You could then split the electricity standing charge equally and the consumption by who uses it. It sounds like gas is less of an issue (if they even have gas)