HUGE increase in monthly gas and electricity bill imminent

JJ_Egan

Bazooka_joe said:

I am really struggling to know what to do as I am with British Gas.  Currently my tariff comes to the end at the end of February and British Gas are offering me to fix my energy tariff and protect my rates until the 31st of December 2023. If I don’t they will switch me to the standard variable tariff. I currently pay £139 a month which is bang on the money. They have estimated my future annual costs based on my previous usage of 18542 kWh of gas and 3375 kWh of electricity a year. So currenty my costs on a fixed tariff is £1401.12

They’re offering me a new fixed rate tariff of £2654.38 fixed until December 2023.

If I don’t switch then then I shall be moved to a standard variable tariff where the cost will be £1654.20 per annum which is lower than the fixed rate tariff but British gas are warning me that with so much uncertainty in the global energy market, prices will be affected for a while yet. So although their Standard Variable Tariff is cheaper right now, that won’t last for long. It’s likely that it will increase by hundreds of pounds when the industry regulator, Ofgem reviews the energy Price Cap in February.
So should I bite the bullet and go for the new fixed rate tariff of £2654.38 or take a chance and wait. I really don’t know what to do

You are aware i hope that that new fixed tariff of £2654.38 is not the actual tariff , Its an estimate of the new tariff times your average usage . £2654.38  may be less or more depending upon your usage . Fixed is unit rates  not total bill .

Bazooka_joe

JJ_Egan said:

Bazooka_joe said:

I am really struggling to know what to do as I am with British Gas.  Currently my tariff comes to the end at the end of February and British Gas are offering me to fix my energy tariff and protect my rates until the 31st of December 2023. If I don’t they will switch me to the standard variable tariff. I currently pay £139 a month which is bang on the money. They have estimated my future annual costs based on my previous usage of 18542 kWh of gas and 3375 kWh of electricity a year. So currenty my costs on a fixed tariff is £1401.12

They’re offering me a new fixed rate tariff of £2654.38 fixed until December 2023.

If I don’t switch then then I shall be moved to a standard variable tariff where the cost will be £1654.20 per annum which is lower than the fixed rate tariff but British gas are warning me that with so much uncertainty in the global energy market, prices will be affected for a while yet. So although their Standard Variable Tariff is cheaper right now, that won’t last for long. It’s likely that it will increase by hundreds of pounds when the industry regulator, Ofgem reviews the energy Price Cap in February.
So should I bite the bullet and go for the new fixed rate tariff of £2654.38 or take a chance and wait. I really don’t know what to do

You are aware i hope that that new fixed tariff of £2654.38 is not the actual tariff , Its an estimate of the new tariff times your average usage . £2654.38  may be less or more depending upon your usage . Fixed is unit rates  not total bill .

Apologies I always go on annual cost this is what they are saying would be my annual cost

MWT

Bazooka_joe said:

Apologies I always go on annual cost this is what they are saying would be my annual cost

That is an estimate of what your annual cost would be if their estimate of your use is correct, it is not any sort of guaranty or limit on your cost of course.

If you use more, you pay more, use less you pay less..

Flight3287462

Bazooka Joe I can't comment on the new gas price (we can't get mains gas) but your new offer on electricity looks a steal to me.

Just checked and your new gas price suggest they are charging roughly the current wholesale price for Dutch gas of 92.5Euros (I only look at Dutch gas prices because I'm invested in Dutch gas through Kistos a British Company)

Anthony21289

QrizB said:

Hi @Anthony21289 and welcome to the forum.

If you're a domestic customer (ie. not a business) you will qualify for the same price cap as everyone else.

You don't have to accept the fixed rate offer; if you don't, Scottish Power will switch you onto their default variable tariff which does have the cap applied.

Note that the cap is on the unit price, not on the total price; if you use more than the average amount of energy, you will still pay more than the average bill.

When you say "I live in a small, very well insulated detached house" but also "I paid £1,400 for my gas and electric in 2021" it seems likely that you are an above-average energy consumer. Even on the capped flexible tariff it seems likely that your bill will rise significantly.

Can you share some of the "usage statistics (which I have been collecting for years)" so we can give you a better estimate of your likely annual bill on SP's variable tariff?

Thank you for your detailed reply. I wasn't aware that I could still qualify for the price cap, as I swapped to Scottish Power 10 years ago (I did do a price comparison every year, but SP always came out best for us).

Whilst I agree that we are "above average consumers", we are definitely not that far above. We did what the "Motorway glue stickers" want now and 4 years ago increased our house insulation, which dropped our monthly bills from £175 to £129.

I was expecting an increase of this £129 by 50% this April, which would take us back to about where we were. But £347 a month (today's quote) is unsustainable to us on our pensions. So, this morning I have undertaken more searches using comparison websites and a direct attempt at SSE (who decline to quote to new customers). As you will not be surprised, the comparison sites came up with very few quotes and most of these were with companies of which I am suspicious won't last.

Below is a simplified spreadsheet of my results (the B Gas quote is taken from a Forum member's message yesterday so may be a little inaccurate for my house). The standing charges for all three are outrageous being 50p to 60p a day, averaging £190 per year. From my figures you will see that Scottish Power have tripled my unit charges for both gas and electricity. This why I feel that the media's continued claims that prices could go up by 50% in April are "sick". I repeat, I wish.

So what to do? I think you are correct. For the moment it would be best if I let the current tariff with Scottish Power lapse in 9 weeks' time and go onto the Standard Variable, currently well below the quoted new fixed tariff. Then, I will look at the market regularly and make a further decision later. One of the main variables - as far as I am concerned - is the possible hostilities in Ukraine and this will be a trigger for urgent action if necessary.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scottish Power
		to March 2022		Stnd Variable		From April
Standing charge		24.32 per day		26.11 per day		27.75 per day
Gas		3.212 per kWh		4.055 per kWh		10.305 per kWh
Standing charge		54.44 per day		24.01 per day		25.65 per kWh
Electricity		12.656 per day		20.871 per day		37.25 per kWh
Ovo (smart meter)
		to March 2022		Stnd Variable		From April
Standing charge						23.26 per day
Gas						9.36 per kWh
Standing charge						29.4 per day
Electricity						34.76 per kWh
British Gas
		to March 2022		Stnd Variable		From April
Standing charge						31.603 per day
Gas						7.277 per kWh
Standing charge						29.593 per day
Electricity						32.055 per kWh

Flight3287462

You must think ahead this will be a moving feast.  

SVT is going to go around 50% in April.  We are already in the period when prices are being gathered for the October SVT quote which will see another rise then.

Of course the fly in the ointment is that we don't know what is going to happen going forward, so if you can find a fix 50% higher with no or minimal exit charges it might be worth taking a punt on fixing taking in to account October's possible SVT changes.

I was very lucky to have fixed from start of October last year so I'm sorted for two years which takes the pressure off.

Have you looked a Sainsbury's Energy quotes?  They may be worth a look, (EON in disguise)

https://www.sainsburysenergy.com/

QrizB

Flight3287462 said:

SVT is going to go around 50% in April.  We are already in the period when prices are being gathered for the October SVT quote which will see another rise then.

The relevant pricing periods for the Ofgem cap are August-to-January for the April cap, and February-to-July for the October one.

wild666

Anthony21289 said:

I am new to this Forum, so I hope that I am not repeating something discussed earlier.

The figures for increases quoted earlier are small beer compared with mine. I am currently with Scottish Power on a fixed rate deal which ends on March 31st. I paid £1,400 for my gas and electric in 2021, about the same as 2020. I live in a small, very well insulated detached house with a non-smart meter, but a Hive smart control for timings and temperature..

I have been quoted £4,200 by Scottish Power for a fixed rate until March 31st 2024, paid monthly by my continued DD. The only other quote - via the facility on this website - is slightly less, from Ovo (£4,000 pa), with a change to a smart meter being compulsory, having given my usage statistics (which I have been collecting for years).

I don't qualify for any price cap under the current rules.

So, this looks like I would be paying 300% of my current fee if I accept either quote. I laugh when I hear warnings from Martin and others when they talk about 50% rises. I wish.

One thing about Smart controls for heating and that is if you set them at a temperature then the heating comes on earlier than the times set as they want to be at the temperature set on the control by the time stated.
I used to brush and iron the snooker tables at my local club and the heating was on at 06:30 AM when I went in to do them. This was costing the club over £400 per month to heat the place and they are now discussing whether to revert back to the old time clock to save money as they paid less than half of the £400 per month before they switched to the smart option. 

wild666

Gerry1 said:

LadOnTheHill said:

My gas meter is smart, as it was a new install of mains gas last year. My electric meter is not a smart meter. I've no idea how many years ago it was installed, at least ten.

@LadOnTheHill Check that your meter readings aren't estimates.  IIRC if your electricity meter really isn't smart, your gas smart meter shouldn't be able to send any readings.

You may get an unwelcome catch-up bill at some point if your actual usage turns out to be higher than the estimates.

The only way to stop an unexpected hike in a DD is to keep sending readings and as many suppliers do allow you to make a one off payment to clear any debt or just add credit before a large debit occurs on the account. 

Anthony21289

One thing about Smart controls for heating and that is if you set them at a temperature then the heating comes on earlier than the times set as they want to be at the temperature set on the control by the time stated.

I am afraid you may have a problem with your Smart control. We have a Hive and I can 100% confirm that bolier starts exactly at the times we set.