Trying to understand my personal position with increased charges

chubsta

Just need a little help as I have seen Martin's advice regarding whether to get on a fixed tariff but the figures I am looking at are worrying.
I am with British Gas and the current variable rates according to my last statements are:
Gas 4.053kwh/26.123p per day
Electricity 21.557kwh/35.861p per day.

When I go on their website to 'get a quote' they only offer me three options which are pretty much the same at:
Gas 7.728kwh/42.56 per day
Electricity 22.90kwh/40.47p per day.

I may be rubbish at maths but this gives me increases of:
Gas 90.6%/62.9%
Electricity 66.35%/68.35%

When look at my last bill (the variable rates were increased shortly after that but it gives me a comparative idea) if I work out how much I would have paid if I was on the new fixed tariff for that period as against what I actually paid in late 2021 I see an increase in total for gas of 89.49% on my bill for Gas, and 106% for Electricity.

Martin says it may be worth fixing if you can get between 50-70% increase but clearly I cannot see anything close to those figures, am I reading it all wrong or are they true, in which case any idea on what I should do?
Also, I tried to go onto a fixed tariff in October of last year and had the email to say it was done but would take some time to show up, I am still showing online as being on the variable rate so surely it should have shown up by now?
Any and all advice appreciated as always!

MWT

chubsta said:

Also, I tried to go onto a fixed tariff in October of last year and had the email to say it was done but would take some time to show up, I am still showing online as being on the variable rate so surely it should have shown up by now?
Any and all advice appreciated as always!

Does your email say which tariff it was that you had selected?

There is a very good chance that the rates on that tariff were way better than anything you are currently looking at...

I would check the tariff rates and then put in a complaint...

feenics

Certainly follow up on your fix to see what happened there.

Sadly your figures for fixed are probably correct, I'm not doing the math on them but I know for my own calculations against the SVR were similarly extraordinary.

chubsta

MWT said:

chubsta said:

Also, I tried to go onto a fixed tariff in October of last year and had the email to say it was done but would take some time to show up, I am still showing online as being on the variable rate so surely it should have shown up by now?
Any and all advice appreciated as always!

Does your email say which tariff it was that you had selected?

There is a very good chance that the rates on that tariff were way better than anything you are currently looking at...

I would check the tariff rates and then put in a complaint...

yes, it states it was 'Price Promise Sept 2022', I have looked all over the BG website and cannot find a way to contact them other than by phone and they sure as hell aren't picking that up!

MWT

chubsta said:

yes, it states it was 'Price Promise Sept 2022', I have looked all over the BG website and cannot find a way to contact them other than by phone and they sure as hell aren't picking that up!

That is similar pricing to the variable tariff that you appear to be on at the moment, it is not a fixed tariff, but oddly it does seem to have a fixed end date with price guaranteed until Sept 22...

Can you confirm the name of the tariff you are currently on?

victor2

Have you tried an online chat with them? You'll have to get by the robot first, but usually asking it a question it can't answer gets you into a queue for a human.

You can usually copy the chat before you finish the conversation, so that you have a record, or even get it emailed to you. I'm not familar with the BG chat, but many have that option.

chubsta

MWT said:

chubsta said:

yes, it states it was 'Price Promise Sept 2022', I have looked all over the BG website and cannot find a way to contact them other than by phone and they sure as hell aren't picking that up!

That is similar pricing to the variable tariff that you appear to be on at the moment, it is not a fixed tariff, but oddly it does seem to have a fixed end date with price guaranteed until Sept 22...

Can you confirm the name of the tariff you are currently on?

Yes, when I finally managed to see what it was the charges are VERY similar to the current variable that I am told I am on when I go to the web portal, so of course at the moment there is no real advantage to me but there will be a big one after April. I will try to persevere with getting in touch.
Thanks to those who have looked over the calcs and think they may be correct - it is going to be a challenge but there you go, never thought that after nearly 38 years of working I would have to be worrying about energy bills though! Unfortunately there will be millions much worse off than me as I will at least be able to afford the increase it is just a pain and annoying, but for others it will be eat or stay warm...

theoretica

chubsta said:

I am with British Gas and the current variable rates according to my last statements are:
Gas 4.053kwh/26.123p per day
Electricity 21.557kwh/35.861p per day.

When I go on their website to 'get a quote' they only offer me three options which are pretty much the same at:
Gas 7.728kwh/42.56 per day
Electricity 22.90kwh/40.47p per day.

I may be rubbish at maths but this gives me increases of:
Gas 90.6%/62.9%
Electricity 66.35%/68.35%

Your maths doesn't add up for electricity - the percentage increases on the numbers you quote are much smaller.  Are you sure the quote figures are correct? 

chubsta

theoretica said:

chubsta said:

I am with British Gas and the current variable rates according to my last statements are:
Gas 4.053kwh/26.123p per day
Electricity 21.557kwh/35.861p per day.

When I go on their website to 'get a quote' they only offer me three options which are pretty much the same at:
Gas 7.728kwh/42.56 per day
Electricity 22.90kwh/40.47p per day.

I may be rubbish at maths but this gives me increases of:
Gas 90.6%/62.9%
Electricity 66.35%/68.35%

Your maths doesn't add up for electricity - the percentage increases on the numbers you quote are much smaller.  Are you sure the quote figures are correct? 

Sorry, there was a mistake as the new kwph rate is 35.86p

one thing I don’t understand is the correlation between the ‘energy price cap’ and the variable rate - are they the same? If so then can I just expect the variable rate to increase by 50% in April if the price cap is increased by that or are they not really connected

Flight3287462

Yes the SVT and the variable rate are currently the same (in 99.99999% of cases - just in case someone finds an outlier)

QrizB

chubsta said:

one thing I don’t understand is the correlation between the ‘energy price cap’ and the variable rate - are they the same? If so then can I just expect the variable rate to increase by 50% in April if the price cap is increased by that or are they not really connected

The price cap sets the upper limit for suppliers' standard variable rates. Suppliers are free to set a lower rate if they wish.

Prior to September last year, variable rates were often below the cap but at the moment energy is so expensive that all the variable rates are sert at (or very near) the cap.