It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

euronorris

I could scream. With ridiculous suggestions about 30p meals and now 'just get a better paying job', and ofgem throwing us under the bus in order to keep the big companies happy, I am just so angry about it all atm!!

Suffolksue

Think they’re all as bad as each other when they’re in !

EssexHebridean

Just to note on the energy bills - it really is important to give readings regularly - it helps to ensure that if you use falls, the energy suppliers "read" that an will reduce the amount they think you need to pay - automatically in some cases. It also means that if you feel you have your DD set to high you have a good basis on which to ask them to lower it. It also means that you're not pushing an inaccurate bill into the future. Hopefully everyone did give their readings as Martin and others were urging as at 31/3/22 - it's far from inconceivable that energy companies might be "accidentally" wrongly estimating at that date. In fact, even if you DID give a reading at the 31st, check that your supplier has actually used it. Ours didn't - although they've reissued the bill since I messaged them to ask why instead of using the actual reading from us, they'd used an estimate that would be very much in their favour!

euronorris

Don't get me started on the energy firms. I've had to get them to correct our bills twice since we were moved to them. Both times they issued a correct bill first, then a few weeks later they cancelled and reversed it and issued a new bill which missed off a load of charges. The first time they removed the electricity charges completely. The second time they removed the electricity completely AND gas charges from mid Jan to mid April! And I can't leave it, as you just know they'll correct it months or years later and then they'll be asking for 1,000s instead! *deep breaths*

London_1

I have just sent my reading for April-May be interesting to see what they are compared to last years I will find out on Wednesday I expect when they post them on my website .But I'm still in credit so not too worried 

JackieO xx

EssexHebridean

I do readings at least monthly on the electric, and often fortnightly. I also use the "Meter Readings" app on my phone to keep track of things even further. Very handy knowing that we can drag up usage figures back as far as 2008, sometimes! 

KxMx

This is why I won't take out a variable Direct Debit. They charge as much as they feel that they can get away with*
My new home has smart meters and I have insisted on a monthly bill.

*I realise it can be genuinely useful to build up credit over summer to use during the winter- but these days perhaps even that norm is suspended.

OrkneyStar

Florenceem said:

People get what they vote for - Tories got a big majority so not much chance of dissent in the Commons.

I didn't vote for them, and never have. Scotland very rarely gets what we voted for when it comes to UK issues! Sorry, rant over, moving on.....my first NSD has gone ok, technically it wasn't actually NSD as bought carrots and one drink, but it was only £1.50 and needed! I am happy to not have wasted any more money today.

OrkneyStar

EssexHebridean said:

Just to note on the energy bills - it really is important to give readings regularly - it helps to ensure that if you use falls, the energy suppliers "read" that an will reduce the amount they think you need to pay - automatically in some cases. It also means that if you feel you have your DD set to high you have a good basis on which to ask them to lower it. It also means that you're not pushing an inaccurate bill into the future. Hopefully everyone did give their readings as Martin and others were urging as at 31/3/22 - it's far from inconceivable that energy companies might be "accidentally" wrongly estimating at that date. In fact, even if you DID give a reading at the 31st, check that your supplier has actually used it. Ours didn't - although they've reissued the bill since I messaged them to ask why instead of using the actual reading from us, they'd used an estimate that would be very much in their favour!

We are supposed to do it once a month (at least), as we don't have a smart meter, I am currently doing it every two weeks - once on the date we're supposed to and once fortnightly in between that. I am also tracking our usage, we are using a lot less than we were last year (since January) so although the prices have gone up they are probably overestimating our usage on the yearly estimate. Each time I enter an accurate reading the amount they suggest we will owe at the end of the year goes down (not a lot each time, but steadily). I want a few more months of more accurate readings for this year before I increase the d.d. a bit (they haven't asked us to but suggested amounts that might be better to pay).

elsien

KxMx said:

This is why I won't take out a variable Direct Debit. They charge as much as they feel that they can get away with*
My new home has smart meters and I have insisted on a monthly bill.

*I realise it can be genuinely useful to build up credit over summer to use during the winter- but these days perhaps even that norm is suspended.

You can debate the amount with them though. I wanted the fixed monthly rather than paying for the amount used, to have as a cushion for next winter. They asked for £150, on the basis of my sums I though £125 was more reasonable so that's what we've gone for, for now.  I do find though that a large part of my bill is the standing charges and background appliances such as the fridge and freezer which are quite old so not especially efficient - there wasn't a huge amount of difference when I was away for a week, which was disappointing.