Rising costs for 87year 0ld can't afford to heat house

Charlesworth447

I really want to contact Martin and his team for advice. I am 87 and with Scottish Power - my fixed tariff ends 28th February and they have told me that my monthly bill of £182 will go up to £453 on a fixed contract. they have told me I must go on fixed contract to protect me from two or 4 pay increases. I can't afford this and it will take all my oension I won't be able to pay my council tax or food bills. I need advice what do I do? 

emmajones1976

If they are telling people they MUST go on a fixed I would be reporting them to OFGEM as this is very devious.

EssexHebridean

First off - don't panic, you absolutely do NOT have to take a fixed rate and I would go a step further than describing it as devious and say downright dishonest. It sounds horribly as though SP might be well and truly taking advantage of someone they perhaps see as vulnerable and easy to exploit. If they have said that you have to take a fix I totally agree with reporting them! 

Have they offered you the loyalty tariff that some others on here have been discussing? It's out there, may be a good bet in your area and you may be able to request to be switched to it if so, BUT obviously no advice on that can be given easily without usage details and a rough idea of location. 

Cardew

I echo the comments in the two posts above.

However in case of any misunderstanding put in writing that you do not wish to be placed on a fixed tariff and will remain on the Standard Variable Tariff(SVT).

As you will no doubt be aware the dual fuel SVT will increase by over 50% on 01 April. Although there are slight variations by region and company, the new post April prices will be around 7p/kWh for gas and 28p/kWh for electricity.

You can then compare those prices with any fixed tariff available.

400ixl

Scottish Power's own website states that if you do nothing when your fixed contract comes to an end you will automatically drop back to their standard rates which will be the ones capped under the guidelines.

You do not have to transfer onto any other fixed contract. If you have in writing that is what they are telling you then I would report them to the ombudsman as that is not right.

Unfortunately whichever way you choose to go the bill is going to increase considerably when your fix comes to an end and there aren't really any better then the cap with any provider at the moment.

Are you aware of the council tax reduction (£150 for houses in bands A-D) and the £200 loan to be applied to electricity bills in October (which do have to be paid back at £50 a year over the following years). These may help soften the blow a little.

EssexHebridean

For transparency, it's important to mention that it is ALSO possible that the October cap change may see an increase - currently the experts seem to be suggestion that something in the region of 20% is what they expect, but there is an awful lot of time for that to change in the meantime. It certainly seems that the assistance being given (the council tax rebate and the £200 energy advance (loan/rebate - choose your terminology) is being given with the hope that prices DO stabilise by around this time next year. 

gt94sss2

Charlesworth447 said:

I really want to contact Martin and his team for advice. I am 87 and with Scottish Power - my fixed tariff ends 28th February and they have told me that my monthly bill of £182 will go up to £453 on a fixed contract. they have told me I must go on fixed contract to protect me from two or 4 pay increases. I can't afford this and it will take all my oension I won't be able to pay my council tax or food bills. I need advice what do I do? 

As well as the advice others have given, please check on https://www.entitledto.co.uk/ and https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/get-help-paying-your-bills/grants-and-benefits-to-help-you-pay-your-energy-bills/ (change region if necessary) to confirm you are getting all the help you are entitled too  (including grants from your local council)

The_Fat_Controller

@Charlesworth447

Bear in mind you will go from your fix to the current SVT on 1 March.

Then on 1 April that increases by 54% and then 6 months later there is likely to be a further increase.

You'll have to get your calculator out !

Tahlullah.H

If you are in a position to get out, go to your local Citizens Advice service.  They can usually provide access to help with paying bills or getting bills written off or significantly reduced, as well as access to grants to help with future expenditure.  Many of the Fuel providers have money set aside to help those in need.

They will also check to see that you are receiving all the benefits you are entitled to and can help with ensuring you get food from a local food bank if necessary.

Help is available, but when you go, to speed things along, take evidence of your fuel bills and your current income from your pensions, as well as your Council Tax bill.  Without these, they will have to ask you supply them before they can assist further with grants etc.

You may wish to check that your citizens Advice office has actually returned to face to face opening, as many moved to telephone advice due to Covid.  As you appear ok with using IT, this may not present a problem to you, but if you are struggling, many will see clients face to face if necessary and deemed unable to use the telephone or Teams etc.

EssexHebridean

wittynamegoeshere said:

For additional transparency(!) also be aware that many of the capped tariffs are even higher than the rise to the capped tariff that's coming in April, so it's very unlikely that they're doing you any favours by offering whatever they are.

If you want to get into seeing the actual prices then you need to look at the individual unit and daily prices of each option.  Unfortunately the monthly payment is not really a guide to anything, this is basically a payment into a pot of your money from which your bills are paid.  It's likely that this will rise whatever option you choose, many suppliers are increasing this in anticipation of the April rise and whatever lies beyond that.

I'd suggest that it may be sensible to make an appointment with Citizens Advice, take along a recent bill and whatever correspondence you've had from them about tariffs.

You mean fixed here, rather than capped I assume? Don't want to scare the OP even more! 

PennineAcute

wittynamegoeshere said:

For additional transparency(!) also be aware that many of the capped tariffs are even higher than the rise to the capped tariff that's coming in April, so it's very unlikely that they're doing you any favours by offering whatever they are.

If you want to get into seeing the actual prices then you need to look at the individual unit and daily prices of each option.  Unfortunately the monthly payment is not really a guide to anything, this is basically a payment into a pot of your money from which your bills are paid.  It's likely that this will rise whatever option you choose, many suppliers are increasing this in anticipation of the April rise and whatever lies beyond that.

I'd suggest that it may be sensible to make an appointment with Citizens Advice, take along a recent bill and whatever correspondence you've had from them about tariffs.

Which is probably why they have done this.  It's disgusting.  They are the playground school bully.