HELP!!!!!!

superclan

I have been with Scottish Power supplying my energy (Gas and Electric).

I already pay an extortionate amount, but I accept this as I have had a Hot Tub running all last year, I have now turned this off.

My current tariff runs out in March and from my last bill in January my account was still in credit, with the price increase they want to increase my payments from what I currently pay (£239 a month) to £670 a month.

I have spoken to their Energy line and they have just said that they will send me a consumer unit as I have a smart meter, but what I really wanted was somebody to come out and assist me.

I know some people are going to say it’s my own fault for having a hot tub, but surely this charge is excessive even with the increase.

Archie_Duke

They may WANT you to increase your payment. What if you’re not in a position to pay that level, what do they suggest? I guess the trouble is that their calculation based on a much lower fixed rate tariff is that your energy consumption will go on at the previous level. They don’t know that you’ve turned off a huge power consumer. Also the new tariff will jump on 1 April and 1 October.
you should be able to have a go at estimating from previous meter readings how much electricity you’ll use now that the hot tub has been switched off. Then you can calculate your total energy usage for the year and it’s approximate cost (remember to price in the energy cap rise). Divide by 12 for a monthly payment. 

Alternatively ask to set up a payment where you simply pay for what you use in a month rather than an annual estimate split into 12 payments.

MattMattMattUK

superclan said:

I have been with Scottish Power supplying my energy (Gas and Electric).

I already pay an extortionate amount, but I accept this as I have had a Hot Tub running all last year, I have now turned this off.

My current tariff runs out in March and from my last bill in January my account was still in credit, with the price increase they want to increase my payments from what I currently pay (£239 a month) to £670 a month.

I have spoken to their Energy line and they have just said that they will send me a consumer unit as I have a smart meter, but what I really wanted was somebody to come out and assist me.

I know some people are going to say it’s my own fault for having a hot tub, but surely this charge is excessive even with the increase.

What do you expect the person who comed out to "assist" you to actually do?

You direct debits will be based on your predicted usage, your bills will be based on your actual usage. What tariff were you on, what one are you/will you be on and what is your annual usage in kWh?

Browntoa

Come out and assist you doing what ? 

Sadly that increase is reflective of the huge rise in the cost of gas and electricity , the current huge increases again over the last few days have not even been factored in yet 

Robin9

By "consumer unit" I presume an In House Display to go in your kitchen. That will give you lots on info and you see the effect of switching on a kettle etc.

What sort of help are you asking for ?  There's lots on this forum  -  the main advice at the moment is not to go for another fix but revert to a SVT when your fix runs out.

Presumably that £239 reflects your hot tub  - as the prediction of your annual consumption drops out of the calculations so your bills will drop - relatively as they as already very high.

Tell us some more about your property and lifestyle.

lohr500

Do you have your monthly electricity usage numbers in kWh? Or from the periods on your bills?

During the period May to September, I think our inflatable 800 litre capacity Intex hot tub used around 16 to 17 kw of electricity per day. (0.7kW per hour) to keep the temperature at 39deg C.

If you are moving to a standard variable tariff from 1st April and don't have Economy 7 (or other variable time based tariff) then I guess you will be paying around £0.30 per kWh. 

So to run a similar hot tub at the new prices would cost around £5 a day.

What is your current price per kWh? If you take that and multiply it by 17 it will give you an estimate of what it was costing you to run the tot tub last year. 

Was it running for all of last year? If so, it would have used around 6132kWh of electricity. Take 6132 off your total usage from last year and this will give you an indication of how much electricity you will use from now on, assuming you don't try to reduce or increase consumption elsewhere. 

The above is only a ball park estimate based on my hot tub consumption figures, so don't take it as being an exact science. 

EssexHebridean

Also - are you currently in credit on the account or in debit? And by how much? If you’ve been underpaying (possible if your DD amount was fixed before the hot tub arrived) then they’ll obviously need to correct that - and often that is done by an uplifted DD rather than by asking the account holder if they can simply pay off the shortfall. 

QrizB

superclan said:

My current tariff runs out in March and from my last bill in January my account was still in credit, with the price increase they want to increase my payments from what I currently pay (£239 a month) to £670 a month.
...
I know some people are going to say it’s my own fault for having a hot tub, but surely this charge is excessive even with the increase.

If you can give details of your old tariff, your new tariff and your estimated annual consumption in kWh (this is printed on yout bills) we can give you a sanity check of those payments.

superclan

EssexHebridean said:

Also - are you currently in credit on the account or in debit? And by how much? If you’ve been underpaying (possible if your DD amount was fixed before the hot tub arrived) then they’ll obviously need to correct that - and often that is done by an uplifted DD rather than by asking the account holder if they can simply pay off the shortfall. 

After my last bill in January I was in credit by £106, since then I have had 1 DD payment, and another due shortly.
I have just had a look at my DD and they suggest my payment be adjusted to £172 (from £239) which is even more confusing.
Then from April they want £670.
 

I have just looked at comparison sites and somehow they know my usage from last year from my previous supplier. I have then put those figures in Sainsbury’s energy website and it is coming up £503 per month, now 8 would happily accept that compared to £670.

Hopefully you can see why I’m confused.

Gerry1

You're confused because you're still thinking in monthly DD amounts.  Not the same as a bill, it's just topping up a kitty that may or may not prove to be sufficient to pay the bills.

Instead, when comparing you need to think in annual costs (based on kWh rates and daily charges) for your revised actual usage (derived from actual meter readings but adjusted for your expected lower consumption by abandoning the hot tub).

Robin9

superclan said:

After my last bill in January I was in credit by £106, since then I have had 1 DD payment, and another due shortly.
I have just had a look at my DD and they suggest my payment be adjusted to £172 (from £239) which is even more confusing.
Then from April they want £670.
 

You can do some simple sums to find out how much you owe today#####

Read your meter today and deduct the reading from January and multiply by the unit rate from your last bill - add a bit for Standing Charges and VAT. 


As my above post SP will still be estimating  assuming that you still have a hot tub -  only after 12 months will there be a better estimate of costs.  Keep those meter readings going every month. Keep a simple spreadsheet