Energy bills go up TOMORROW - meter read TODAY!

EssexHebridean

Norman_Castle said:

EssexHebridean said:

sourcrates said:

With me the electricity unit price is going up about 11p, and the standing charge is doubling to around 47p, on April 1st.

Remember it will rise again later in the year.

Don`t have historic readings as my old provider went bust, and I was transferred to Eon next.

Luckily spring is around the corner, and keeping usage to a minimum, should see my bill not rise that much.

Yes - daftly enough we're in a similar position with not having access to older bills - ideally of course people should download and save them

I was with neon reef and zog, both sites now unavailable. I'd downloaded a final bill from neon reef but as my usage was consistently around 110kwh per month I can work out my annual usage. I didn't know what my annual usage from zog was but realised they emailed a monthly statement showing annual usage. Try checking old emails for monthly or annual statements.

That's a tip that may work for some others - our previous suppliers always worked with giving a link to the online account though which is now inactive of course. I don't worry about the gas anyway as it's so low, but I'm deeply grateful to my past self for starting to use the app when I did! 

EssexHebridean

JadedAngel88 said:

I'd like to think that I keep my gas and electric as low as I can. Yearly costs are around £700.

I know my supplier increased the price in October, so I think it went up by about £50.

The next increase will see that yearly cost double. I am hoping that, with the warmer weather coming, to keep the gas to a minimum during the next 6 to 7 months but keep topping up with the same money for gas so that I have some kind of buffer for when winter hits. 

I have no idea where I am going to get the extra money from though. I am hoping they have estimated that amount because I will not have £200 per month for gas and electric. 

BTW I'm on pre payment smart meters. 

Do the sums yourself - and then you'll know! (And at least with Pre-payment you do keep on top of what is being used - it still help to know what you need to budget ahead though!) 

nannytone_2

I am in the enviable position of having fixed last August, until 31st March 2024.
I only have electricity and use 3400 kwh a year, with an annual cost in the region of £700

newlywed

I am on prepay and don’t have last years exact readings, just the supplier estimate based on how much and when we topped up.

The have suggested our energy use will increase by £12 a week. So I am budgeting for that much on top of our winter months spend, knowing we will spend less in summer, but in the hope that by the time autumn arrives we will have built a buffer and not freeze.

since our prepay meters are also not smart meters, I am topping up now as much as I can, and will likely do the same through the summer too (will save some of the extra too) to hopefully postpone any increase again. 

If the supplier goes bust then we should be able to just use what’s already on the meter as that’s what we were told to do when we swapped supplier. 

If the meter breaks or needs replacement, then they should transfer any credit to the new meter on install.

foxgloves

Completely agree about leaving any energy bill credit in situe as a buffer against next winter's hideous costs. I'd intended to claim a refund at the end of this month as our account is well in credit as we approach the warmer months. Needless to say, it's now staying firmly in place & I'm just grateful it's there. Cutting everyday usage is absolutely vital. I've just posted about this tonight on my dfw diary..... it doesn't matter that many home energy saving measures are small, it's the frequency & consistency of doing lots & lots of them which add up into monetary savings. If you haven't already, start this now. Plug any energy wastage you see happening at home. The only element of this over which we have any control is how much energy we use.
F

newlywed

Have already cut down how many wash loads I do each week and giving more thought to the wash temperature, and how much I use the oven (always filled it, but now using other options instead). 

All sockets have a switch and most are switched off (including oven, microwave, toaster etc).

using less water too, half a bowl to wash up is often enough and we don’t have a dishwasher.

Also created my spreadsheet for meter readings and average daily usage, so I can keep a check on it now all year. 

RosaBernicia

I put together a spreadsheet using the gas and electric totals for a full year, as I've only been in this house a few months longer.  I hope it's a generous estimate, as I wasn't using the heating very efficiently over lockdown (timer issues) and this winter should be lower. 

I've been adding another line for each tariff option with the date I consider it, and it's quite shocking to see the total go up and up.  My old fix was just over £700.  The April price cap is about £1500, and so was the loyalty fix the first time I checked it.  The loyalty fix is now £2,000 having gone up from £1830 on the 2nd March. 

I've gone for the loyalty fix now anyway as it will keep the standing charge down while usage is low during the summer, and if my sums are right, 6 months on the April price cap followed by 6 months on the expected increased October cap would be £1900 anyhow.  There's no exit fee so I can always change in the autumn if better options appear.  At this point I'd rather have the certainty than spend any more hours checking, but I am lucky enough that those costs aren't disastrous. 

I can't think of much more I can do to keep usage down, except switch off lights and possibly sort out standby plugs for the TV and laptop.  Heating is already on half hour top ups through the day and my collection of blankets turns out to come in handy.  All the appliances are recent so should be reasonably efficient and I can make more use of drying outside now the weather is warm enough.  I'm looking to keep other costs down as much as possible to compensate. 

ladyholly

I feel very lucky to have a fixed rate from October 2021 - September 2023. Hoping things will have resolved a little by then but I am trtying to reduce energy consumption anyway. Washing is now done at 30 instead of 40 except towels, tea towels etc. I keep turning lights off that DH leaves on, check plugs are turned off at the socket etc. I have bought DH some new thermals for next year in the sale as he really feels the cold and will try to get at least one more set for him before then upgrading the warmth of them to maximum.

Food prices are already rising and things are going to be very tough for some people. I am looking for cheaper recipes but DH is very hard to cook for anyway as he is quite fussy and only really likes traditional meat and 2 veg type meals.

TheAble

I'd say just be wary about leaving large amounts of credit in situ, especially if you're with a small supplier. Can see a few more potentially going to the wall.

EssexHebridean

I'd be surprised if we don't see some more smaller suppliers going yet too, to be honest. Do remember though that if your supplier DOES go kaput, and you get SOLR'd, your credit IS protected - there's no question about this. Something that seems to have stood out over the rash of failures and SOLR transfers in the last year is that following the instructions your given is pretty key if you want things to run as smoothly as they possibly can - and even then be prepared for it to be a lengthy process, and for you to need to be proactive in monitoring things. There were many folk who decided to try to buck the system and switch from a failing supplier as they failed - in a lot of cases those switches were anything but smooth, in some they've ended up with the SOLR anyway as the switch was rejected, and in a few others they've ended up in a right tangle not knowing WHO they're supplied by. Also - any credit on the account to be paid out then gets pushed to the back of the queue by the SOLR (who will be the one dealing with it anyway) - inevitably they're keener to get things sorted for the people who actually ARE now their customers, than for someone who'd switched! Similarly - Direct Debits - if the direction is to keep it running, then it seems it's probably best to do so - otherwise you run the risk of the SOLR on finding no DD arrangement automatically putting you on a more expensive pay-on-receipt-of-bill arrangement. Those DD's which still "appear" to be going to the failed company are actually going to the administrators, but will be ringfenced and protected and then transferred to the new supplier with the rest of your account. If you DO stop it, then actively look to get a DD set up with the new company as quickly as you can - but be prepared that there might be a delay in being able to do this, so budget for your money energy accordingly over that time. 

If you DO want to withdraw credit from energy accounts, then the best option is obviously to stick it straight into that "buffer fund" account - along with the council tax rebate and anything else you've decided to stash aside.