Help please as I’m panicking

Toomuchdebt

joedenise said:

Sorry you are feeling so bad.  That figure seems ridiculously high.  You are a bit higher user than average but don't think it likely your usage will be as high as nearly £4,000.

The cap for an average user has gone up to just under £2,000 pa; you were paying about £300pa more than average so with the rises I think that means your new amount should be around £2,500 not nearly £4,000.

Please speak to your provider and explain how you're feeling.  They should be able to help.

I can’t call them until Monday as their phone lines are only staffed on weekdays.  It’s emails only until then. 

Toomuchdebt

skogar said:

The most energy hungry items are the ones that heat so your lights will not make as much difference as items that produce a significant amount of heat.

Is where you live small or large? Are you only able to heat the whole house to a similar temperature or is it possible to heat one room to a reasonable temperature and have the rest cooler - if for instance you have a gas fire or similar. Is it just you living in the house or are there others that you also need to keep warm.

If just you then it may be possible to mainly heat 1 room and it may be possible for you to sleep in the same room.

It is cheaper to use an electric blanket than heat the whole room so it may be more practical to use something like an electric throw / blanket to keep you warm rather than heating the whole room to a higher temperature.

If you can tell us a bit more then we may be able to suggest some more things.

If you have a problem with mould already it is best to avoid making it worse so I wouldn't turn the ventilation fans off and drying washing inside without the tumble drier is likely to make it worse. If the air is damp it will feel colder too.

I have kids so it’s not just me. No gas fire just has central heating which I’ve not been using  for the past few days until yesterday and today when it suddenly got freezing cold again. I live in a house. There’s no insulation in the roof and my landlord is useless. I don’t have a kitchen window only a patio door in the kitchen so hanging washing makes the damp worse. 

I only use the electric blanket at night to warm the bed up when the heating is off. I have health issues which can make hanging clothes outside challenging but I will just have to do that I guess and hope for the best. I rent privately and would love to move house but there’s nothing suitable unless it costs a lot more and I can’t afford to subsidise the rent. I’m a single mum so no other money coming in. 

Kat78MFW

Try not to panic - can you post the screenshot of the rates you are being quoted by your supplier that you included on one of your other threads? The regulars on this board are extremely helpful and will be able to tell you whether those rates are for a fixed tariff or the capped standard variable rate. 

Do you have a smart meter? If not, do you give regular meter readings? Can you post some recent readings on here, along with some from last year? Do you have gas central heating? 

Toomuchdebt

Kat78MFW said:

Try not to panic - can you post the screenshot of the rates you are being quoted by your supplier that you included on one of your other threads? The regulars on this board are extremely helpful and will be able to tell you whether those rates are for a fixed tariff or the capped standard variable rate. 

Do you have a smart meter? If not, do you give regular meter readings? Can you post some recent readings on here, along with some from last year? Do you have gas central heating? 

They’re for fixed rates but I don’t get the option to choose anything else. I have a smart meter. I have gas central heating which isn’t very efficient. 

Misslayed

You don't have to choose one of those options. Just do nothing and you will be put on the Standard Variable Rate (SVR). It will still cost more than your previous fix, but not as much as these options. 

Toomuchdebt

Misslayed said:

You don't have to choose one of those options. Just do nothing and you will be put on the Standard Variable Rate (SVR). It will still cost more than your previous fix, but not as much as these options. 

Oh really?? Oh that’s good to know. How will I know how much it will cost me though? I can’t seem to find that anywhere 

otb666

i think your prices are a lot higher than Standard rates but the people on the Energy Board are more knowledgeable and very help full. I am also thinking it should be around 3000 pa on SVR and you have somehow been fixed by your supplier

Kat78MFW

I think these are the Octopus variable rate prices...

Toomuchdebt

otb666 said:

i think your prices are a lot higher than Standard rates but the people on the Energy Board are more knowledgeable and very help full. I am also thinking it should be around 2500 pa on SVR and you have somehow been fixed by your supplier

I’ve emailed them and I will try calling them on Monday. 

Floss

Also look at this website, as your landlord has some legal obligations and insulation may be one of them: 
https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice