Energy bills tripled for the elderly

Benny2020

Don't bring Brexit into this, its a worldwide problem.

poppellerant

I think you need to ignore any credit on the account and use the actual annual usage figures to work out what the direct debit should be.  I wonder if Scottish Power have taken account the credit when you phoned them.

The 54% rise in April (source) means that their £75 direct debit should increase to just over £115 - personally I'd round this up to £120, to help cushion the further ~40% rise in October.

I would encourage your parents to submit meter readings at the end of each month if they don't have smart meters.  Also, if they don't have smart meters, I would encourage having them installed for your parents to avoid estimated bills.  This is even more important now with today's energy prices constantly rising.

roddydogs

Why "the elderly", its everyone.

badger09

poppellerant said:

I think you need to ignore any credit on the account and use the actual annual usage figures to work out what the direct debit should be.  I wonder if Scottish Power have taken account the credit when you phoned them.

The 54% rise in April (source) means that their £75 direct debit should increase to just over £115 - personally I'd round this up to £120, to help cushion the further ~40% rise in October.

I would encourage your parents to submit meter readings at the end of each month if they don't have smart meters.  Also, if they don't have smart meters, I would encourage having them installed for your parents to avoid estimated bills.  This is even more important now with today's energy prices constantly rising.

I don’t agree with this. 

The rises you have quoted relate to the price cap on Standard Variable Rate. OP’s mum wasn’t on the SVR, she was on a fixed rate, which would have been lower than SVR when she took it out. Her DD increase could therefore my substantially more than you’ve quoted. 

@OP
Could you help mum try to lower her energy consumption, obviously without her being uncomfortable. 

There are several threads in here with some useful energy saving tips. 

MattMattMattUK

prowla said:

Tranboy said:

Benny2020 said:

Don't bring Brexit into this, its a worldwide problem.

Yes, I know it's a world wide problem.

....but we also have Brexit half of you voted for as the cherry on the top!

I blame Brexit for global energy prices, the war in Ukraine, food shortages, Covid, global warming, and all other ills and ailments.

Plus it rained yesterday, which must be Brexit's fault too.

Brexit has caused a lot of problems for business, is damaging trade and is almost certainly responsible for some of the inflationary pressure in the UK, although far from all. There are two groups, equally extreme, one seems to want to blame Brexit for everything, the other sees Brexit as the promised land any anyone mentioning a negative is talking the country down. Brexit is harming the economy and will continue to do so for decades to come, it is not the economic destruction that some claimed it would be, but there are no economic upsides either.

People voted Brexit for a multitude of reasons, but the reality is that it was always going to make the vast majority worse off and damage the economy. Some people decided that on balance was worth it to "get our country back", whatever that actually means, others simply ignored the economic impact, others still voted without really thinking. We are also where we are, going back into the EU is almost certainly impossible for several decades even if there was overwhelming political support in the UK and there is not, the Conservatives have nailed their colours to the Brexit flagpole, Labour are ignoring it and hoping to win back some of their historic voters who migrated to the Conservatives over Brexit and the Lib Dems and odds and sods can bang a drum about it, but have no chance of getting anywhere near power. 

brewerdave

MattMattMattUK said:

prowla said:

Tranboy said:

Benny2020 said:

Don't bring Brexit into this, its a worldwide problem.

Yes, I know it's a world wide problem.

....but we also have Brexit half of you voted for as the cherry on the top!

I blame Brexit for global energy prices, the war in Ukraine, food shortages, Covid, global warming, and all other ills and ailments.

Plus it rained yesterday, which must be Brexit's fault too.

Brexit has caused a lot of problems for business, is damaging trade and is almost certainly responsible for some of the inflationary pressure in the UK, although far from all. There are two groups, equally extreme, one seems to want to blame Brexit for everything, the other sees Brexit as the promised land any anyone mentioning a negative is talking the country down. Brexit is harming the economy and will continue to do so for decades to come, it is not the economic destruction that some claimed it would be, but there are no economic upsides either.

And if the current brinkmanship over the N.I protocol goes South ,then be prepared for things to get rapidly worse !!

wild666

One way of lowering gas energy costs is to reduce the temperatures on the boiler to 50 degrees for water and 55 degrees for heating. Lower the thermostat temperature to between 18 and 21 degrees and buy a hot water bottle putting the bottle of hot water against the body will heat the body and only the fingers/arms will feel a bit cold so the heating will compensate for the parts of the body not getting warm from the bottle, ideally try for 18 degrees as this will save the most money.

lisyloo

wild666 said:

One way of lowering gas energy costs is to reduce the temperatures on the boiler to 50 degrees for water and 55 degrees for heating. Lower the thermostat temperature to between 18 and 21 degrees and buy a hot water bottle putting the bottle of hot water against the body will heat the body and only the fingers/arms will feel a bit cold so the heating will compensate for the parts of the body not getting warm from the bottle, ideally try for 18 degrees as this will save the most money.

I use a heated throw. much better IMO than a bottle that will go cold all the time.
they use very low amounts of electricity.

poppellerant

roddydogs said:

Why "the elderly", its everyone.

I partly agree with you, we're all in this together.  But the elderly feel the cold far more than younger people, as a result they have to have their heating on more.  So you might argue that's why the elderly feel any price rises harder than the rest of us.

badger09 said:

poppellerant said:

I think you need to ignore any credit on the account and use the actual annual usage figures to work out what the direct debit should be.  I wonder if Scottish Power have taken account the credit when you phoned them.

The 54% rise in April (source) means that their £75 direct debit should increase to just over £115 - personally I'd round this up to £120, to help cushion the further ~40% rise in October.

I would encourage your parents to submit meter readings at the end of each month if they don't have smart meters.  Also, if they don't have smart meters, I would encourage having them installed for your parents to avoid estimated bills.  This is even more important now with today's energy prices constantly rising.

I don’t agree with this. 

The rises you have quoted relate to the price cap on Standard Variable Rate. OP’s mum wasn’t on the SVR, she was on a fixed rate, which would have been lower than SVR when she took it out. Her DD increase could therefore my substantially more than you’ve quoted. 

To be honest, I didn't take that into account, so you are indeed correct in what you have posted.

Looking back at my fixed tariff with Utility Point, my direct debit has increased by a little over 200%.  So perhaps the OP should consider whether the direct debit should be a lot higher.  The sooner they check, the less likely the account is to fall into arrears.

Ultrasonic

poppellerant said:

I partly agree with you, we're all in this together.  But the elderly feel the cold far more than younger people, as a result they have to have their heating on more.  So you might argue that's why the elderly feel any price rises harder than the rest of us.

They will also typically spend more time at home to further increase energy needs.