Paying More than the Price Cap - British Gas

KerrBearrxo

BUFF said:

KerrBearrxo said:

BUFF said:

afaik the supplier's have tolerance as to how apportion the standing charge/unit rates for a particular region so that they hit (or are under)  the mandated total price for the "average" consumer (2900kWh/pa for electricity & 12000kWh/pa for gas iirc). 

The "32%" rise is not guaranteed, indeed atm is predicted to be above that but nobody knows. If that BG fix is like (check t&c) the one that I took out for my electricity it offers the option of dropping onto any other lower BG tariff without penalty should there be one come October .

I worked it out on 40% and 45% increase it still works out £10-£20 per month more expensive
I agree with the "if you can get a fixed term cheaper in Oct you can move to it"
but if we can start searching fixed term deals cheaper by then I will be switching supplier cause BG are horrendous. BG will not offer people who accept this a cheaper deal I can almost bet my life on it. They do it via email and all they want is money. If they can get more money they will. Once the deals start going live on websites that's when people can start switching.

I recently won a claim against them where they had to pay me £300 in compensation cause they were charging me April 2022 price cap increase for March usage even though I submitted meter readings etc 

I also have no way of seeing what I'm spending even though I'm on a smart meter they refuse to give me an inhome display (recently moved in a few year ago and the house didn't have one) and their energy usage app and website never works

I took the gamble with BG of paying higher than SVT for my electricity for 4 months v potential savings over the higher consumption Oct-June period but I do have the option of driopping back onto SVT without penalty come October should the rise not be as predicted.. & as a very low electricity user the difference in the sums involved are not massive so not really a big gamble.

Currently very few suppliers will take switchers (unless on very high priced fixes). I don't see that changing in the short term.

EDF, imo are worse ...

You can buy a 3rd party IHD/use the Bright app.

It says

What if energy prices go down again?

This is super important: fixed tariffs are about helping you be in control, not about locking you in! It’s why we have our tariff guarantee: if prices go down, you can move to any of our other available tariffs at any time without paying any exit fees. That’s a promise. So does this apply to STV cause I read that as other fixed terms?

KerrBearrxo

BUFF said:

KerrBearrxo said:

BUFF said:

afaik the supplier's have tolerance as to how apportion the standing charge/unit rates for a particular region so that they hit (or are under)  the mandated total price for the "average" consumer (2900kWh/pa for electricity & 12000kWh/pa for gas iirc). 

The "32%" rise is not guaranteed, indeed atm is predicted to be above that but nobody knows. If that BG fix is like (check t&c) the one that I took out for my electricity it offers the option of dropping onto any other lower BG tariff without penalty should there be one come October .

I worked it out on 40% and 45% increase it still works out £10-£20 per month more expensive
I agree with the "if you can get a fixed term cheaper in Oct you can move to it"
but if we can start searching fixed term deals cheaper by then I will be switching supplier cause BG are horrendous. BG will not offer people who accept this a cheaper deal I can almost bet my life on it. They do it via email and all they want is money. If they can get more money they will. Once the deals start going live on websites that's when people can start switching.

I recently won a claim against them where they had to pay me £300 in compensation cause they were charging me April 2022 price cap increase for March usage even though I submitted meter readings etc 

I also have no way of seeing what I'm spending even though I'm on a smart meter they refuse to give me an inhome display (recently moved in a few year ago and the house didn't have one) and their energy usage app and website never works

I took the gamble with BG of paying higher than SVT for my electricity for 4 months v potential savings over the higher consumption Oct-June period but I do have the option of driopping back onto SVT without penalty come October should the rise not be as predicted.. & as a very low electricity user the difference in the sums involved are not massive so not really a big gamble.

Currently very few suppliers will take switchers (unless on very high priced fixes). I don't see that changing in the short term.

EDF, imo are worse ...

You can buy a 3rd party IHD/use the Bright app.

Yeah but the issue with paying more now to pay less Oct - April when you work it out, even at 45% increase in Oct you're paying more overall. £10-£20 a month difference, so unless prices rise 50%+ you're worse off as the price will drop in April by around 10% they are predicting. 

Gerry1

KerrBearrxo said:

BUFF said:

afaik the supplier's have tolerance as to how apportion the standing charge/unit rates for a particular region so that they hit (or are under)  the mandated total price for the "average" consumer (2900kWh/pa for electricity & 12000kWh/pa for gas iirc). 

The "32%" rise is not guaranteed, indeed atm is predicted to be above that but nobody knows. If that BG fix is like (check t&c) the one that I took out for my electricity it offers the option of dropping onto any other lower BG tariff without penalty should there be one come October .

I also have no way of seeing what I'm spending even though I'm on a smart meter they refuse to give me an inhome display (recently moved in a few year ago and the house didn't have one) and their energy usage app and website never works.

Not so.

Just read the meters on the wall and do the sums, it's not difficult.  Electricity is particularly easy because you multiply the kWh usage by the cost per kWh and add the daily charges.

For gas, there's an extra stage to convert the cubic metre volume to kWh.  This site (scroll down) will do the kWh conversion for you, but simply multiplying by 11.2 will be close enough for most purposes.

pochase

Also, even if get a new IHD, it does not mean at all that the correct tariff will be on it. Suppliers seem to have real issues rolling out the new tariffs onto the IHD, so some still have pre April rates on the IHD.

BUFF

KerrBearrxo said:

BUFF said:

KerrBearrxo said:

BUFF said:

afaik the supplier's have tolerance as to how apportion the standing charge/unit rates for a particular region so that they hit (or are under)  the mandated total price for the "average" consumer (2900kWh/pa for electricity & 12000kWh/pa for gas iirc). 

The "32%" rise is not guaranteed, indeed atm is predicted to be above that but nobody knows. If that BG fix is like (check t&c) the one that I took out for my electricity it offers the option of dropping onto any other lower BG tariff without penalty should there be one come October .

I worked it out on 40% and 45% increase it still works out £10-£20 per month more expensive
I agree with the "if you can get a fixed term cheaper in Oct you can move to it"
but if we can start searching fixed term deals cheaper by then I will be switching supplier cause BG are horrendous. BG will not offer people who accept this a cheaper deal I can almost bet my life on it. They do it via email and all they want is money. If they can get more money they will. Once the deals start going live on websites that's when people can start switching.

I recently won a claim against them where they had to pay me £300 in compensation cause they were charging me April 2022 price cap increase for March usage even though I submitted meter readings etc 

I also have no way of seeing what I'm spending even though I'm on a smart meter they refuse to give me an inhome display (recently moved in a few year ago and the house didn't have one) and their energy usage app and website never works

I took the gamble with BG of paying higher than SVT for my electricity for 4 months v potential savings over the higher consumption Oct-June period but I do have the option of driopping back onto SVT without penalty come October should the rise not be as predicted.. & as a very low electricity user the difference in the sums involved are not massive so not really a big gamble.

Currently very few suppliers will take switchers (unless on very high priced fixes). I don't see that changing in the short term.

EDF, imo are worse ...

You can buy a 3rd party IHD/use the Bright app.

It says

What if energy prices go down again?

This is super important: fixed tariffs are about helping you be in control, not about locking you in! It’s why we have our tariff guarantee: if prices go down, you can move to any of our other available tariffs at any time without paying any exit fees. That’s a promise. So does this apply to STV cause I read that as other fixed terms?

Is SVT an available tariff? Yes, so it applies to SVT..

KerrBearrxo said:

BUFF said:

KerrBearrxo said:

BUFF said:

afaik the supplier's have tolerance as to how apportion the standing charge/unit rates for a particular region so that they hit (or are under)  the mandated total price for the "average" consumer (2900kWh/pa for electricity & 12000kWh/pa for gas iirc). 

The "32%" rise is not guaranteed, indeed atm is predicted to be above that but nobody knows. If that BG fix is like (check t&c) the one that I took out for my electricity it offers the option of dropping onto any other lower BG tariff without penalty should there be one come October .

I worked it out on 40% and 45% increase it still works out £10-£20 per month more expensive
I agree with the "if you can get a fixed term cheaper in Oct you can move to it"
but if we can start searching fixed term deals cheaper by then I will be switching supplier cause BG are horrendous. BG will not offer people who accept this a cheaper deal I can almost bet my life on it. They do it via email and all they want is money. If they can get more money they will. Once the deals start going live on websites that's when people can start switching.

I recently won a claim against them where they had to pay me £300 in compensation cause they were charging me April 2022 price cap increase for March usage even though I submitted meter readings etc 

I also have no way of seeing what I'm spending even though I'm on a smart meter they refuse to give me an inhome display (recently moved in a few year ago and the house didn't have one) and their energy usage app and website never works

I took the gamble with BG of paying higher than SVT for my electricity for 4 months v potential savings over the higher consumption Oct-June period but I do have the option of driopping back onto SVT without penalty come October should the rise not be as predicted.. & as a very low electricity user the difference in the sums involved are not massive so not really a big gamble.

Currently very few suppliers will take switchers (unless on very high priced fixes). I don't see that changing in the short term.

EDF, imo are worse ...

You can buy a 3rd party IHD/use the Bright app.

Yeah but the issue with paying more now to pay less Oct - April when you work it out, even at 45% increase in Oct you're paying more overall. £10-£20 a month difference, so unless prices rise 50%+ you're worse off as the price will drop in April by around 10% they are predicting. 

Over summer my consumption drops & increases over winter & of course the tariff that I accepted runs until the end of May.
I admit that it's a gamble & that every case will be different so they have to do the sums for their individual usage. Yes, I am paying ~£8 extra for 4 months but atm I think that this will result in a minor saving overall & I have the peace of mind of certainty. As a low electricity user the difference in sums either way isn't going to be huge (probably under £50/year).
I am far more concerned about my gas with predictions of a 60% increase come October & no offer of a fix that I consider worth taking.

The last that I read they were predicting a ~2% drop in April, if that but it may have changed since. But remember, option to drop onto cheaper tariff (if one exists) without penalty