Is it possible to be charged over the £2500 price guarantee even if you have Ofgem typical usage?

StocktonFlyer

Yes although my new rates give me a typical usage cost of £2431.95, my actual cost on real usage is £2837.65 (higher than average electric consumption).

EssexHebridean

tifo said:

alleycat` said:

Yes it's possible, although not by a huge amount.

I believe the variations I've seen are about £50 either way depending on the region you live in.

Not really, i've got my projections and it's about £3,200 a year for gas and electricity. I'm with different suppliers.

And you use precisely 12000kWh gas & 2900kWh electricity per year? 

rp1974

Just what needs to be done for people to understand that the price cap is NOT the maximum amount that can be billed?.

EssexHebridean

I see Martin has had another attempt at getting the message across on Twitter this morning! 

Spoonie_Turtle

[Deleted User] said:

The published amount is an average of averages and doesn't apply to anyone directly (although I think actually the Eastern DNO region has exactly £2500 cap this time).

This is what often gets missed.  It's a mythical household, a statistical average of all the regional variations.  It does not exist - even the Eastern region which coincidentally comes out at near enough £2500 has lower electric standing charge than the single quoted average and a slightly higher unit rate.

[Deleted User]

rp1974 said:

Just what needs to be done for people to understand that the price cap is NOT the maximum amount that can be billed?.

Energy pricing terminology can be very confusing. For example, the term fixed DDs is often used, as is the term fixed tariffs. The use of the words 'cap' and ‘average’ also mean different things to different people. We now have a cohort of people waking up to the fact that energy has just become very expensive. 

macman

If a couple of the local FB groups are typical, there are still millions of people who think that their DD amount is an actual bill, and that the cap is a maximum of £2.5k, regardless of usage. It's nigh-impossible to get this message over to everyone. I don't see what more can be done.

pineapple

rp1974 said:

Just what needs to be done for people to understand that the price cap is NOT the maximum amount that can be billed?.

I know. But newsreaders don't help sometimes by referring to £2,500 as some sort of absolute figure. I have a low monthly DD and with the rise offset by the £400, my DD is actually going down! 

BooJewels

Is it any wonder that people are confused - I just received an email from British Gas about month-end meter readings and that includes this comment:   

"The prime minister recently announced the Energy Price Guarantee – meaning that from 1st October, the cost of energy for the average home will be no more than £2,500 a year for the next two years."

Miser1964

rp1974 said:

Just what needs to be done for people to understand that the price cap is NOT the maximum amount that can be billed?.

Reverse decades of dumbing down Maths GCSE? 🙄