Price Cap reporting - save £278 a year? Not really. More like about £25 during April-June.

jak22

Comparing the April cap from the regional values on the MSE article to the current Octopus 1YR fix (no early exit fee) the Elec unit rate is around 1p cheaper, around a 7.5p per day saving, the gas unit rate is close but consumption can become low in the summer, so it's the standing charge increases that cancel out any saving being around 7.5p a day higher even assuming Octopus discount.

MattMattMattUK

What_time_is_it said:

MattMattMattUK said:

superkoopauk said:

molerat said:

The additional cost of running pre payment has been passed on to everyone.

As expected - and might fly under the radar given the headlines

Exactly this, enough distraction and hope people miss the various elements of cost, the same with the unpaid bill surcharge added because the government/Ofgem refuse to let energy suppliers deal properly with non-payers. 

Bit harsh! If you can't afford to pay, then you can't afford to pay. If you refuse to pay or have spent the money on non-essential items instead, then it's still very hard and very slow to get that money paid. Cutting people off is, to my mind, cruel. Raising fines that often also won't be paid can be a waste of time and effort, and putting people in prison costs a fortune and doesn't solve the problem upon release.

There are whole forums on Facebook dedicated to not paying, rather than those who cannot pay. Because debt collection for energy is very slow and difficult many renters move and disappear long before the case ever gets near a court, they know they cannot be cut off so they feel no reason to pay. I do not think it will be long before we get to a situation where all rentals will be required to be pre-pay only because it is becoming such a huge issue. 

We have a system to help those on low income, the welfare state, that gives people the money to pay their bills. Now I accept that for some people, particularly the disabled, it falls far short of what is required, but there are also additional protections in place for those who are disabled, unwell or elderly. However those groups are not generally the issue, there are far more people who could pay, but choose not to and the government/Ofgem has chosen to pass that cost onto the rest of us, rather than allowing proper debt enforcement to take place. 

The process for dealing with non-payers should be quick, cheap and efficient. Those who can pay but choose not to should be put onto pre-payment, those who bypass meters (increasing common) should be jailed. 

SAC2334

molerat said:

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/energy-price-cap

Changes to current charges

Unexpected temporary cost adjustments +£17

Social and environmental schemes +£30

Levelling pre pay to DD +£10

Network costs -£13

Wholesale cost of energy -£265

Overall change -£238

The additional cost of running pre payment has been passed on to everyone.

Big costs running dumb prepayment meters. They are wrecked, vandalised and fiddled something smart prepayment meters do not suffer from .The costs runing smart prepayment won t be much more or even less than normal smart meters .
No reason why smart prepays  should not be the cheapest ways to pay and if Octopus allow me to stay on Tracker on smart prepayment I will switch to that and Octopus will not be keeping one penny of my  money in their accounts on credit , it will be earning 5 % interest clawing back a couple of quid a month I m paying extra in standing charges. My S/C  has gone up to £30 a month on April 1 st.

peter3hg

SAC2334 said:

molerat said:

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/energy-price-cap

Changes to current charges

Unexpected temporary cost adjustments +£17

Social and environmental schemes +£30

Levelling pre pay to DD +£10

Network costs -£13

Wholesale cost of energy -£265

Overall change -£238

The additional cost of running pre payment has been passed on to everyone.

Big costs running dumb prepayment meters. They are wrecked, vandalised and fiddled something smart prepayment meters do not suffer from .The costs runing smart prepayment won t be much more or even less than normal smart meters .
No reason why smart prepays  should not be the cheapest ways to pay and if Octopus allow me to stay on Tracker on smart prepayment I will switch to that and Octopus will not be keeping one penny of my  money in their accounts on credit , it will be earning 5 % interest clawing back a couple of quid a month I m paying extra in standing charges. My S/C  has gone up to £30 a month on April 1 st.

Why not just go to variable direct debit if you're on the Tracker tariff? I don't see the advantage to going to prepayment if you aren't on the SVT.