British gas fixed - seem to have higher standing charge in april bill than Feb statement?

rosieannie_2

Hi, recently martin lewis advised everyone to fix and said:

"•Plus, fix now, and unprecedentedly the rate you lock in at will be reduced on 1 April. This is because qovt is changing the underlying way energy bills work and moving some policy costs to general taxation. That reduces the elec & gas unit rates even for those already on fixes. So even if you fix now the amount you pay will drop by 7% to 9% on typical usage on 1 April"

I fixed on british gas - however, my bills are not cheaper for april and when I compare standing charge on my account for april, compared to Feb, it actually looks a couple pence more expensive. How is this possible? I'm so confused.

My electric was a previous fix from last year, so I'm baffled that that has gone up.

Gas - maybe i have mistakenly locked myself onto a higher rate, but my understanding was that everything was coming down in april. In hindsight it did sound too good to be true.

Can someone explain to me like I'm 5 years old what is going on and why this standing charge reduction hasn't helped me?

Electric:

March direct debit: £56.77

April direct debit: £56.77

• Nov-Feb statement: cheapest fixed tariff, standing charge 45.459p per day, 22.221p per kwh
• Currently showing in my account for the tariff: Cheapest fixed tariff, standing charge 47.73p per day, 19.83p p kwh

Gas:

March direct debit: £74.59

April direct debit: £77.46

• Nov-feb statement: standard variable, standing charge 33.553p per day, 5.614p per kwh
• Currently showing in my account: Fixed tarif sept27 v1 (fixed when martin advised), standing charge 35.16p per day, 5.57p per khw

edit to add price per kwh which is a tiny bit reduced - am i being thick then, has the price per unit reduced by a tiny bit but I'm paying more regardless coz standing charges went up more?

bristolleedsfan

Looks like 33.553p per day is + 5% Vat, 35.16p per day includes 5% Vat,

rosieannie_2

Thanks I edited to add the price per kwh - maybe I'm confused with where the reduction is meant to come in, but I expected to see lower bills, not same/higher. Really confused by it all! I can't wrap my head round energy pricing at the best of times 😅

QrizB

Can someone explain to me like I'm 5 years old what is going on and why this standing charge reduction hasn't helped me?

I think you've misread what Martin said. From your quote:

That reduces the elec & gas unit rates even for those already on fixes.

The unit rates have been reduced, as Martin stated. The standing charges were not being reduced.

As stated in the post above, the standing charges on your February statement look like they might be the rate before VAT is added, while the ones on your online account include VAT. If you check the Feb bill you should see VAT being added separately?

born_again

when I compare standing charge on my account for april, compared to Feb, it actually looks a couple pence more expensive. How is this possible? I'm so confused.

People on fixes wanted any changes in April to be passed onto them.

Sadly some area's the standing charge went up. So only fair that any reduction or increases were passed on the same. Can't have it all one way.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/get-energy-price-cap-standing-charges-and-unit-rates-region

teaselMay

It's likely that the slight increase in gas direct debit amount reflects your previous use and their estimation of your annual use this year based on your readings rather than being directly a result of the price changes, although the changes will be incorporated into the estimate.

Your gas direct debit has gone up £2.87, the standing charge difference is an increase of roughly 48p over 30 days and the reduction in rate/kwh is just over a penny a unit and so unless you use less than 48 kwh in a month the bill for the same amount of use would go down slightly. Your figures are to different decimal places though has one got VAT and the other not?

Scot_39

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81959405#Comment_81959405

fair arguably yes, but not what happened.

As all arguably bowed to political pressure to only pass the cuts.

Whereas those on svt only saw there bills barely return to pre Oct levels - thanks to £134 extra added over 3 caps by govt / Ofgem - things like whd expansion for 2.7m, networks, nuclear, whd cost adjustment, and in Apr £69 - year 1 of RIIO3 network cost revisions (approx £40 more to come).

Need to check but CMS £18 - iirc I excluded that as a wholesale not policy or networks cost when did maths for fixes - as those on fixes would expect wholesale costs to be hedged. So svt cap costs may still mean other things being equal they are still higher thanks to Ofgem/govt changes over last 3 caps / 6 months.

Oh and will still be paying the treasury for the £154 household average via taxes or their goods priced, wage rises, pension reliefs etc cut to pay for the business tax hikes to pay for it. Or future taxes if factors into debt.

bristolleedsfan

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81959405#Comment_81959405

For the second time on different threads standing charges did not increase/decrease for those on existing fixes.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81952364#Comment_81952364

Bigphil1474

OP, the average house uses around 2,500 ish kwh of electricity a year so a 1p decrease in unit cost would save you £25 for the year. A 1p increase in standing charge would cost you £3.65 for the year.

Even if the change is as you say, your extra 2p ish a day on standing charge will cost you less than £8 in a year, the 2.5p unit cost saving on electricity will save you around £60 over a year (if you are using 12,000 kwh)