Lozgti2

My mother was paying £96 a month direct debitt, which is what they asked for.Just had a letter saying they now want £377 a month.

No change in what she uses. Which is hardly anything anyway.

wtf is going on with these companies. Rang them, they said tough, there you go

Thats for a pensioner . That’s nearly 5k a year to run the washing machine and have a cup of tea after. And put her bedside light on for a bit

NOSSY_89

Only thing I can say is see if there are any cheaper variable tariffs although they might become more expensive than the fixed tariffs when prices go up. Theresa risk unfortunately. Also check fixed tariffs to see you are on the best on for you. There might also be some government help.

ted bass

I thought my monthly price increase was bad enough, i was paying 102 and they shot it up to 222 overnight, like been said try and find a company that does a fixes rate deal for a yr or 2 haps.

IdonthaveaScooby

x4 !!?
something must have changed

Lozgti2

Cheers chaps and thanks for the help Just odd times

Lozgti2

nothing has changed 😔

stockcar

speak to he provider and either pay the bill as it falls due or get them to reduce the DD to a more reasonable rate!!

ted bass

Same here, ain't using no more Gas/Leccy then ive always used, still doubled my payments, power companies just taking the **** really.

IdonthaveaScooby

How far in arrears was she before the increase ?

my gas is the other way round , for some bizzzare reason had dd on 6 quid a month ... Had to get THEM to increase it


( I won't let them install smart meters on anything )

johno01

A lot of prepay gas meters have suddenly become “faulty” since payments shot up for some reason....they seem to be getting gas for less than they were originally paying 👹

IdonthaveaScooby

Plandemic extortion at the hands super rich , moving power away from the ordinary minion I’m sorry to say


Of course , it’ll be blamed on Pootin

BMWhere?

I was paying €0/month last year and now I'm paying €0/month! Own use Solar energy seems a no brainer at the moment!

All very good if you can afford it though! The people hit the hardest are those on cash meters who don't have the ability to pick and choose the best tariffs! The poorest people pay the highest prices, meanwhile ***** like me pay nothing! Can't see the Tories helping those who need it the most though!

IdonthaveaScooby

just in time to be cut off by pootin ...!

I can't see how , never mind subsidies , nearly anyone can rely on solar only

unless youre an Andy who owns field worth space for panels


hes gone very quiet of late though ?!

RobsyUK

iTrader: (2)

I saw a house with a small wind turbine on and can't help but wonder if I should get one.
Theres always wind near me and the thought of batteries in my loft on a constant charge smells good.

Anyone know anything of these.

NOSSY_89

Looks like its going to get more expensive

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politi...-rise-27051033

IdonthaveaScooby

That'll be the sulphur dioxide

BMWhere?

I have 7KWP solar, which IIRC was 13 panels which pretty much covers the sunny side of the roof, allowing for the chimney stack. In the winter, I need to take some electricity from the grid for heating (heat pump), but compensate for that with excess supply in the summer months. Calculated over the year though, I'm a net supplier of electricity, so the electricity company pays me rather than the other way around! Considering only the solar, I received about €6.5K in grants for a system which cost around €20K including the battery storage system (2.5KWh, expandable to 10KWh).

Going off some of the monthly bills posted above and not considering the money I get from the electricity company (which is unfortunately taxable), the system will pay for itself in 3 to 5 years, although the calculation at the time of build was around 10 years. Those calculations are of course only relevant for Germany, but my guess is the UK wouldn't be too far different considering electricity prices have increased by far more in the UK than they have here!

The biggest problem is you have to have to €20K to lay out in the first place, which is alright on a new build as you just include the costs it in the mortgage, but retro-fitting would probably mean having to have the cash available up-front. Grants here are only paid out after the install, so you have to pay the full price then get the grant paid back. Actually, since mid last year, in the state of Baden-Wuerttemburg where I live, it is now mandatory to fit solar panels to new builds .

I suggested to my dad a couple of years ago that he should consider fitting solar and swapping his gas boiler for a heat pump. His response was that he probably wouldn't live long enough to pay off the investment, which given he turned 80 this year, may well have been true at the time. However, given the current situation, it may still be a good option! Even without the war, Brexit or other factors affecting energy costs in the UK, the truth is that long term energy prices will always go up over time. So any pay-back time for the investment will in reality reduce as the prices inevitably rise. Energy prices will for sure come back down when everything settles back to normal, but they will never drop by the amount that they have increased in the past 6 to 9 months!

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

I'm on Eon next (what was npower). Don't have a smart meter as they wouldn't do the solar meter at the time. So relying on estimates, unless I provide manual readings. Not helped that it's a dual rate meter but I don't have economy 7 (but suppliers keep trying to put me on a economy 7 tariff when they find I have a dual rate meter )

Over recent months their estimated usage (and consequently their direct debits) have been wildly off the mark in their favour, despite repeat manual readings. WTF?

As electric is my only energy source my usage is pretty simple to monitor and rarely differs behind seasonal changes; I typically use 10kwh a day on warmer days, 20kwh a day in winter (heat pump + solar). So why they keep screwing up estimates is beyond me...unless it's intentional in order to push up the direct debits.

ted bass

I'm just glad ive gotta woodburner in the house and pretty much an endless supply of seasoned logs to lay my hands on every winter, least that way im not getting mega Gas bills for heating the house, don't cook on Gas so only really use any Gas when i turn the hot tap on.

NOSSY_89

Standing charges have gone up so even cutting down you're still paying more now.

Lozgti2

Well, going mental now

the shreksta

iTrader: (20)

this time last year we were paying £65 per month combined, we have now got to pay £310 per month with another increase coming in January.
our house is empty most of the time,I work 60 hours over 6 days and wife works 48 over 5 days.
****ing **** take

IdonthaveaScooby

imagine if everybody just refused to pay

the shreksta

iTrader: (20)

be alot of credit reports being spoilt

IdonthaveaScooby

Did the poll tax rioters worry about their credit rating

NOSSY_89

Unfortunately far too much revolves around a credit report. Its by design

Want to change job, credit report.
Sim only phone contract, credit report

Its not just mortgages and loans these days.

IdonthaveaScooby

Together with the laws on assembly / peaceful protest that the government have quietly introduced

the everyday worker is now owned by the cooperations

IdonthaveaScooby

Pandemic has been all about manufacturing a means of transferring purchasing power Away from the common man

**jay**

iTrader: (1)

Be careful, you will have the brainwashed telling you to remove some
kind of hat made of tinfoil.

NOSSY_89

I've been saying this and will probably get called a conspiracy theorist. Recessions are brilliant for the rich, buy cheap and sell high when the economy is better. You can almost time them when you look at historic records but the 2008 crash they got a little too greedy and in all honesty we haven't recovered fully. But then you need a another to satisfy your greed so how do you buy assets cheap and make all that sweat money you desire. Well that leads us to here. Squeeze people