£854 per month gas and electricity

[vinoandbrie]

My fixed rate comes to an end on 31 May.

Scottish Power emailed me this morning to say your tariff is ending, click here to view options.

I have two options, one for £853.99pcm, the other for £854pcm. I’m going to attach screen shots as this amount is so unbelievable otherwise. We currently pay £285pcm.

I should just go to a default tariff right and not a fixed rate?

Gas and electricity will now be costing us more than our mortgage.

Also with Scottish power and our fixed rate is up at the end of the month. We pay 86 now which is pretty much the right amount when averaged over a year so minimal credit or debit on account and our quote to go onto a new fix with them was over 300. So i can believe the trebling for a new fixed deal. We'll go onto the standard variable but I don't know what that is per month yet.

Sounds like very high usage for 4 people though to me.

My payments dropped from £75 pm DD to £49 on pre-pay. I'm currently £120 in credit. So pre-pay worked out a lot cheaper for me.

Your electricity bill is very high even for a big house.
Can you cut on the tumble drying by hanging outside, putting on airers etc.
Do you have things left on standby? Lights left turned on? Can you replace any lights with more efficient lighting?

What you still have not explained is the price per kWh and standing charge for gas and electricity. Without those no-one can say if the price is high or not. If what they have offered you is fixed then it will be way over the new capped rate. If they have not offered you the new capped rate you can demand it as they are required by law to offer it to you.

@TimBoothseyes
my pre pay for my gas & electrics gone up by about 12 a week for both
we haven’t really cut back on anything heating electric we still have it on if we want
i don’t use the washing machine as much but other than that everything has stayed the same
large 3 bed 2 bath
3 x adults one who is at home all day
at least 3- 4 showers a day
I don’t get where these crazy prices are coming from

We live in a detached house and have a hot tub so our bills are substantial- we've decided to shell out for solar panels, with a large house you can have larger panels, this will off set the hot tub for us and potentially a bit more.

Is this an option?

Can you shower at the gym? Are all appliances unplugged? Do lights need to be on

I’d also measure both gas and electric meters to make a comparison of the cost of using the central heating compared to electric (halogen or oil maybe?) heaters heating individual rooms that you use. If the house is large and draughty it may work out cheaper.

We live in a medium-sized detached house with lots of (double glazed) windows and ours is close to that. We have a smart meter. We're fixed until August (thank god), but fixed quotes are pretty similar currently. I think energy companies are quoting very high fixed rates to cover themselves against an uncertain market. Don't fix. At least variable rates are capped.

We pay £132 a month for gas and electric, EDF suggested we up the dd by £60 but we are currently £500 in credit so are delaying it. There are 4 of us, lots of washing due to work clothes and uniforms, football kits, but no dryer. Very old house that needs a dehumidifier running 24/7 but also very small. I’m shocked how much the size of your house increases your bills!

Using a tumble drier 3/4 times a week does not result in a £300 fuel bill (pre price increase). If you've not got a smart meter you need to be find out what the source of the high consumption is - some detective work and lots of checking of the meters when each device/light switch is turned on may be needed.

I'm on a 'loyalty' fixed rate with Octopus, £98 per month, my new deal started in March.

I was shocked my gas bill this month is £128, electric was £50. I've shut the heating off completely.

Rates per kwH and daily charges seem to vary a lot around the country, what are you paying? This is my new deal, electric on the left, gas on the right.

Me neither, yet everyone says pre-pay is more expensive, not sure that's true anymore. I have 2 beds 1 bath, 2 people (1 at home all day at the moment). I still put the heating on if I'm cold and we cook on electric. It's cost me slightly more but not the whole £49 I put on them on 1st April. I really think the energy suppliers actively try to put people off getting pre-pays as the user is then in control of what they spend rather than them.

Reading the variety in rates, I wish they'd re nationalise the power industry and have everyone on the same tariff, ( but then I'm a socialist at heart ).

Maybe Scotland will, we've just brought the railway provider back under SG control.

We had similar from ovo. Ludicrously high fixed rate compared to the variable rate. I’m thinking it means they suspect prices are going to rise massively soon.

At my provider's current variable rates (which will likely differ from yours, as there is regional variation), it would cost:

£2,762.33 per year for gas
£2,753.79 per year for electricity

which would be £459.68 per month for 12 equal payments.

Your usage is high, but the quotes you've been given for fixed rates are insanely high.

That's extremely high usage. We are two people in a new build three bed semi so obviously going to use less, but ours is estimated at 6700 kwh gas, 1100 kwh electricity on our last bill.

Is it just me that can't see/read the OP's attachments?

Me neither. I feel sorry for all the upcoming "Help me with my floorplan/kitchen layout" threads when no-one can see them.

At your current usage, if the October rates increase by 20% you'll be at about £6k for the year with standing charges on top. It could well be a chunk more than a 20% but I can't see it would ever be a good idea to go for that fixed rate.

I can see the OP’s pictures/attachments.

Wow. My house is over 2000sq ft and we pay £310pm and I thought that was bad!!

I can see them. I use the mobile site
Are you on the app or something?

Thank you for all this advice, it is invaluable. I’m definitely not going to take the fixed rate offering.

It’s not great that Scottish Power presented the fixed rates as the only real choice. You have to read a long way down the very densely worded email to understand that there is another option (the variable rate), but no details of this are provided. It’s all ‘press this button to log into your account and see your options’, which are all fixed rates. Really poor.

I will also look into ways to reduce usage / use more modern technology to reduce what we use.

Complete nightmare, I never thought the amounts would go up so much.

I can't find the SVR for Scottish Power but it will be broadly similar to the Octopus tariff I posted earlier. If you don't choose a fix you automatically roll onto the SVR

I can see them under a microscope as they are so teeny tiny. MNHQ really need to sort that out.