Energy bills - in deficit already (no Summer credit)

[OneFrenchEgg]

Four bed house, five adults / teens. Gas central heating. Already £150 in debt (payments set at £200 a month). I switch lights and plugs off all the time. On a variable tariff.
Anyone else not building up the usual Summer credit this year?

I think many, many people are in this situation or worse, especially since so many are being told to cancel their direct debits via the media at the moment and only pay for what they’re using - not taking into account that summer payments are higher than actual usage to account for winter so winter bills aren’t astronomical.

This group may be helpful-

www.facebook.com/groups/966754150512356/?ref=sharewww.facebook.com/groups/966754150512356/?ref=share&exp=9594

4 bed house. Two adults and three kids. £195 a month DD. In credit by around £250.

I’m not in credit either, I think, perhaps naively, that some action will happen before Oct to prevent further ludicrous charges.

I’m happy to maintain a debt with them - we won’t be the only ones! Absolutely no way I’d be giving them my money early for this winter

Thank you for the group, I'll join that. Just spoken to dh - first time ever by July we aren't in credit. Not sure how much more I can increase it by tbh.

3 bed house. 2 adults, I teen & 1 child. £189 pm dd. Normally in credit, just breaking even after being in debt since price rises! Very worried about what's to come! We are all doing all we can to reduce usage.

We are going to be in debt too unless something is done about Octobers increase. We pay £250 a month now and even with the government’s help (we have disabilities etc) we will still find ourselves spiralling into energy debt. We can’t afford any more than we already pay.

4 bed with 2 adults WFH and 2 kids who like electronics. We got shifted to Shell when our provider went splat. We have been paying £200 a month whereas our bills are £150 ish to deliberately build up a credit when the bills jump in Oct. We are currently about £350 in credit and that will go up a bit over the summer months. We are hoping that will get us over winter along with the govt £400

We are £389 in debit. It isn’t good for this time of year

@Afterfire The fact that you are already paying £250 is completely ridiculous to continue those payments is more then most can do and if that causes you to go into debt then you will be in the company of millions of other people - government have to take action.

Being able to go into debt is actually a luxury -so concerning that the people on meters will literally have to sit there in the cold & dark as I remember only being able to go a few ££ into debt before it cuts off

I'm mostly a one person household but in a 4 bed, have upped my DD but not by a lot and am about £350 in credit. I am going to cut back hard on what I use but between what I've got and the government's £400 I might be able to ride out the winter without things being too disastrous.

How much are your monthly bills at the moment, as in the amount you're using not your DD? If you're on variable, that means your rates went up over 50% in April so did you see a corresponding increase in your DD at that time? Were you in credit or debit coming out of last winter.

We're in quite a bit of debt at the moment as we missed a payment during being moved from Avro to Octopus, who also took ages to increase our DD to the new higher rates. But we're paying a bit more now and will catch up in time. Being in debt right now is only a problem if you don't have any savings or capacity to pay more next year, ie if you're spending all your spare money because it's there.

Oh I know. It’s a very scary time. I’m terrified they will switch us to prepayment meters once we are in debt for that very reason. I can’t think of anything worse than sitting in a cold, dark house and no way of being able to afford to turn anything on.

All the “advice” is to use less - most people like us are using as little as we can. We have higher daily costs than most due to our disabilities (incontinence with Ds aged 10 means a lot of washing and drying things, I already abandoned the dryer and use eco every setting etc etc). If I use any less we will be sat in the dark with a candle!

We made a one off payment to get to 0 and since then just steadily got more into debt I think - ideally we'd be paying £300 a month but that's not possible at the moment. I'm dreading Winter.
It can't go on like this - I feel like this is a bit surreal - petrol/diesel at £2 a litre, food costs rising, fuel through the roof - it's a bit crazy

Scrap the standing charge
Remove the VAT
Cap the prices

All of the above would be solutions but no, they have chosen to give £400 to the energy companies on our behalf - make sure they keep them topped up!

if you are struggling to pay please remember there will be millions of us in debt, many more holding back payments out of principle & no way could they possibly coordinate fitting that quantity of prepayment meters in one go.

People will take to the streets

It isn’t the same as the poll tax though. Don’t pay poll tax and nothing happens. You just get taken to court for non payment. You can still use public services.

Don’t pay your energy bill and you get cut off. Then you’re cold and miserable. Then you get taken to court for non payment.

If they cut off the gas & electricity from millions of people (it really will be millions who can’t pay) then it is game over - chaos will ensue

For those who don't know, if you are elderly, disabled or vulnerable, please register (via your energy supplier) with their Priority Services Register. You receive priority help and they cannot (legally) disconnect you. Worth looking into!

Excellent point

Lights and plugs won't do it.
You need to know what is consuming your electricity and gas and take some steps.

A good look around the house, identify the activities that are energy intensive - showers are one.

It is going to be really tough this winter - there are things you can do to save energy but I know that you must be dreading putting the heating on

Thank you, I'm going to tell my elderly parents, think this would apply.

Paying £206 arm, which is ridiculous for summer months,that's actual usage not DD!

ATM not arm

'Lights and plugs won't do it.
You need to know what is consuming your electricity and gas and take some steps.'

Lots of separate meals due to working patterns - I'm going to think about an air fryer or slow cooker. Probably things charging, electric showers? I think I'm not very wasteful it's being on top of everyone that's tricky.

Also look into what other help is available to those on low incomes. The Moneysaving Expert page on this mentions grants of up to £1500 to those in energy debt.

It comes with a requirement to seek advice from a debt adviser, but they will have to be fairly strict with qualification criteria otherwise people in better off positions will try and grab a freebie, but if you qualify, extra help might be available, so worth applying for if you can.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/how-to-get-help-if-you-re-struggling-with-your-energy-bills-/

5 adults / teens in the house?

That's a lot of people - so the cumulative effect of their activity will add up

Do you have a Smart Meter - this will give you a good idea of what is using electricity and gas?