Stop telling us what your energy DD is!

[anon2022anon]

Let's see how many don't read the post but just the title and react to that.

Stop telling us what your energy DD is or is going to be. It's just a made up number that your energy provider is using to get your money in the bank as a buffer for themselves.

If you're worried about energy (as we all are), why aren't you learning about it?
How much do you pay per unit for electric/ gas?
How much is your standing charge?
Are you on a fixed tariff or variable?
Do you give actual meter readings?
Have you got an idea of your usage? Check your bills, get a smart meter,

It's driving me a little mad, the amount of threads saying they're paying £500 a month, I can't afford it, with no actual relevant information that people can use to say- your usage is unusually high, they're putting your DD up too much you should ask for a reduction, your meter could be faulty. If you struggle with understanding it, just copy out your latest bill and someone will guide you.

I agree.
I don't have a direct debit, i pay for what i use, it's working out around £3.20 a day atm for my 4 bed semi. Each month i just log into my account and pay what i owe and as much extra as i can afford to offset the price increases over winter.
My friends keep panicing about their £400 a month direct debits and just keep paying them. I'm telling them what i do but none have changed, it's like they've just gone into panic mode.

British Gas send me the amount of electricity I used and how much it cost and hiw much tye same amount is predicted to cost over the next 12 months. So I go by this 🤷‍♀️. I just don't understand how or why people have such high bills. Mine if for a 3 bed semi, family if 5 (children 7, 12, 13) with shite windows that have tape on them to cover gaps and minimal insulation in the loft (on a waiting list).

P.S no smart meter just switched to monthly billing and enter readings on last day of month in the app (which finally understands economy 10 and gives me two boxes)

Far better to know where you stand. My useage in winter will be far more but I should have built £600 in credit so with the rebate that's an extra grand.
Will make it easier to manage. Suspect some are very high in credit and if you're not then really look at what's using your energy before it costs even more

£150 DD, grr the Tories, LTB.

Many typos... But the gist is there 😂

I’m a reasonably intelligent woman. However, I was one of those posters starting one of those threads and what ops posted on it and similar threads was extremely helpful. I think any discrepancies between a higher set DD and actual usage are not that important. If they charge too much you can get it back or use it to build yourself a nice little reassuring buffer.

yes, I totally get your point, you have raised a very valid one, it made me check my useage to see how it compared to yours!

However if DD is too low you are storing yourself up a bit of a worrying debt.
Why I started my thread was we are hearing this mentioned on every single news program and even though I’m a bit of a head in the sand person at times the message has got through and we can’t fail to appreciate this. Energy costs are going through the roof. £4000 a year etc. but then we ask ourselves but what does that mean in terms of my household? What will I pay? Should I be fixing? Am I building up a nice buffer? Am I worrying unnecessarily? Will I have to decide between eating or heating? Im ok now. Why are others struggling now? Will I be ok? Am I about to go under?????
It helps to discuss with others. By starting my thread I was able to gauge somewhat how this might affect me compared with others in similar circs.
The set DD amount? Well - the amount they ask is an indication of what they’d expect you to be spending. They have a duty to customers not to force them into huge future debts. It is still negotiable though. However - I for one would rather be safe. My DD was £75 pcm before all this happened. Eon put it up to £110 pcm. I’m currently only using £70 pcm. Following discussions on my thread I upped my DD to £155 pcm to build up a bit more credit. Making hay while the sun shines as it were!

And what about your gas bill?

We give readings every 10 days. My actual bill is £110 PCM. My DD is £240. It was actually £290 and I made them reduce it. I told them I would switch to a variable direct debit if they didn't reduce it. As it stands I'm a few hundred pounds in credit. I don't think it will go very far in the winter. However, I genuinely can't afford to pay more.

OK, so I am with E.ON Next, fixed last October, current tariff ends 7 October. The rate per kilowatt hour for electricity is 19.91 p/kWh and a standing charge of 16.46 p/day. For gas it is 3.98 p/kWh and 19.27 p/day. This includes VAT.

Our DD is £98 per month. During winter and the early part of spring we were massively underpaying for what we used. Now we use less than our DD each month, and we're overpaying. So by the time the fixed tariff ends, we should have a bit in hand - like, less than £100 (I don't see why E.ON needs our money more than we need our money).

SFAIU, E.ON are offering fixed rates of around less than 30% of the cap to existing customers. So it might make sense for us to stick come October.

How's that, OP, - can I compare rates per KWh and standing charges directly via any price comparison tool? I CBA to tot up our useage, and I won't have an annual statement until October or even later.

anon22anon Hi No we dont have a smart meter ,just cant decide whether to or not .E on are sending us a bill and we can send in a meter reading .What worries me is its Summer ,so not much gas used(apart from Water for showers and so on) yet still seems high to me .Good idea to monitor same time for a few days I will do that. Have a 1930s house which is often draughty in winter .

I currently pay £129 DD and have just logged in to my account and seen that I have only used that amount for one month in the last year. Most usage has been well below it. It gives me the option to reduce my DD and sets a minimum of £97.

If I can cover it with £97 why are they charging me £129???

Thanks for pointing this out OP. It's made me look at it properly.
Having said that. I'm a bit scared to reduce it as I might need the buffer I've built up....

@BigSkies2022 You can compare the percentage increase using just the unit rates. Don't worry too much about the standing charge, its a small percentage of the bill unless you're a really low user.

eg if the fix is 40 p per unit electric and 12 p per unit gas and the current price cap is about 28 p electric and 8 p gas then these are 43% and 50% above respectively - just do the same calculation for what you've been offered.

But if E.on really are offering a fix at 30% above the current cap now (sadly I doubt it), bite their hand off, today, just do it.

I agree, people's bills are rising, they understand the situation.

Probably because they use so much over winter they need to pay 500 over summer to cover the overage in winter

Actually it’s to 2024 I’m fixed till (fixed in 2021 just before the rises)

my average usage is 1600kwh electric and 7400kwh gas

standing charge is about 21p for each a day and pay 19p kWh elec and 3.7pkwh gas

Mines so far this year offered me £173/ 215 and now £290 to fix.

I pay £120 a month and that is over the summer where I'm using £70/80 to build a good buffer for the rise.

I'm only using average £100 a month over winter (based on current costs) and even with the percentage rise again in October the 6 monthly payments will cover it and in January I may rise it again by some to cover the summer and have a winter buffer.

I've also worked out my 3 year average because I'm noticing a pattern of only 1 winter in 3 being freezing. Plus last years bills are based on a higher usage anyway as ds was home learning for 4 months in that freezing winter due to covid and we had heating on 24/7 (thermostat set so only heated when needed) for 5 months. And the year before that we were home more during lockdowns 1 and 2!

I think people see the cap and assume that's what they'll belaying when it's the most that can be charged. I bet most people in normal well insulated family homes aren't paying anywhere close to that.

The rises are a concern those for those who are already managing in and outgoings and those in poverty.

I know plenty who will be paying more than that. They have their smart meters and also geofence their meter so it turns on and has their house warm for them when they walk through the door. They have it constantly set to about 18 degrees all through the year so it sometimes clicks on even in summer

@Scepticalwotsits I had a typo and meant £600 in credit (not £100)

I fully agree it is wise to build up credit. But it it is also important to know your actual useage. If you are over paying now by £400 a month then you don't really need to worry about a rise.

If you are somehow using £500 worth of energy in the summer then it needs investigation. Something like an immersion heater can be taking huge amounts of power because the settings are wrong.

Understand your bill is the OPs request and she's right.

If it keeps going up you need to know if it's to build further credit buffer or because your useage is far more than would be expected

The one thing I've never understood is why the fixed daily charge doubled?

So on average I used 200kw electric (2500) and 590 (7000) gas a month last year.

So far this year my usage amount is the same.

Which is how knew the fix would be greater than the cost for average use.

There need to be conversations around usage, how to reduce it, understanding the unit price, wholesale price, standing charge and how to calculate what you should be paying (to ensure you aren’t overpaying or going to get hit with a massive bill).

However, when talking about day to day finances saying that in July 2021 my unit rate for electricity was 15.27p/kWh and the standing charge was 10.00p/day and that July 2022 my unit rate was 27.847p/kWh and my standing charge is 36.112p/day doesn’t actually convey the magnitude of the rising energy costs. If I say the usage is roughly the same and my direct debit is more than £100 more per month, that gives magnitude to how much we’re all fucked. My energy usage has stayed roughly the same but my bill will now be an extra £1,200 a year. My direct debit is a little higher than what I calculate it to be (about £40) but we haven’t built up a lot of credit over the summer as we usually would and I’m expecting to have to put it up again over winter, so I’d rather get used to paying that amount then it’s less of a jump in the winter.

I agree op. The press and media just love a HUGE NUMBER don’t they. Every time we get a bills will go up to x headline there is nothing of substance behind that figure, how big a house how old is the house how many people which tariff.

I’ve just fixed. I reckon it’ll be a wise move considering today’s news.