Price Cap - Just announced

[swifttwist]

From £1971 to £3549. 80% rise. I have no words.

New figures:

Electricity
£0.52 per kWh
Daily standing charge: £0.46

Gas:
£0.15 per kWh
Daily standing charge: £0.28

@FarmerRefuted

sorry, I also meant to add, getting you meter fixed. Can you escalate through a charity or your MP etc. get someone bolshy to get onto it for you!

Ours is bonkers with the new cap in October so definitely cutting back as much as we can obviously

No

@JOFFCV no I’m no longer on a fixed , the £496 is also including the gov energy grant spread over a few months , it would have been nearly £570 without the grant , that’s another mortgage to me 😳

They wouldn't be able to cut him off if he is of pensionable age as he will be classed as a "priority" customer. Same as those with disabilities, and children under 10-16 (depends on supplier).

All they can do is take him to court for the debt, he will give a nominal payment of £50 pound a month, the judge will accept it.

Thing is once you get past caring if you need a credit rating, you really have nothing to loose.

And this is the slippery slope, as people behind to default, then their credit rating gets tanked, that's it game over. People will just think "fuck this, I'm not stressing about it, my credit rating is gone, so they can send the bailiffs" 🤷🏻‍♀️

Pensioners are already pretty well covered though. They will get the £400 everyone gets, plus potentially a further £600 depending on income situation. Then they get the annual winter fuel allowance of anything up to £600, again depending on age and income, everyone gets at least £300. Depending, again, on their circumstances and housing, but most live in smaller houses, with lower bills. DM kept her house like a furnace, and her bills were very low.

Granted, I live in a Surrey bubble, but all the pensioners I know never needed the winter fuel allowance, and most spent it on going on holiday, or doing their garden!

If you can absorb the cost, you're on a different level to people who will potentially die.

I sure many on this thread won't die

Indeed. And again!

People seem resigned and talk as if these abusive price hikes are an inevitability. They are not. Coroporations don't have a god-given right to increased profits every year. These lot need to make some losses for a few years. Like everybody else.

Greenstar22 problem is many people were encouraged to sign up with a different supplier through the offer of a special rate, per month but ONLY if they paid by fixed rate direct debit. if they opt out of this their unit charge might go up.

Ours will be over seven grand a year, and rising.

We can afford it, but why the fuck should I pay Shell 350% more a year than we were paying them 12 months ago? We're not a personal banker for fossil fuel companies.

They are just fucking making it up.

I'm sure many will die.

Yes I'd say you are on a bit of a bubble, not your fault at all, can't help where you live. So don't worry.

Come to the ex coal mining valleys of Wales, or any area labelled in "poverty" pensioners are freezing to death sadly. They are not eating, they are struggling. Unfortunately as much as we try as a community to pop in on them, help them they refuse out of pride and it's difficult but you have to respect their position, but you sort of end up standing there watching them struggle, it's awful, or making secret payments to their utility company hoping they won't notice what you've done 😳

Everyone will die, just hopefully not in the next 12 months.

That is a massive difference. How long were you paying £152?

I'm cancelling my DD if mine goes up by that much.

to get economy 7 you need to prove you have the storage heaters for that, I tried...

His personal finances are irrelevant. What would you have him do @RudsyFarmer?

Funnily enough we have a thing called "empathy". The "I'm alright jack" shit is fucking abhorrent.

@JOFFCV I imagine each company will be different, but I assume many would put it lower, but request monthly readings. Especially if you can give them a good reason why you expect it to be lower. Sad sad thought, but maybe having had a relative in life support machinery 24/7 who had since died.

We currently pay £136 pcm for both and are £56 in credit at present.

Will be looking around £250 from October

Ditto
There are lots of very wealthy pensioners about who made a killing when property was cheap in real terms.
Free University grants, best of NHS.

These will be spending “Help” on a nice holiday.

Hmmm. No thank you, paying more than enough as it is. That would mean exactly the same but in a long winded way, if the extra tax ends up as payment to the fuel production company and the energy company.
They could get rid if thus standing charge maybe - I still have no idea why we are forced to pay it and what it does.

Just did a calculation of our usage from last January's bill with these figures and it comes to £876.41 just for a month.
We both work full time and don't have any disposable income as it is so are preparing to hunker down for a tough winter.
I did another calculation using this month's bill - so no heating at all but hot water amd showers included, lights not on as much due to longer days - and got £243.20 which will also stretch us but is a bit less scary.

We are stocking up on thermals - I already have an Oodie and DH can get a discount on warm clothing through work, and we have a calor gas fire that we can use to heat one room.

I have several medical conditions and feel the cold a lot (my feet are freezing even now and it's 21° in our front room - we have a cold 1930's house and it gets as low as 10° in the winter without the heating) , not entitled to any extra discounts or benefits though so really not looking forward to this at all.

@BigWoollyJumpers So pensioners get £1300 maximum? the price cap has gone from 1200 to 3600... £1300 for those on fixed incomes just doesn't cover it.

But you've actually raised a v good point, there is no way any govt can find £1300 to give every household, every 3 months the energy cap increases.

There has to be a longer term solution...

France has just announced their fuel duty will be cut from 18c to 30c until Dec 22.

Ours is 5p :( the 2nd lowest fuel duty cut in Europe.

I actually don't want the government to just give people money, because that just shores up the energy companies' massive profits.
Basically, the money the government gives you then goes straight into the energy companies' coffers and to its shareholders.
I really think a windfall tax is needed. Shell doesn't need to be making 11.5 billion in profits, double what it made last year, it's grotesque.