Gas and electricity bills to soar

[Cosmos123]

This is worrying as it will push many into fuel poverty.
Rising food prices and empty shelves.
Is anyone worried?

Just thought I would try looking at tarriffs on comparethemarket.com

I am getting this message.

*We’re really sorry but we can't get you a quote at the moment
We're temporarily pausing our energy comparison as energy suppliers are currently restricting the number of tariffs available.

As our priority is to provide you with an energy comparison service which is right for you, we'll resume the service as soon as we are confident we can offer comparison for you.*

Speakout

Martin Lewis' comparison site is still working. The others work off commission which the energy firms aren't paying ATM.

clubs.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub

Tried looking at other options EDF literally only offering 3 or4 year fix at high rates

My gas and electricity is £234 a month. That's for 5 adults and 1 child. My electric is a large percentage of that monthly fee . I was lucky in that I had previously fixed my tariff with Scottish Power earlier this year to a fixed rate till Dec 22. I dread to think what it would be if we were still on a variable tariff

Yes 2006 was similar and equally horrible. Prices just kept going up and up and up. And carried on for about 3 years. Including that freezing winter if 2009/2010. It just seemed endless.

*My gas and electricity is £234 a month. That's for 5 adults and 1 child. My electric is a large percentage of that monthly fee . "

Hopefully the 5 adults are paying towards that amount.

For anyone curious as to what happens when their supplier goes bust, I was with GNE when they went pop earlier this year.

I was over £300 in credit, and went across to EDF.

I cancelled the DD as soon as I heard, and transferred the payment into savings each month so I still had that money set aside.

It took EDF almost 6 months to sort my account (I think I was one of the last to go across properly). In that time, no payments were requested, and my tariff was guaranteed until the end of Sept (should've ended in June if GNE hadn't gone pop).

Once I transferred over, they agree to keep my DD at £83 pcm, to be reviewed. My credit appeared at the same time it all went over (it was getting the final bill from GNE which alerted me to it having finally gone over).

I did start a transfer to Avro in early August (to beat increased tariffs later as prices were only going up) but EDF 'bribed' me to stay with £100 account credit. Thank god they did as I'm currently over £250 in credit with winter coming up and I haven't got to deal with another insolvent supplier this year!

I just want to clarify having seen confusion. Appointing administrators doesn't automatically mean going bust (it can mean that) it can also mean finding a route to the financing of a rescue package.

@Claudethecat is right in that administration just means that a different entity is appointed to run the company. The company can a) be turned round and sent on its merry way (which is extremely rare), b) be sold off either in part or as a whole or c) be placed into liquidation where the company is wound up and ceases to exist. In the current climate I would suspect c) is more likely.

Bills have gone up hugely recently.

I don’t know how I’ll cope if this continues.

Income is £1600 a month and my bills are around £1500 now. £100 left for nice things/going out at the age of 32. It’s feels so hopeless.

All this good advice. I told OH to cancel DD with Avro they've already taken a month. He then discovered so had Shell energy so he's £200 plus in credit with Shell now. He didn't think to cancel DD with shell. You really need your wits about you with these companies

@justasking111

All this good advice. I told OH to cancel DD with Avro they've already taken a month. He then discovered so had Shell energy so he's £200 plus in credit with Shell now. He didn't think to cancel DD with shell. You really need your wits about you with these companies

The credit rolls Over?

@Siry

Bills have gone up hugely recently.

I don’t know how I’ll cope if this continues.

Income is £1600 a month and my bills are around £1500 now. £100 left for nice things/going out at the age of 32. It’s feels so hopeless.

How is it so much?

I cannot access my Avro account to submit my latest metre readings. Luckily I downloaded all my bills a couple of days ago and have taken photos of my metre readings. I'm leaving my direct debit running as the credit should move over to new supplier- I have £100 credit at the moment. It's all a bit worrying.

Octopus…

Your current annual amount: £1,668.58

Your new quote: £2,603.37

Can I just test my logic here. I'm with Avro who just went under. Surely the best time to take meter readings is when the new company ask me to? Then I will be charged the old cheaper rate on the units used between now and when the takeover happens in 1-2 months.

If I give the new company today's meter readings then they'll charge the new higher rate to anything I use from now onwards.

Why are people taking meter readings now if your supplier went under.?

I don't know roses It's probably a good idea to take meter readings now, but it doesn't compel you to do anything with them. I'm in the same boat and am just planning on waiting and seeing what happens.

I'm expecting direct debits to not be taken, possibly for as much as a few months, if that happens, I'll mentally account for the fact that debt is building up so I have the money to pay for winter when I get established with a new supplier.

If you were with Avro, they will have a meter reading from the past month on record anyway, because they asked for readings every month, so its likely those readings will be available to your new supplier, so there's probably little opportunity to gain a little by maximising what you pay for at the Avro rate. Although you can always read any correspondence you get about readings carefully, to see if there is scope to save a little this way.

Martin Lewis was on the radio yesterday afternoon and I listened to it as a podcast.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02pc9xt/episodes/player

What's probably best for us all to do is just wait until we're established on a new tariff, which will probably be the new supplier's standard variable rate, which is currently cheaper than just about all the fixes until at least April.

If the current situation is just a blip, you don't want to fix now, because you'll be fixing at a high price. However, if it's the 'new normal' they SVRs will increase again next April and the fixes available then are likely to be even more expensive. So it's a gamble, but I'm probably just going to sit on whatever standard tariff I'm put on and keep an eye on things over winter, with a view to looking at it all again next April when the price cap is reviewed.

It's worth adding that the currently available fixes are so far above the SVR that prices would have to go up a lot more for you to be worse off by not fixing, because you'd be denying yourself the saving of being on the currently least expensive tariff for the next 6 months or so, which is over winter so higher usage too.

A few weeks back my Flexible Octopus tariff was coming to an end, my yearly usage was £1200 and they were quoting me £1600 on a fixed rate tariff. I switched to Sainsburys Energy, fixed rate at £98 per month and 6000 Nectar points. I'll wait and see of it was the right decision. So sorry for everyone worrying about bills 🙁

@BarbaraofSeville

It's worth adding that the currently available fixes are so far above the SVR that prices would have to go up a lot more for you to be worse off by not fixing, because you'd be denying yourself the saving of being on the currently least expensive tariff for the next 6 months or so, which is over winter so higher usage too.

Which is why in November I'm rolling off onto svr and this initial panic will be over and better rates will be back hopefully butnim not going to be panicked into fixing for a one of two yr deal at an extortionate rate.

Now I might end up being wrong but ill risk it

Which is why in November I'm rolling off onto svr and this initial panic will be over and better rates will be back hopefully butnim not going to be panicked into fixing for a one of two yr deal at an extortionate rate.

i agree.
I am with a smaller company and preparing myself for the worst, but I won't hurry to get into a fixed deal at the moment.
These energy prices are not sustainable, and my guess is that in a few months once this crisis is resolved energy prices will start dropping again. That is the time to fix, not while prices are so high.
Prices are crazy all over Europe, the uK is particularly bad- but these prices are hitting manufacturing and industry and not sustainable.
My inclination is to wait.

@roses2 the energy companies have really sophisticated systems to calculate ‘unbilled’ revenue, I would expect them to calculate it from the day you came on supply. If you can give them a meter reading it will be completely accurate - for example if you’ve had lots of estimated bills then you could end up paying higher.

It's probably been said before, but it's worth repeating, always do your own calculations or at least compare unit rates and daily standing charges before signing up to any new deal, especially one by an instore or doorstep salesperson.

On the radio show linked to above, a man phone in and said he'd been quoted a cheaper monthly price fixed for 3 years for Scottish Power by a sales rep in a supermarket.

He wanted to know if he should take it, but it clearly set off MLs spidey senses because he said it was an impossible offer, and told the man to check the rates.

I looked for the Scottish Power deal and it did indeed give a monthly price 'fixed' for 3 years, but only asked me my address, nothing about my usage.

When I looked in the small print, the actual unit prices were there, but hard to find, and there was the caveat that they would start you off on the quoted price, but would assess your usage over the first few months of the contract, and then adjust your DD accordingly, so while the unit rates were fixed, the initial DD wouldn't necessarily pay for all the energy that you used, so it could change, which of course means increase.

This is all totally down to the Government not regulating small suppliers properly.
Not really, this is down to consumers being fooled into switching to tiddly companies when it was pretty obvious their rates were unlikely to last long term. I've always stayed with one of the Big 6 (better the devil you know) and am aware that EDF might charge me more to make up the losses they're having to take on by carrying people who've been saving money using these ridiculously cheap fixed tariffs. I hope the situation isn't as bad as you all fear but we are going to have to get used to paying more for our energy if it's to be more sustainable - any climate activists on this thread as this is your future.

Barabara you are absolutely spot on. People focus too much on the monthly direct debit amount instead of the tariffs and how that stacks up for their usage. The cap is misleading too, I think people think it means they will never pay any more than the yearly amount that is quoted, which is just not true.

Call me cynical, but I wonder how much the government really wants to do anything to bring prices down. The hike will be a nice little earner for the Treasury over winter.

Not really, this is down to consumers being fooled into switching to tiddly companies when it was pretty obvious their rates were unlikely to last long term

I don't think it's obvious at all. Very few people will have knowledge and understanding of the ins and outs of the energy market to know if the price offered by small supplier X covers the cost of supplying the energy that you use.

If a company offers you a product for a certain price, it's reasonable to assume that they've costed it appropriately and more fool them if they haven't.

You'd be a fool to not play the suppliers at their own game by moving from cheap fix to cheap fix each year, when they offer no loyalty for staying with them and rip you off if you do by leaving you on a tariff that up to now was significantly more expensive.

I'd much rather not have to change my energy, insurance, broadband, mobile phone provider every year, but if there's money to be saved by doing so, I will.

The sustainability of the price is not my responsibility and has no bearing on a completely separate motivator of not wasting energy for the sake of the environment. I'm not daft enough to think 'woo hoo' I got my energy too cheap so I'm going to waste some of it.