energy price increase for my electric bill which i think is unfair

[masterofdoomv1]

im with sse energy i changed to them (stupidly ) August last year and i was told it was a fixed price for 2 years no increases my direct debit was set up for £46 for electric and £41 for gas sse have now told me theyre increasing my electric from £46 a month to £67 a month as ive just got bill in saying my electric is supposedly £34 in arears which i find weird as i live on my own and i only use electricity for one room at a time i think its bad that they can increase your direct debit like this without concent i was with scottish power before if you fell in arears with them they allowed you to catch up or make a payment for any outstanding balance they didnt just increase your direct debit by 50% how should i handle this? as im worried and angry but dont want to phone them with an attitude and make things worse

Nice flounce.

@masterofdoomv1

You sound like you are making this up

run along user

Ironically we are all users. Users of leccy and gas. Go and troll somewhere else babe

WTF are you on about? Who has been aggressive with a crappy attitude? confused NO-ONE. hmm

As I said, what on earth do you expect people to say?!

not aggressive at all bear

It is knowing the usage and knowing what your costs per KWH and standing charge are.

If you look at your bill, they should tell you your unit costs and daily charge.

The average UK house uses 2900 KWH of electricity and 12,000 KWH of gas. This is the usage that then gives the estimate of what a typical house pays under the price cap rates of energy.

If you look at your bill in detail, there should be some useful figures to look at.

Op you also have to consider that any of your appliances may have a fault and consuming more energy, or have the possibility appliances items have been replaced with less efficient models.

Also remember that due to the aging, the average electrical energy consumption increases by 27% after 16 years of operation. This is direct from an engineering science paper. There may be multiple reasons it's costing more now.

Unfortunately this is now the price we all pay, I too hate direct debit increases, but have managed to actually drop mine by looking at many energy saving measures with in home.

obviusoly two wind up merchants here with nothing better to do than hide behind a keyboard and take the piss laughable way to go champs

m with sse energy i changed to them (stupidly ) August last year and i was told it was a fixed price for 2 years

TBH - if you fixed with SSE last year for 2 years, then you are probably on a good deal. Far better than many people are on.

yeah im a winner cake with everything going up in price huh £325 coming in a month and £318 going out a month in bills two thirds of those bills are for energy and council tax god forbid i should say im struggling huh

Effectively, they have told you they can supply gas and electricity for 2 years to you at a price that is much cheaper than available now.

You told them - or they guessed - how much you would use per year - and they have figured out that you seem to be using more. So they are making sure they get the money from you.

But it's still probably going to be a better price for gas and electricity than other people whose company went bust because they said they could provide cheap power but failed to do so.

@masterofdoomv1

yeah im a winner cake with everything going up in price huh £325 coming in a month and £318 going out a month in bills two thirds of those bills are for energy and council tax god forbid i should say im struggling huh

It could be a lot worse. Your deal could be ending in April 21.

everyone is struggling cake nothing wrong with talking about it and i wont be judged but im off obviously pointless making boards on here you get made to feel like dirt

@masterofdoomv1

yeah im a winner cake with everything going up in price huh £325 coming in a month and £318 going out a month in bills two thirds of those bills are for energy and council tax god forbid i should say im struggling huh

Er, that's not what cakeorwine said - the post just pointed out that you were not stupid to fix in August. That actually, fixing in August for two years, was probably about the most insightful thing to do and will insulate you from the coming price rises far more than if you had done anything else.

OP you can probably go online and adjust your DD payments that way. Our supplier lets us do that within reason. There’s usually a slider thing but it won’t let you go less than a certain amount

@masterofdoomv1

everyone is struggling cake nothing wrong with talking about it and i wont be judged but im off obviously pointless making boards on here you get made to feel like dirt

I have offered you some good advice on here.

Do you know what your unit charge is?
Your daily standing charge?

Your estimated usage?

If you know that, then you will be able to see - or come on here and ask - and people will help you work out your costs and help identify areas where you can use less energy.

There's a thread here I started where you can ask for advice

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/4471775-Confused-about-the-price-cap-and-energy-consumption-Heres-the-thread-for-the-physics-and-the-maths-to-help-you

It is hard at the moment. Energy bills can be hard to understand.

Er, that's not what cakeorwine said - the post just pointed out that you were not stupid to fix in August. That actually, fixing in August for two years, was probably about the most insightful thing to do and will insulate you from the coming price rises far more than if you had done anything else

Exactly. You are protected from high price rises for until next year.

Before you changed to the 2 year fixed rate were you on a fixed rate before that?
When you changed did you tell them how much you were paying and what you wanted to pay on the new rate?

I think the problem is that your old rate will have been much cheaper and therefore they will have underestimated the amount of energy you use if basing it on your past bills where the unit rate was lower.

They have looked at the meter readings and realised they are under charging and therefore need to put your direct debit up.

I got a bill last month and was interested to see that it said I had used the same amount of energy that month as I had the same month last year. But my bill was double. I checked and I had used the same number of units. Do you have old bills you can check?

@masterofdoomv1

theres an electric shower yes but i dont use it anymore than previously cake it just defies logic that sse are saying a single person is using more power than three did at the same address thats what i dont get

You need to check your meter readings and not focus on monthly DD. You could easily be using more kWh now as appliances become less efficient the older they get

@masterofdoomv1 What would be helpful for you would be to see if you can find what the average annual usage was in kw. Offgem set a cap which is being increased by 54% on 1st April. The average cost per house is £1971 annually. This is calculated as follows:
GAS based on 12,000 kw hours annually
Standing Charge 365 @ 27.22p =£99.35
KW 12,000 @ 7.37p = £884.40

ELECTRIC based on 2,900 KW annually
Standing Charge 365 @ 45.34p=£165.49
KW 2,900 @ 28.34p = £831.86

28 energy suppliers have failed since September leaving a £200 million shortfall in the fund to protect consumers deposits. SSE customers now come under OVO so you are probably on the Oct cap set by Ofgem before the April cap comes into force. This what I think your situation is likely to be and I hope this will help you when you contact the supplier

SSE customers now come under OVO so you are probably on the Oct cap set by Ofgem before the April cap comes into force

SSE haven't collapsed - so she should still be on the fixed deal she agreed in August? They just merged with Ovo but that was a while ago

SSE are rubbish. We are only still with them because we rent and have an unusual meter type. The change my direct debit all the time, and mostly when I’m in credit. You will have a job getting through to someone on the phone.

Have you read the meter? Do your readings agree with the bill?
if you haven't then there is no point in ranting that they are ripping you off.
Incidentally.... if you are shocked now.... wait till April.

Incidentally.... if you are shocked now.... wait till April.

The op is on a fixed rate not the variable cap rate. The only thing which will alter the price until August 2023 is the amount of power that she uses.

This happened to me last month. I’m also in a fixed tariff. I contacted my supplier (Octopus) and pointed out that of course I was in arrears, it was the winter quarter, but the other three quarters of the year I will use much less energy so the bills will even out. I did not agree to the direct debit increase, and they accepted that, saying they would review it in 6 months. I also switched in August, so hadn’t had time to build up any excess credit to cover the winter quarter.
Just ring them back and tell them you don’t want to increase your direct debit thank you very much!

Did you think you would use considerably less gas/ electric because it's 1 and not 3? You still have to have a fridge, still need light etc. maybe get a lodger then there will be two people to split the bills with.