New gas and elec tariff! Oh my!!

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Our fixed rate gas and electric tariff for which we paid £156 a month comes to an in September. We have been v lucky to have been protected from the April rises.
We have just had our new tariff come through - it’s going up to £702 a month. Wtf do I do? I know everyone is in the same boat but holy crap, I had about £500 in my head not £700!

@latetothefisting explained it better than me

Would anyone be able to tell me If this is OK usage for nearly 3 months? I don't know what it should be.

Those are really high rates. British Gas has said my standing charge for electricity will go up to 32p a day in the New Year and my price has just gone up to just under 30p.

So what was your useage in kWh?

There's a thread in Chat about actual useage and it's an eye opener how much done households have been using compared to the average.

BG suggested a fix of £250pm for ours, which suggests your useage is way way higher than average.

If you want to continue high useage you are going to have to oay for it - otherwise it would be like ordering and eating a steak dinner when you only have enough for a Pukka pie

Cancel DD and pay quarterly for your actual usage.

I refuse to pay by DD. I pay every 3 months for what I have used.

I don't understand why others don't do this. This DD and credit stuff energy companies pull is nonsense.

Because it's cheaper overall as you get a direct debit discount. And a lot of people who pay by DD spend a lot of the year in debt to their energy company anyway.

Plus it allows people to spread the cost of the high winter period over the whole year, so helps with budgeting.

I’m going to come back here next March to find out how people are getting on with their quarterly bill for the winter period that is thousands of pounds, because they’re paying for all their winter heating in one go and the unit rate is twice what it was in summer 2022.

But you don't get a discount that's not true

BG made out to me I'd get a discount if I went DD

My friend is DD with BG and I checked last week her bills v my bills and the rates are exactly the same on standard variable

There is zero discount applied

Not to mention she is using £65 a month gas/electric and they are taking £398 a month from her and she is in credit £1400

My jaw nearly hit the floor - she has allowed me to share these photos.

Put your monthly money into a account and pay it quarterly for what you have used only.

They are over charging you so they have surplus money in there accounts

My dad is £300 in credit , my sister is £180

That's just 3 people
How much money does these company's have of the general population money in there accounts .

They are ripping people off

Some energy companies do give you a discount for paying by direct debit, they’re all different.

@Indoctro your friend can ask for the credit balance back and/or reduce her direct debit. Why is she passively accepting that amount and letting the credit build up?

I am about 1 month in credit on my account but as the price will rise steeply in October I am leaving it there as it won't last long

She didn't realise she had a choice. She showed me as they had contacted her again saying they want to increase to £695

10 x her actual current monthly usage

She has cancelled DD . Isn't giving them another penny till her account is at zero and going to pay 3 monthly for what she has used.

It just shows up how badly they are siphoning peoples money. How many others are they doing this too.?

As for DD discount. As I said BG insisted they offer one, absolute lies.

This says she can ask for a refund online

Don’t fix. The variable rate will likely be a bit lower than that.

It's really bad for your house and health to dry indoors and only works if you can afford to have the heating on.

I'll be drying outdoors and finishing off in the drier.

OP I've been quoted 700 a month too,it's bloody ridiculous.

I can’t quite get my head round the “keep calm and use your tumble drier less” stoicism going on, and believe me I’m as pragmatic as they come….

If people are having to pay all their wages to landlords and utility companies the entire economy is going to crash due to knock on effects…., no spending on non-essentials will put people out of work, benefits won’t cover cost of living, legal action over debt will clog up the courts and there will be more and more disenfranchised people doing anything to make ends meet….

Its a recipe for chaos via bureaucracy and human suffering is going to escalate exponentially…..

Can anyone point to any sign that I’m wrong?

Your useage must have been "bloody ridiculous" to have such a high quote......

We were quoted £250 pm based on last years use age Gas 10500kWh and Electric 8540kWh

So, what was your consumption for each last year?

Usual bill is £120

Now we're on £206

Our forecast based on useage is £700

I'd call that bloody ridiculous.

on money saving expert There is a calculator for this and advises if you should fix or not. You put in your new details and old details and then says if it is over a certain % to fix or not. I used it yesterday says new quote was too high and not to fix (I did take the advice last October not to fix so how much you want to take the advice is up to you) I’m going to continue to wing it and hope the amount I have built up and the additional money back from government will help

I've just looked at my daily standing charges, electric says 51.62 a day - surely that can't be right if the cap is 45? I've recently come off fixed rate

@BMW6 There is no way you will pay £250 a month for that usage at today's rates. 8000khw (this is very high) of electricity alone, just usage no standing rate, is £4000 at the new rates from October and £5400 at the fix rates generally being offered. You are looking at a huge monthly bill.

Sadly I think your quote is the least accurate one!

It doesn't really matter what the cap is, this language is confusing people and they need to change it. The cap purely illustrates what an 'average house' would use based on the prices in play at that time. If you use less, you'll pay less - if you use more, you'll pay more.

It doesn't even particularly matter what the size of the DD they are asking you to sign up to is (although it will be guided by past usage, so if it's big, you are a bigger user).

What matters is YOUR actual usage (look at past bills) and the standing charge and price per kwh you are signed up to, whether fixed or variable.

The cap is also regional so there will be variations of a few pence either way depending on where you are.

It's not about what's OK or what it should be. Everyone has different lives and circumstances, there's no right answer

If you want to reduce you need to look at your specific circumstances and see what you can do. Turn the heating down, turn the lights off, use appliances more efficiently, get rid of hot tub and so on

@BMW6

These are the estimated new figures. So if you are on variable, which is still the cheapest around:

Electricity:
8000khw @ 53.3p = £4280
Standing charge = £265

Gas
10,000 khw @ 15.13p = £1530
Standing charge = £99

£6174

Divided by 12

£514 a month.

So £700 a month on a fixed rate is very likely. If you're still on a low fixed rate from ages ago then what you pay now is irrelevant really. It's gone up about 300% since the cheap fixes of a couple of years ago.