£28 energy charge

[DuckBee]

I was rather taken back to learn that every household is having £28 added to their yearly energy charges to pay for people who are in debt with their bills. There doesn’t seem to be much of a reaction to this but it doesn’t sit right with me.

What? That's outrageous.

Really? When was this announced? If it's true then that's bad form considering the billions of pounds profit that the energy companies have fleeced out of us in the last couple of years!

Doesn't sit well with me at.

But how else is Centrica going to maintain its £6.5 billion pre-tax profits? Come on people, suck it up!

Bills are going down otherwise. All your bills effectively include something to help support struggling people, just not so obviously labelled.

It’s in here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/changes-energy-price-cap-between-1-april-30-june-2024#:~:text=We%20are%20also%20allowing%20a,Direct%20Debit%20or%20standing%20credit.

It is seriously a liberty, currently struggling with paying bills like a lot of other people and now being penalised.

When will peeps get a break !!!

I have every sympathy for people who are unable to pay their bills, however that shouldn't impact on people who are struggling but still just about able to pay their bills. As usual it is those that are just getting by that are most affected by this. No benefits, no cost of living help etc...... and yet the money just goes down and down for us.

i budget however with things constantly changing at the moment I’m unable to be in control of my budget.

It's the massive share holders I have issue with not the folks who can't pay their bills.

Every other business is expected to absorb its bad debts, not levy a compulsory surcharge on to its other customers.

I don't know why the energy providers are a special case.

It seems there's no differentiation between the genuinely unfortunate and the feckless. Providers can just write off the debt and make up the difference from the surcharge fund.

I believe the daily standing charge for electricity is due to rise to about 60p per day...

A good portion of your water bill is also bad customer debt, particularly in London.

Council tax includes an amount to cover costs of those who don't pay and legal proceedings to recover non payers.

Service charges generally do this.

Pretty much every price has an element built in to cover losses like these eg. in retail prices build in amount to cover losses by theft.

They are absorbing them but are I guess being more honest about how the charge is actually passed on to customers. Others that absorb these do build them in to business models but just by adjusting price.

Every other business is expected to absorb its bad debts, not levy a compulsory surcharge on to its other customers.

They do this by putting their prices up. Same consequence, other customers subsidise people who don’t pay.

You mean your pension funds?

Indeed pretty much all businesses adjust prices to cover bad debt or shop lifting losses.

You are seeing this as the standing charge is regulated, so Ofgem is being transparent about how much energy suppliers are allowed to add to it to account for bad debt. This is actually limiting how much they can levy to cover bad debt.

But nobody wants to hear this! They all just want to froth at the mouth.

It did go up hugely ours doubled.
But there might have been less debt if the col payments and energy company payments had gone directly against the bills.

Plus companies were told to stop cutting non payers off

Shares in companies is really like gambling - the return isnt great and you can lose it all.

Indeed and forget that many of them own shares in the energy companies through their pension funds. Much easier to rail at evil shareholders.

Where are your pension funds invested?

Absolutely disgusted about paying extra £28 to cover someone else's debt. All the energy companies make huge profits,they get massive bonuses while people struggle so why don't they take lower bonus and pay off the debts with the rest .

It's the same with car insurance, premiums go up every year even if you haven't made a claim to cover for all the other claims they have had to pay out.

But people who are in debt will still be paying the debt off, probably slowly but will have to pay. They cant switch providers so they will have to pay it off.

so an extra £28 from everyone and the debt being paid. It a win win for the energy companies.

The problem is, you can be outraged as much as you like it’s not gonna change.
They have done this one on the quiet.
If you don't like it get better connected friends that work high up in government.