Scottish power want me to fix @ £396.85 per month YET

[Proudofeveryone]

I have just received an email from SP to fix my energy. I pay for what I use.

I am £374.27 in credit, pay £137 per month and according to SP last year
my total usage was £1733.21 for the year.

By there reckoning if I fix at what they are asking for that works out @ £4762.20.
Why do they think they should have a lot of my money for them to earn interest
do they think I am stupid.
I could understand upping my DD by a number of £sss but not over £250 per month.

Are you on a fix just now?
What is the difference in price per kwh and standing charge between what you currently pay and the fixed rate?

Gas and electric cost have tripled from what we paid last year. So that will be what you pay fix or not if you use the same amount.

Regardless, it's your price per unit and standing charges you should be looking at, yearly/ monthly figures are meaningless. Why aren't people understanding this yet?

I am with SP too, we pay £89 a month for duel fuel. This fix ends on 31st October and I am dreading the new bills

Well don't fix then? Just go onto their standard price??

Whether or not to fix and the size of the direct debit are separate issues.

Most people prefer to spread the higher cost of winter bills throughout the year and energy companies are probably trying to protect themselves from all the people unaware of the scale of the coming problem who will be unable to 'pay for what they use' when they get bills for hundreds of pounds a month early next year.

In reality, the amount of interest anyone will earn or miss out on by starting to pay for their winter usage now instead of in 3 months time is so little it's hardly worth the average consumer giving any headspace to.

MSE Martin Lewis suggests it's worth fixing now if you can do it for less than 145% of what you're paying at the moment.

I could understand upping my DD by a number of £sss but not over £250 per month

But if you take that fix, that how much you will need to pay, or close to it, given that they don't appear to have taken the £400 into account.

Otherwise a year from now you will have a huge debt on your energy account.

Our fix just ended and the new fix offer is £450 per month. We’re going to the standard dual which will change our DD from £135 to £240, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was £350 by the end of next year.

I had to get my calculator out to see if £450 was actually worth it, which is an outrageous situation to be in. The whole this is utterly insane.

We were paying our electricity by direct debit and built some credit up last year. The energy company (Shell) suggested that we reduce the direct debit and suggested the amount we should be paying. We did so and a week later they were back in touch saying they were concerned we were paying to little and would end up in debt to them!!

*too little

What is the unit price that you are paying now and what is the fixed rate they are offering

Its the only way to compare, you cant compare to the monthly direct debit, its meaningless

This is why its such a gamble

@JanglyBeads thanks for this. I just checked my fixed offer again and it is 133% higher so I have taken the plunge and fixed after previously saying I wouldn't! (Yes I compared unit rates, not the direct debit amount)
I've worked out I will pay over double in September, and a little more than the price cap rate in October to December. But am taking the gamble that it's going to rise again in January, April and next summer. If by some miracle Liz Truss comes out and announces a lower price cap next week there's no exit fee so I can go back into the variable rate.

It may be a small amount of interest to the consumer but the energy companies will be getting that interest millions of times over ! Why should they ? Why should we collectively be giving them the opportunity to gain interest on our money?

@TooMuchToDoTooLittleInclination do you think you are clever being bitchy on an anonymous forum.

Regardless of what is and isn't best to do, you can simply reclaim all of your credit and they will just readjust the monthly payment.

Very judgy.
I struggling with this because I have constant head pressure from covid 3 months ago, can barely string a sentence.

I could have learning disabilities, dementia or just have my head in the sand.

It's not that they are planning on building up £3k of credit and sitting on it - that's the current cost of the fix based on your normal usage. SP fixes have been very high all year compared to others, and with £300 exit fees too - hence I've not taken the plunge and stuck to SVT.

@stayathomegardener

No problem at all with people struggling to work out the best option, at what rate it pays to fix. I've answered hundreds of questions, basically saying the same thing over & over and replied to lots of posts where people don't understand stuff or are making comments that show they've not quite grasped how what you use is what you oay firmer, that the cap doesn't mean that's the most you'll pay. All patiently because if people don't know, they don't know.

I'm menopausal. I understand 'Brain Fog' in fact it's more like the gremlins have kidnapped my brain for their fun!!

I just snapped (no farting) with the whole 'OMG' my fuel company wants me to pay more -why? bastards' At this stage of the game. How can the whole fuel crisis have bypassed anyones attention??

@TooMuchToDoTooLittleInclination I've probably been reading your advice for months
Really must try and print off last years winter bills to look at usage but can't seem to manage that either.

Covid 03/20 put me straight into menopause and I do sometimes wonder which element is responsible for the brain fog!

If you put a monthly DD of £137 into the Which? calculator you get this:

www.which.co.uk/news/article/energy-price-cap-rises-to-3549-how-will-it-affect-your-bills-aZkHR2p2t2P7

Which is for SVT. What the OP has got is an offer of a fixed deal. The question is whether they go for it or not.

By Which's estimates they would be approx £300 better off over the year to go onto the standard variable. But the gamble is that the estimates don't continue to rise, and for an extra £25 a month, would OP prefer the certainty of a fixed tariff.

@stayathomegardener

It's shit isn't it. I used to be (well I suppose technically I still am) an accountant. Head full of figure, could remember lots of clients full set of accounts details, fortunately I don't do that for a job now, because some days remembering a phone number is success!

I haven't knowingly had covid (and given my underlyings, I'm sure that means I haven't had it) so I'm just assuming the 'brain fog' (of the pea soup variety) is a result of menopause... but it's fucking hideous no matter what is causing it. It's actually very stressful!!

I hope yours starts to clear whatever's causing it!

I'm actually considering going to a womens health centre to see about HRT. I was always told it was bad for you, but it can't be any worse for you than this shit.

anyway, back to fuel. Who are you with? Some companies tell you on each statement how many units you've used in the last year. Though not the break down of months. Or you might be able to get it off their website (with a login) or app.

I swear they make it as difficult as possible. I'm with BG. Their billings are irregular so it makes it difficult to know how much you've used each month. But the App is quite detailed. I haven't compared the paper bills to the App.but I'm assuming they're correct.

last winter the brain fog had set in & I kept forgetting to turn the oven off when I was finished. It made the kitchen toasty! 🙇🏻‍♀️ And it wasn't too much of a risk as I always turn it off at the wall at night (it's old so I take no risks!) but lots of wasted electricity! So my main fuel goal this winter is remembering to turn the oven off! & programming the heating to turn off earlier. That nudges me to go to bed earlier too!! Double bonus!!