How am I going to pay this?

[Muminneed123]

'm not sure if you know but the energy prices in the UK have increased twice this year. I believe the went up in April/May and they went up again Yesterday.
I'm currently with Bulb. I moved from a 2 bed house to a 2 bedroom flat in December.

They quoted me about 2 weeks ago that I need to increase my payments to £99 per month 'to decrease my chances of going into debt' with them. I rang spoke to someone to find out why it has gone up so much. They explained its estimated and that nothing will change.

I went on this morning to see that I am almost £130 in debt to them and that they want me to increase my monthly payments to £130 per month.

I don't understand where the debt has come from and of course the day I get the email, is the day they are closed and I can't contact anyone to talk about it

I have already restricted myself as much as I can to afford to buy my sons school uniforms and that doesn't stretch even far enough to be able to pay what they want each month.

For years I have been asking them for a Smart metre but they have said they don't have them yet because 'they are waiting for the servers to change'

I really don't know what to do? If this is what its like now, what is it going to be like in December when its freezing?

Any advice would be really appreciated

Thanks

Sorry - I see your debt is relatively small (£130) so if you can up your DD to £55pcm or £60pcm if you can afford it, then that should do it. Are you getting all the benefits etc you’re entitled to? Does your DS’s dad contribute to uniform etc and pay enough child maintenance?

@NoSquirrels I did try to increase my amount but on the website and the app, but the minimum was £99 per month payment and I generally can’t afford that. I am going to try and call them tomorrow or Tuesday I’m not sure if they are open on a bank holiday.
I ha e seen a lot of people saying that you should switch suppliers yearly so I think that is what I’m going to do.

Have you checked your online account with them? Are your bills based on estimates or actual readings, submitted by you? Are you submitting readings each month?

I have a 4 bedroomed house, two bathrooms, we generate lots of washing, use the tumble-drier and dishwasher a fair bit, cook with gas several times a day (different people working different hours) and the shower is going 2 or 3 times a day using hot water. Our bill for gas and electric has been around £60 per month for May-June-July-August. So I can't understand why yours is so high. My house is old and leaky, although we have done lots of insulation over the last year and replaced the crappy old boilers with one good one. Even so, I am surprised and it may be that they just aren't registering your readings.

Having said all that, I"ve just been looking to switch suppliers, because my tariff is coming to an end, and I'm horrified at the hike from the last time I looked. Basically, my monthly DD is going to near double. Think I will have to find a way of living in one room/spending the entire day in a civic building heated at taz-payers expense somehow.

I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound glib, I'm genuinely shocked at the price rise, and I am beginning to plan ways of trying to save.

Have you asked your neighbors about their bill?

Also energy companies are supposed to have a hardship find, can you see if you qualify?

Flippin eck! I’m paying £350 a month to Bulb. Have old cold house though. When we switched to them, they stuffed up and didn’t bill us, despite monthly readings, which I stupidly queried/chased. So we were in about £2k debt by the time it was sorted out. I have since found out that if I hadn’t chased, they wouldn’t have been able to go back more than one year for backpay. Then the person who “fixed it” did it wrong, and it took nearly another year to unpick that mess. So I can’t move away from them until the debt is paid off, which will probably be another year. So this has been ongoing for approx 4 years, and we’re still about £900 in debt.

I think we paid approx £180 per month with British Gas and wish we had never got a smart meter or moved suppliers. It’s been a nightmare 🙁

£46 is really not much per month tbh. I pay £120 in a 3 bed house and am pretty frugal with energy. Bulb are very good, I have been with them for years and regularly check if anywhere else is cheaper, but have not found anyone better, even with their latest price increase.
The reason they want you to pay more is to build up credit that allows you to pay the same every month throughout the year, rather than having to pay much larger bills in the winter when obviously more energy is being used. Better for you in terms of budgeting, and better for them in terms of not having people get into debt with them.