How much have your energy bills gone up?

[BeingATwatItsABingThing]

I’ve just looked at my account and noticed that our E.on bill has gone from £60 to £350 in the last two months! I know there has been a massive hike in energy costs but that’s a crippling increase. If this had been last year, I’d have still been on maternity leave and wouldn’t have been able to afford that. We can’t afford it now really but will get by… just.

Has anyone else had similar?

I'm on a fixed tariff with Octopus and have a healthy credit. The tariff is due to change in April. I expect to be hit with a huge increase so I'll use the credit to cope with the higher bills.

Ours haven't gone up but we fixed for 2 years in may with octopus, 4 bed house me working from home, partner out all day and 2 cats. We pay £85 a month

Mine has gone from £130pm to £195. We'd just finished our fixed deal when all this started and the cheapest deal was now £250 so we've stayed on the variable for now. Expecting another hike in April I think.

@Alarae

Currently on a fixed DD of £75 until early next year. I am expecting a hike from then.

It's not the direct debit thats fixed. Your tariff is fixed. If £75 covers your usage then that great. If it doesn't then you may need to increase your direct debit to cover your actual usage

@Flyingsouthagain

It concerns me that the energy companies are taking advantage of so many people who don't know the actual cost of the energy they are using.

There is often a massive disconnect between the monthly payment these companies request from people and the true cost of the energy they use. That is great for the energy supplier who just sits on a large credit balance in your account, not so great when trying to manage your
Budget.

The only way to tackle it OP is to take regular meter readings and work out your true costs. Then you can push back at Eon and require them to reduce your monthly payment to one that reflects the energy you are actually using.

Companies like Octopus are great for that. I read the meter each month, they bill me the next day and I always know where I stand. I can increase or decrease the monthly payment and regularly do so that I never have more than £50-£60 credit in the account.

I agree that Octopus are great for letting you know quickly how much energy you have used and the cost. I have left mine in credit as my fixed tariff ends in January and my prices will rise

I put £30 on the gas this week alone and I only have 4 days left.... I barely use it and use jumpers, blankets and hot water bottles.

It's a joke. I heard the government saving bulb is going to cost everyone a extra £60 next year as well as the bills increasing AGAIN. There needs to be a end to this.

I thankfully managed to fix for a year with a sainsburys deal before they pulled it
Latest bill was about £22 gas and £25 electric (monthly)
Was with bulb which was going up and up. Just wish I had fixed the sainsburys one for 2 years!

Anyone who fixed a few months ago for two years has been very fortunate and will be currently saving a lot of money, providing that their energy company stays in business that is.

We were on a fixed rate until next March, but that was with Avro, so that deal's gone now.

YY to PPs saying that it's important to understand what it is you're fixing and that the monthly payment isn't necessarily the same as your monthly usage. So many energy companies take the wrong amount, leading to huge credits or debts on accounts.

To be fair, that was something Avro were very good at. We were with them for 2-3 years and the direct debit was always very close to 1/12 of our average annual usage.

Also to not panic and fix at a high rate at the moment, because you're likely to be unnecessarily paying hundreds of pounds extra over the next few months unnecessarily. Better to regard the standard tariff as six month fix and stay on that.

Also when the time to switch does come, compare unit prices and daily standing charges, not the quoted monthly direct debit. At least one major supplier is currently offering three year fixes that look to be a fair price in the current market, but are actually based on abnormally low usage, so the direct debit will rise once they've got an idea of your actual usage.

@Alarae

Currently on a fixed DD of £75 until early next year. I am expecting a hike from then.

I know I said this above but do I hope understand @Alarae that there's no such thing as a fixed monthly amount, you pay for what you use and that isn't the same thing. You might end up owing a lot if you don't keep an eye on how much you are actually using. Of course you may be using less and you could get the DD reduced.

Either way I hope you are keeping up to date with your position

This is what I was on and what I fixed to (gas and electric)

As of yet they haven’t but Avro haven’t calculated my final bill before moving me to Octopus so I guess I can expect a rise then?

Hello. Popping in to let you know that we're doing a Q&A with fuel poverty charity National Energy Action about these energy price hikes on Wednesday 23rd Feb at 12 noon. The thread is now open for questions here.

My energy bill for a 3 bed semi has gone up from £165 to £350 which is just crazy . I work p-time in a school and hubby has not had a pay increase in forever so not sure how we’ll manage.

My dual fuel bill has gone up from £90 per month to £250. I'm gutted. 4 bed detached house.

My bill for electricity has tripled since our fixed rate ran out in November. We're not on mains gas but I'm dreading the bill for our next tank top-up.

Mine has gone up from £150 to £191. We were underpaying for ages but didn’t realise. That’s dual fuel for a modern 4 bedroom house with a solar panel and 2 people WFH and 2 retired people.

I think ours has pretty much almost doubled - was around £180. now will be £330 per month.

£215 a month electricity, £10 a month gas.
Up til december we paid electric quaterly at roughly £250, but had throughout the pandemic just had estimated usage, sent a reading, got a £1k bill. Split it over the next 12 months which is why we came to the £215. Actually showing as over £250 in credit on electric atm.

We're fixed with Eon until mid May
Currently pay £168 for gas and electric the same all year round and don't end up in any debit or credit really.
Based on what we've used in the last year they have offered us a fix which works out at £330pm or to stay on variable it will be £275pm. So we're not fixing. 4 bed detached house about 20 years old. Boiler is old but not too bad. Both wfh and kids are constantly on computers