Energy Price Rises

[astorsback]

Just had an email from my current supplier telling me my 2 year deal will end in May.

They also sent a helpful link to their new 'offers' suggesting I sign up to their new deal.

I currently pay £1283 per year (about £94 p/mth).

New deal is £4,250 per year - £360+ per month!

Surely the Government will have to step in?

So in case you are unaware, you don't have to sign up to a new deal.

Do nothing and you'll move onto the price cap. It will be more than £94 pm, but nowhere near £360 pm.

Probably around £200 to £250, if the £94 was about right for your usage and you don't have any debt or credit on your account.

As for the government 'doing something', I agree, especially if prices continue to rise as, come next winter, if prices stay high or increase further, it will push even more people into fuel poverty, or be in a position where their disposable income is wiped out or be severely stretched, including a lot of their core voters of pensioners on middle incomes.

How much will your bills be if you don't sign up to a deal? Do the calculation and see if there is anyway you can reduce fuel consumption too.

The government will not want to step in. Maybe they will be forced into it.

Thanks. After posting, I read a few of the other threads on this topic, so I understand it now. Panic over.

We've just been quoted £268 per month for a 2 year fixed price deal, normally we pay around £100. I'm panicking. That's a huge jump!

If you opt to revert to the standard variable rate, you will be protected to some extent by the price cap. Even though it has increased it is still worth considering as it's significantly cheaper than most fixes available.
It's coming into summer, so bills will naturally be lower anyway at that time of year.
The government are already planning to help - by a £200 energy loan starting in October automatically deducted from energy bills, and a £150 rebate in Council Tax for bands A-D. They are also looking to extend the eligiblity for the Warm Home grant of £140 per year.
There will be an election within two years - there will be further plans afoot to ameliorate the impact.
Yes, bills will certainly increase, but I think the level of panic is overblown.

Yes, bills will certainly increase, but I think the level of panic is overblown

I don't. G&E have already gone up by £1-2k pa and could rise further. Council tax has increased. Petrol has gone up by at least 50% in a year. Food is more expensive, as are many other things.

Pay and benefits are stagnant or rising only by a very small amount.

Many people will be facing increased costs of maybe £3-400 pm as a minimum that are hard to avoid. There are millions of people who were already not making ends meet and many more where the price increases will wipe out some or all of their disposable income.

So they stop spending on non essentials and demand for leisure/entertainment type services falls, which is the sector that has had the hardest time during the pandemic so is least in a position to cope with this, so businesses go bust.

Or people keep spending and get into debt, which can also have drastic effects.

We haven't felt the full affect of the rises yet. We, along with millions of others, are still paying fuel bills based on prices a year ago, when they were under half what they are now. Give it a few months/a year, and a lot more people are really going to be feeling the pinch as the extra costs will have had a chance to build up.