Energy bill increases

[Scaleyback]

Today we finished our financial projections for 2023:

Electicity: £1100

Oil: £1300

Coal: 900

Logs: 300

Total: £3600 pa

3 bed detached bungalow, decent size in Cumbria. 2 occupants, both retired.

Posted as a reference point for anyone interested.

Well, it is certainly high £300 a month for 12 months but not ( imo )
outrageously high. Your ' situation' doesn't lend itself to small energy bills. Detached bungalow, 1. 4 exposed walls to lose heat. 2. bungalow's have more roof footage than 2 storey builds, most heat loss is via the roof. 3. Location, Cumbria's west coast location is inclined to catch the worst of the weather. 4. I assume gas is not an option and oil, coal and logs combined will certainly cost more than
gas.
On the plus side you live in beautiful Cumbria, maybe in the Lake district ? or at least pretty close. That has to be worth a ' sizeable wedge ' ?

 

[MrGrumpy]

My energy forecast is looking circa £4k plus a year . I’ve tried to knuckle down on our usage as well . Which is noticeable. Hoping solar panels next year alleviate some costs for me long term. Not retiring anytime soon but currently , I’m not so sure living in this big house is the right thing when we do retire unless , energy costs come down !

 

[jowwy]

My dual duel bill for 2022 so far is - £1375, with only 20 days to pay for in December, as my November went upto the 10th dec....

so will be around £1575 is my prediction

 

[PaulSB]

I have a very, very bizarre situation with British Gas who we were moved to September 2021 as the "supplier of last resort." I love that phrase and regularly quote it to BG in my complaints.

After months of complaining BG eventually conceded my account had been wrong from November 1st 2021 to July 4th 2022 and I had overpaid. All the invoices were reversed and new invoices issued leaving me £211 in credit. Since then the addition of the EBSS payments has increased our credit and as of November 15th we were still £162 in credit. Last time I paid BG was August when the direct debit was £8.37!!!! it's a truly bizarre situation and one I'm going to have to manage carefully looking towards winter 2023/24.

Last submitted meter readings December 11th and I'm still waiting for the bill to arrive. Sometimes I have to ask for one to be sent, other months I get billed for only one fuel and then the next month get billed for two lots, etc. BG are shite.

I run the utility account at my son's house. I visit, read the meters, enter this in the app, and get a bill inside two minutes! Scottish Power are on another planet compared to BG.

 

[jowwy]

I have a very, very bizarre situation with British Gas who we were moved to September 2021 as the "supplier of last resort." I love that phrase and regularly quote it to BG in my complaints.

After months of complaining BG eventually conceded my account had been wrong from November 1st 2021 to July 4th 2022 and I had overpaid. All the invoices were reversed and new invoices issued leaving me £211 in credit. Since then the addition of the EBSS payments has increased our credit and as of November 15th we were still £162 in credit. Last time I paid BG was August when the direct debit was £8.37!!!! it's a truly bizarre situation and one I'm going to have to manage carefully looking towards winter 2023/24.

Last submitted meter readings December 11th and I'm still waiting for the bill to arrive. Sometimes I have to ask for one to be sent, other months I get billed for only one fuel and then the next month get billed for two lots, etc. BG are shite.

I run the utility account at my son's house. I visit, read the meters, enter this in the app, and get a bill inside two minutes! Scottish Power are on another planet compared to BG.

why not see if you can switch and still keep the government protection from another company??

 

[PaulSB]

why not see if you can switch and still keep the government protection from another company??

The last time I looked BG was the best deal around for me. I may take another look but more likely I'll stick with it till March and the end of EBSS.

 

[Scaleyback]

. BG are shite.

As a long term employee of British Gas (Transco) ' Back in the day ' and in receipt of a BG pension it pains me to read this. This seems to be a repeated story across the country.
Privatisation has taken this World leading gas company and transformed into a lottery on the type service you will receive.
No matter, shareholders are probably happy with their dividends so
alls well at corporate headquarters.

 

[PaulSB]

As a long term employee of British Gas (Transco) ' Back in the day ' and in receipt of a BG pension it pains me to read this. This seems to be a repeated story across the country.
Privatisation has taken this World leading gas company and transformed into a lottery on the type service you will receive.
No matter, shareholders are probably happy with their dividends so
alls well at corporate headquarters.

I'm not sure which department is which but will say this. The engineers are superb, knowledgeable, quality workmanship, informative etc. The installation of our new boiler a few years back was quick, easy and well done. We have a boiler service agreement with BG and I wouldn't change nor hesitate to recommend them.

The administration and customer service is absolutely appalling. Complete shite. This morning I'm trying to persuade customer service to send me a bill!!! We are only with BG as the "supplier of last resort" and never has a description been more apt. I can't wait to leave when the time is right. I've been with various independents over the last 20+ years, all have failed recently and clearly had a poor business model, but in terms of administration, billing, customer service etc. none deserved to go under and frankly on these criteria BG should have sunk a long time ago. Sorry to say this but it's true.

I should add I'm sure the people I speak to are well meaning but they seem to be powerless to get anything whatsoever done. It must be management they can't all be terrible employees.

 

[PaulSB]

Here is the response to my request for a bill from BG. Meter readings submitted on 11/12/22

"no worries I will be getting this sorted for you . need not to worry It will not be hampering to credit file as well as well as no huge bill will be asked to pay you rest assured As I will be making an arrangements for you rest assured."

"thanks for waitign I have made the arrangemnts for you rest assured no worries It will be sorted till 2 January rest assured and for your confirmation you can take this chat as confirmation."

 

[DCLane]

@PaulSB - that shows they've out-sourced their customer service to another country / third party. The language itself is hopeless, let alone the lack of professionalism included.

It saves base costs but adds incompetence.

 

[presta]

The engineers are superb, knowledgeable, quality workmanship, informative etc. The installation of our new boiler a few years back was quick, easy and well done. We have a boiler service agreement with BG and I wouldn't change nor hesitate to recommend them.

I think I've written before about how BG spent over 16 years repeatedly scraping off the limescale that was jamming a dangerous gas valve actuator on my water heater whilst pretending that they didn't know anything about the problem, or the modification that had been introduced to fix it.

 

[PaulSB]

@PaulSB - that shows they've out-sourced their customer service to another country / third party. The language itself is hopeless, let alone the lack of professionalism included.

It saves base costs but adds incompetence.

Absolutely, it's as clear as day. I would never blame the individuals who I'm sure do their very best. No point in getting angry with them either.

Compare this with Scottish Power who I had reason to call a few months ago. I manage the SP account on behalf of four men, including my son, with limited mental capacity. The call agent had to get authorisation from two individuals before speaking to me. The guy was perfect, patient, professional and understanding as each was coaxed into understanding and replying.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Absolutely, it's as clear as day. I would never blame the individuals who I'm sure do their very best. No point in getting angry with them either.

I'm not convinced of that, offshore call centres have never been very good & now add the fact that most of them now work from house with zero supervision most have gone from bad to atrocious, most appear to know they are untraceable, they know if you ask them a difficult question they are simply wait you out until you hang up, or disconnect, if they then get asked they will blame communication problems.

I was onto Vodafone the other day on their chat system, it took me to agent 6 before I got my answer,

 

[Chislenko]

Here is the response to my request for a bill from BG. Meter readings submitted on 11/12/22

"no worries I will be getting this sorted for you . need not to worry It will not be hampering to credit file as well as well as no huge bill will be asked to pay you rest assured As I will be making an arrangements for you rest assured."

"thanks for waitign I have made the arrangemnts for you rest assured no worries It will be sorted till 2 January rest assured and for your confirmation you can take this chat as confirmation."

At least you can "rest assured "

 

[byegad]

I have to say BG have been good for us. I read the meters when they ask and use their app to submit them, unlike other suppliers their 'recommended direct debit' amount isn't far off what I calculate it needs to be, and until recently they were remarkably stable, year on year. The shower I was with before, in a different house, would suggest a ludicrously low amount one quarter and a stupidly high amount the next, I routinely rejected their suggestion and worked out my own amount which never saw us hughly in debit or vastly in credit over 20 years!