Energy bill increases

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Scaleyback

Veteran
Location
North Yorkshire
Actually no. The deal I signed was lower then the variable deal with both Bulb who I left and EDF who I signed up with.
I'm certainly under no illusion of a huge raise in payments in two years once my current deal runs out.

Ah, I see. I think folk who were moved by ofgem after energy company closures were given 'special rates' which was quite right of course. Not their fault the company failed.
 

MontyVeda

a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
... probably a quid or two increase ...
which is next to nothing in light of the several hundred pounds more we'll be paying this coming year :rolleyes:
 

MontyVeda

a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
It's still another coffee out on a ride to me! Or half a cake! If it's nothing to you, can I have yours too? :hungry:
I make my own coffee... freshly ground from Aldi's finest beans with a choice of percolated, aeropress or mochapot with frothed milk. I can do about 20 cups for a couple of quid, so yes, of course :smile:
 

PaulSB

Squire
Ah, I see. I think folk who were moved by ofgem after energy company closures were given 'special rates' which was quite right of course. Not their fault the company failed.
In my case I wasn't given a "special rate" by British Gas who are my designated "supplier of last resort" - never has a description been more apt!!! :laugh:

I've been talking to BG about the account since September, at each step I've complied with their request for initial meter reading, monthly meter readings, annual consumption figures, direct debit etc. In that time I've received one bill in December until this week when I eventually discovered why I haven't been billed and how to ensure I do get a bill!! After much discussion my account was updated on Monday to move from £289 credit to £278 in debit. I still don't have a bill to allow me to check this. Until Monday my account has shown in credit for seven months!!! Why? Consumption and charges are only calculated every six months on this type of account.

To put this in perspective I've been with smaller companies, that is not "big six," for perhaps 15 years. My account has always been paid by monthly direct debit with some suppliers varying the DD every few months to ensure we keep on track. Over twelve months this always works out to within +/-£30-40. Happy.

With British Gas the system is different and it has taken seven months to discover this. If one pays a fixed amount by monthly DD one is deemed to be on an installment plan and BG only bill customers of this type every six months - frankly this is a disaster waiting to happen for many people. If one wants to receive a monthly bill then it must be paid by variable direct debit with BG taking the full amount every month. That's not quite what I wanted but if that's the system so be it, what really angers me is it took seven months to be given this information and only because I have chased and argued throughout that time.

To add insult to injury in December BG emailed to say I was paying too much and reduced my fixed DD accordingly. I was promised all the bills etc. would show on my account by Wednesday morning. Nothing and of course the website has been crashed for 48 hours. I'm fortunate in that I can find the £567 BG say I owe but for many, many people this would be an absolute financial disaster.

Supplier of last resort. Undoubtedly. I'll be away from BG as soon as the mess is sorted out.
 
D

Deleted member 26715

Guest
Has anyone been able to access BG to provide the readings for yesterday?
 

PaulSB

Squire
Has anyone been able to access BG to provide the readings for yesterday?
The site is still down. I received an email five minutes ago saying my December - March bill is available to view but I can't access the site. The other little gem I had from BG on Monday evening following my discussions with them - my DD was cancelled by BG!!! :eek::eek::laugh::laugh:

Who needs cyber criminals when Martin Lewis is available to bring down the internet?????
 

simongt

Guru
Location
Norwich
Although this may have been said, the problem now is that so many folk have electical 'devices' thta need to be recharged on an almost daily basis or run form the mains anyway that they willl have to make some very hard choices in order to reduce their electrical consumption.
My deasr mother-in-law lives in a wee house that was built in the '60s when electricity was seen as the 'new clean power' thus pretty much everything in said house is electric. Hmm. :whistle:
 

Scaleyback

Veteran
Location
North Yorkshire
The site is still down. I received an email five minutes ago saying my December - March bill is available to view but I can't access the site. The other little gem I had from BG on Monday evening following my discussions with them - my DD was cancelled by BG!!! :eek::eek::laugh::laugh:

Who needs cyber criminals when Martin Lewis is available to bring down the internet?????
You BG customers have my sympathy.
I worked for them for 20 years, joined when they were nationalised (and a good place to work) and left in 1996, 10 years after privatisation.
They were already 'going down the pan' I and many others took their redundancy package and couldn't 'get out' fast enough.
What a f***ing disaster this company has become. But I guess this applies to many/most/all ? the nationalised utilities etc that were
privatised so that competition would make them more efficient. I guess 'that ship has sailed'
 

PaulSB

Squire
You BG customers have my sympathy.
I worked for them for 20 years, joined when they were nationalised (and a good place to work) and left in 1996, 10 years after privatisation.
They were already 'going down the pan' I and many others took their redundancy package and couldn't 'get out' fast enough.
What a f***ing disaster this company has become. But I guess this applies to many/most/all ? the nationalised utilities etc that were
privatised so that competition would make them more efficient. I guess 'that ship has sailed'
They are the absolute pits on energy supply and I've deliberately avoided BG for as long as possible, 15-20 years, I can't recall. The problem is Customer Service and a complete inability to understand the customer and provide all the necessary information for the customer to make an informed choice. If I'd known in September what I now know I would have been on a variable DD since then.

What I would emphasise though is I find their engineers excellent. Some years ago BG supplied and installed our Worcester Bosch combi boiler and we have used the annual service and maintenance package ever since. The engineers are professional, on time, communicate well and generally a credit to themselves. I've never forgotten the one who walked in and said "you've got a leak" - within an hour an old disused but leaking lead supply was suspected and a team was there inside two hours to dig up the yard, cap it and the next day the back fill team arrived.
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
Although this may have been said, the problem now is that so many folk have electical 'devices' thta need to be recharged on an almost daily basis or run form the mains anyway that they willl have to make some very hard choices in order to reduce their electrical consumption.
Get a dynamo-usb converter and ride bikes more. Win-win :smile:

My deasr mother-in-law lives in a wee house that was built in the '60s when electricity was seen as the 'new clean power' thus pretty much everything in said house is electric. Hmm. :whistle:
Even the 50% electric price increase is better than the 75% increase of heating oil over the last 6 months (which looked like 175% earlier this month, topping out at 159p/l). As long as the clean electric appliances aren't still the 60s ones, but have been kept up to date by replacing with things like induction hobs, it's still a win plus clean too.
 
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