Fuel bills

[harry]

One to watch out for. My fixed price gas/electricity deal is coming to an end shortly and I have been sent a new proposal. Basically they want to charge £100/year "meter rental" (regardless of how much you use) For both gas and electric meters

They claim this will cost exactly the same as my present cost. (Lies, I don't use any gas at all, my gas meter is redundant.)

So if they are telling everyone else the same thing, that must mean that different people are being charged different amounts?

Anyway, one to watch this, there will be no benefit longer term.

[dennis]

It costs money to maintain the network and meters even if you don't use it. Why should others subsidise your bit of the gas network?

There will be for everyone else if you start paying for your bit of the network.

You could be disconnected as you don't use it.

[Dave Liquorice]

One of my fixed price tarrifs has also come up but the tarrif they will

move me to is still the best deal. Did make me look at the other supplie s though and those are switching, one to iSupply Energy (Fixed) and one to nice clean 100% nuke EDF Blue (Fixed).

But what I did notice was a huge range in the standing charges (aka "meter rental". Some (and this is electricity only) are > £100/year, m ost are £70 +/- a tennerish. The new regulations mean that the "no standin g charge" multi tier tarrifs are disappearing. But the companies seem to b e getting quite "inventive" within the regs, high or no penalties for earl y termination, discounts for DD (some fixed amount some percentage of use) , etc... I thought the new rules were supposed to make it simpler, so far

it seems to have made it harder.

So get it discconected and you won't pay anything or switch to a supplie r that has a real no standing charge tarrif only useage. I think there is

only one, Equigas, use is slightly higher but if you aren't using much.

[Nightjar]

If you are not using gas, the supplier should cap off the pipe as a safety measure. Some also remove the meter.

Colin Bignell

[Tim Watts]

On Tuesday 30 April 2013 07:48 dennis@home wrote in uk.d-i-y:

The expectation is that on average, most of the time, there's enough profit from the sale of gas to run the consumer's part of the network.

The fact that the odd person doesn't "pay their way" is pretty much irrelevant.

Nonsense.

[Tim Watts]

On Tuesday 30 April 2013 09:14 Nightjar wrote in uk.d-i-y:

It may be a temporary lack of use. I capped off my own pipe and informed the gas co that I would not be using any gas for a while, so they did not think anything was funny about zero readings. They said "thanks".

[Roger Mills]

Are you sure it's not just a case of moving you to a tariff with a standing charge from one that doesn't have one?

In most cases, if you have a standing charge, you then pay the same rate for all the units you consume. If you don't have a standing charge, you pay a higher rate for the first so many units each quarter, and then the standard rate for the rest. In all the cases I've looked at, it works out the same either way *unless* you're an exceptionally low user who doesn't consume all the dear units. Then, it's cheaper *not* to pay a standing charge. Even then, some suppliers are getting crafty by using longer billing periods. So, even if you don't use much gas in the warmest 3 months of the year, chances are you'll exceed to dear unit quota over a 6 month period.

[Terry Fields]

You might like to consider using some gas, even if it's a small amount.

I moved into a house with a capped supply, and after some years had GFCH fitted. Unfortunately, this fell foul of some regulation or other regarding non-use, and the supply pipe had to be replaced. Thirty feet of unmarked yellow steel pipe came out, and the same length of yellow plastic pipe went in (to be replaced again some 20 years later when the whole estate was repiped).

[dennis]

this is harry. He doesn't need another subsidy for something he doesn't use.

What's nonsense? are you saying he can't bee disconnected if he wants?

[harry]

It is capped off. I asked about removing it years ago but they said "why bother?"

[harry]

Well look out. Things have changed. They are gonna want some rent money off of you sometime.

[harry]

The "dear and expensive" units is finished. It's to be meter rental and one price for the units in future.

So if you are a zero/low user you could be in trouble.

[harry]

fitted. Unfortunately, this fell foul of

replaced. Thirty feet of unmarked

nt in (to be replaced again some 20

I have no means of using any gas. I have sent them an email asking for the meter to be removed.

[alan]

The other tricks I've noticed recently:

Only 3 or 4 simple tariffs BUT change them every month to make it difficult to compare and then imply that everyone could save £100s by switching. The ONLY people that could save and those on the highest tariff and not paying electronically.

Hide the old tariff rates.

Offer to tell you on a 6 month basis if they have a cheaper tariff based on your actual consumption and then give you the option to save a few quid by switching by just pressing the big on-line button. The catch is that they don't remind you that you may still have a £60 per fuel early switching penalty that may still be in force. Watch out for the Energy companies imposing the early switch penalty but NOT detailing it on any bill. They will just take the money via direct debit.

It looks if the energy companies are just sticking up two fingers to the regulator

[John Williamson]

Which is no surprise at all....

[bert]

Just gone through one of these Switch Together auction processes. The winners deal (Sainsburys) was no better than I could get myself with my existing supplier if I signed up for 12 months with them.

[Dave Liquorice]

Well until all suppliers allow switching without penalty after a month it's all a gamble anyway.

That's always been the case, those weasel words "up to" again.

Again always been the case and not just old tariffs, even the ones they

are trying to sell.

No surprise there. The regulator ought to make finding the daily standin g charge and the unit rate on the company websites simple and accessable from the home page. ie Prices > [Gas | Electricity] > Select Region > simple table.

They also ought to force speed up in the switching process. What on eart h are the companies doing for the 5 or 6 weeks it takes FFS. They can take an online meter reading and send out a revised bill, via snail mail, within a week...