Lecky& Gas Bills

If Electric and gas prices are lower How come Octopus have put mine up £30 a month.

Wont it be because the help you got earlier is no longer available?

I don't think It's that FM

Just a suggestion Peter, why not ask Octopus energy?

"Just a suggestion Peter, why not ask Octopus energy?"

Stop thinking too hard, you will do yourself a mischief .

When did Octopus lower their charges? I'm paying the same as I did when they shot up in - was it April?

I'm due to send in another meter reading in a few days, so it would be nice if mine could be lowered as it's been crippling me for months.

I've been paying £265 a month and I don't have any central heating; and I've been as frugal as I can with my little electric heater at night, just putting it on for an hour when it's been cold, as I have with all other electrical appliances, only using it for necessities.

ENERGY PRICE CAP

Ah yes, thank you for the reply. I'd heard about a fall in October, but mine hasn't be lowering gradually over the last few months, and I've used less with the weather being nice.

Ne' mind. If there's no change over the next couple of months I'll tackle 'em about it.

Cheers.

Solar - It's the Future!

For heating. yes, but not for boiling kettles, running washing machines, dryers, showers, fridges, freezers and - erm ..... other stuff!

Why not?

Dont bite.......dont bite

It's okay, Stardelta. He thinks am daft! Has done since 2006!

If it's any consolation tonker thinks everyone is daft,Mollie.
But if you know everything like he does you would, wouldn't you.

plus he earns more than a doctor.

I think he meant to say docker, Baz.

Peter G

"If Electric and gas prices are lower How come Octopus have put mine up £30 a month"

If you are on the monthly direct debit scheme, adjusted once a year, which most folk are, it is just an adjustment, you may have been estimated low last year, and this year it has been raised to compensate for that.

i,m with octopus & they put the prices up because they can .

Mollie m, I don't know your circumstances but £265 seems a lot if you don't have central heating. I was lucky and got a 2 year fixed deal with Octiopus, which is due to run out next month. I pay £120 currently and my new quote is £186. Semi detached 3 bed dormer, central heating, 2 occupants and retired.

I had a hunch energy prices were going to rocket so chose a fixed deal 23 months ago that at the time was rather expensive. Gas and electric for me ever since has only about £80-£90 a month, mainly standing charge. My 2 year deal ends in a couple of weeks. Not looking forward to it.

We are with Octopus and our monthy direct debit has now gone down by £60 a month as a result of ending up with a end of winter credit of £900 which resulted in me getting in touch with them and getting a refund of the said amount and a more sensible monthly direct debit payment.

Anyone who is paying more while using the same amount of energy when the energy prices have come down needs to find out why with their energy supplier!

I called for some diesel this morning and I put £20 in at the pump.
When I went to pay, the cashier said, "that's £160 please, Sir".
"What?", says me, "I've only put £20 in and £20 is all your getting"!
"But, Sir, we now charge you for your estimated next months worth of diesel, you pay for it in advance, so you're always in credit and you can take your diesel in winter, when you can't buy yourself any 'cos you've run out of money"!

"^*&*&* %^^ *, you Pa^*i Bas*£^d"! says me.

Nightchap

Even if Mollie doesn’t use any gas or electricity she’ll still be paying up to 80 pence per day for the daily standing charge. It’s a racket insufficiently challenged by a week regulator Ofgem.

I did read, (Can't recall where) that bumping up the standing charges way above inflation was part of the deal the government cut with suppliers, to get them to take on the accounts of customers who had been with the failed suppliers who ceased trading.

These industry costs include the increases in fixed network costs, this is the cost of maintaining cables and pipes that distribute energy, costs which have gone up nationwide due to changes in the labour market and inflation. An increase in policy costs applied by the government or Ofgem, such as green levies and the rise in the warm home discount rebate. Most significantly, the cost of moving everyone whose firm went bust to new suppliers as part of Ofgem's Supplier of Last Resort Process is added to everyone's bills via an increase to standing charges.

LINK

I agree the standing charge increase is a rip off.

My solar has no standing charge.

It’s the future!

Posted by: tonker (27383) View tonker's page

My solar has no standing charge.

It’s the future!

Replied: 19th Sep 2023 at 13:42

How much is a new inverter should you need to replace?

Whilst i agree with you "Nightchap" What i find deplorable is the actual ""Standing THEFT"" surely this tax is not needed but if it has then should be a token fee ,not the exhorbitant theft they now charge . Also i ask the wisdom people on here to find out when first did "Standing Theft " start what year was it intriduced ,today for me it's a natural progressin tax which if at all possible needs to be abolished . Here again it's down to a wee guy locked away in cupboard devising ways and means of how to steal more money from already bled people . The thing is every house has to have meters ,so why charge the earth ????
G.B.

Just found this out and the Standing Theft Charges date back to believe it or not the 1930s . yes 1930. At the time this was the reason;
""Standing charges - £51.32 a year for late payers of gas & electric bills and £26.83 for direct debit customers.. were introduced to equate to a cover charge of meter -rental.Thats the official guide line ,or as i like to to refer to it """THE THEFT CHARGE ""
G.B.

"£26.83 for direct debit customers.."

In 1930?

Posted by: tonker (27383) View tonker's page

My solar has no standing charge.

It’s the future!

Replied: 19th Sep 2023 at 13:42

How much is a new inverter should you need to replace?

They come at varying prices, depending on output, up to about £800 for a decent 5kW.
You wouldn't only have one though.
The bigger the output, the higher the current produced in relation to the input voltage.
I would split the load over three inverters.
The most I've paid is £249 each for 2kW and £130 for 1kW.

I have no problem with the concept of a standing charge. After all if this charge is to cover the cost(s) of replacing worn out meters / maintaining the supply network / meter readings etc., fair enough. My gripe is that my electric standing charge is going from 24.38p to 49.77p. No way that that 100% increase can be blamed on world market prices / the war in Ukraine etc. The cost of meters has not gone up 100%. Labour costs have not gone up 100%. Nothing to my knowledge has gone up 100 %.

One of the reasons standing charges are increasing is that people are using less electric nowadays.

Most significantly, the cost of moving everyone whose firm went bust to new suppliers as part of Ofgem's Supplier of Last Resort Process is added to everyone's bills via an increase to standing charges.

First Mate - Does that mean when the Supplier of Last Resort has covered their expenses the price of the standing charge will fall. I very much doubt it.

mollie m

If you pay by direct debit, cancel it and set up a standing order for a amount based on the estimated yearly usage for the next twelve months which is shown in the top right corner of your monthly statement and divide the yearly figure by twelve.

I took this course of action and it resulted in Octopus giving me a more accurate monthly direct debit figure instead of their inflated figure which resulted in a end of winter period credit of £900 and for which they had accured bank interest during the time of the inflated period.

I then cancelled the standing order and set up a direct debit on their website for their more more accurate lower monthly figure which is still keeping my account in credit, but it goes anywhere near to being in debit, I can always make a one off payment to keep the account in credit.

She did a grand job Thatcher

I Have just been informed by my fuel firm ie B/GAS that the price is coming down for me and their forecast is that i will be some £ 980.00 better off from 1st October 2023 not bad for starters hey!!!G.B.

Handsomeminer

What has Thatcher who got into power as a result of the inept Callaghan Government of the seventies got to do with the topic about the energy bills of today?

You really need to explain your thinking instead of just making glib comments!