Gas and electricity charges

I use a prepaid meter,easier for me,once a month put a larger amount on and then just top up by £10 a week on electric and £5 a week on gas so it never goes to low.
I also receive the winter fuel payment as I am on a low income and that really helps a lot.
Haven’t had heating on for years though,even when I was paying by DD, just too scared to put it on so its extra clothes and a duvet for me and my family

I'm with Utility Warehouse, have been for 7 years. I keep checking and none of the comparisons are giving me a lower price than I pay with them.

I recently found my very first quarterly electricity bill from when I first married in 1973 - long before privatisation and us all running around like headless chickens, chasing the cheapest prices. The bill was £12. This bill included an £8 interest free payment - the first of eight - for my Belling Compact 4 cooker. It was bought from the electricity board and the payments added to our electricity bill. Being easily able to buy a cooker as a newlywed and being able to keep warm felt like a human right back then. It doesn't feel as though we've progressed at all.

I'm with Bulb as well, but in the process of moving as their prices have increased considerably. I'm going onto an 18 month fix which I got through the Martin Lewis energy fix, plus I get cash back as well. I normally change once any fix comes to an end either yearly or 18 months as none of the companies reward you for loyalty!!
Another way to save money, not just on energy but on insurance etc, is to go through either Quidco or Top Cashback.

JustGrandma Those were the days! We moved into this house in 1966. The rates, including the water, were £52 a year. I am paying more than double that, every MONTH now, just for the rates, plus another £34 a month for water.
I hope, by the way, that all of you who don't use much water have had a meter installed. it can save you a fortune.

Meters have to be easily accessible to both the meter reader and the customer.
If you have used more gas/electricity, then they are entitled to take more money via DD but if you use a lot more than usual, it's incumbent upon the company to let you know that your consumption exceeds your payments.
Are you on dual fuel?
Do you pay by DD or what is your methis of payment?
Are you on a fixed tariff? If yes, they cannot charge more UNLESS you use more.
What was your last read 2 months ago and what is your latest meter reading?
Can you work out your bills yourself?

Octopus = M&S

I pay £14 pm gas (cooking/ch) with Brilliant-Energy .
My gas tariff is 3.40p per unit and 5.50p pd standing charge.
That ends next April.
My electricity is on a 5 yr business rate of £19pm.

My total gas bill since April 6th was £59.74p and payments were £84.
I give monthly meter readings online, send them a screenshot of the meter and can work our exactly what my bill will be.

We pay £90 a month dual fuel with First Utility, fixed till July 2020. We’ve built up a credit of £350 over the Summer, which will see us nicely over the coming months. That suits us better than withdrawing the surplus now then having to pay more later on in the season. Our smart meter and online account mean we always know exactly where we stand and what we’re using.

I was tempted to switch to Bulb earlier this year as they were a bit cheaper. They don’t do fixed term tariffs though, so you will get increases (and possibly decreases?) if the market price changes.

I use a prepayment meter, so there are no shock bills, but in winter it costs me nearly £10 a day as opposed to just a couple of pounds in summer. I'm with Ecotricity, which is a green energy company, so I don't grudge the money so much!

I have signed up with lookaftermybills.com Hopefully they will find the best deal for my electricity. It doesn't cost anything. They were on Dragons Den and all the Dragons said it was an excellent idea.

Here, here, Willow 10

Agree Willow10 It’s such a pain to do all the research every 12 months for utilities. But I force myself to do it. They just up your rates if you don’t bother. Phones, WiFi, too. Moneysavingexpert is a fantastic site to help guide you through. Smart meters being fitted for free by lots of companies for gas and electric, which help monitor how you’re using fuel.

rascal
They do not scour ALL the market and they get commission.
They did not and do not get the best price and they admitted to the dragons that, amongst other criteria, they take into consideration customer service and length of contract. They admitted that the cheapest price was not the overriding factor AND, they decide when and to which company, you swap.
I wouldn't give them my business, not in a million years. I can bet that I have the cheapest gas price of anyone commenting here.

Shizam
When you change provider you have to have, in all cases to date, a new smart meter.

No. You can refuse to have a smart meter. I changed to EON recently, and they have been badgering me, like my previous supplier, to have one installed. I change to a new supplier, most years, and the meter wouldn't function then. I don't need a machine spying on me to know how much power I am using. Also, although the companies tell you that it is free, that is not true. They may not charge you up-front for supplying one, but who do you think pays for them? The customers. of course. These companies are not charities.

I’ve just applied for a switch from bulb. Their prices went up as soon as I’d joined, they never used my meter readings and when I complained they sent a ‘happy-clappy’ response that my readings were either too late or too early and so an estimated reading was used every time, and guess what? Their estimation always exceeded my consumption. They’d always say my account was in debit knowing full well the DD would cover the debit within two days. I never knew what was coming up next and it was impossible to make head or tail of their reasoningThis month I sent a meter reading two days before the DD due date and then I got a reminder asking for another meter reading. The third price rise in a year was too much.

I can bet that I have the cheapest gas price of anyone commenting here.
Mine is the same unit price, but the daily standing charge is 15p, as opposed to your 5.5p, Gabriella. So less than £3 a month more than yours. I could have got a lower cost tariff from our supplier if I'd opted to go for one that wasn't fixed until July 2020.

I'm with npower on a fixed cheapest tariff paying £60 a month and in credit after paying the latest bill by £89. They increased my DD to £69 a month so I rang them and said I'm not paying any extra as long as I'm in credit. They tried to say that the extra was to cover higher winter consumption so I told them that if my credit amount becomes a debit we'll talk about an increase then and not before. They changed my DD back to £60.

I had a smart meter fitted around 3 weeks ago and I thought the object of the exercise was that I would no longer have to read my meters. Today I have been asked online to read the meters- they will be lucky because I am partially sighted and that was one of the reasons I had the meter fitted.

We had a smart meter fitted. Six months later we changed gas supplier and that was the end of a fully functioning smart meter. It now just functions as an unsmart meter.

My meter will work if I change suppliers tomorrow I believe.

Just dispute it. My consumption went down, quite a lot actually, but my bill went up, because of the terrible rises in the cost of fuel.

I spoke to my supplier who were Atlantic, and now have joined with SSE, and they saw I was probably not on the best tariff for my needs. They went to a lot of trouble to help me decide which tariffs would be best for me and came out to put in a different electricity meter - not a smart one as our area does not have them. My bill has gone down both in gas and electricity. All the people who dealt with my needs from the company were very helpful.

I would definitely speak to your supplier. All the companies are in competition, you only have to hint that you are making comparisons with other suppliers and they will probably jump to try and bring your bill down.

Dare I say, though, I am very worried about what will happen after Brexit. I am seriously experimenting with alternative ways to keep warm this winter and in the future - quite unusual ones!