Fixed price energy deal

I pay by direct debit, but only for what I have used.

In fact, years ago I asked the bank for a separate current account, no cheque book, no bank card, no debit card, just for direct debits for the electricity. This means that if they muddle up the numbers (by getting day and night readings counterchanged) and try to take too much then it will not crash direct debits for (is it community charge or council tax - I don't know the name but I know what it costs! ), water rate, television licence.

Then I start at April with £500 in the account and automatically pay in a fixed amount every month by standing order from one account to the other. For years, every April I reset the account to £500, giving me some rebate.

That has worked well. One year, unexpectedly, I had to be in hospital and when I got home there was a card from the then electricity company that the meter reader had been twice and I was not in, and they would estimate the bill. There was also an estimated bill stating a date when a direct debit payment would be taken. It had already been taken by the time I got home.

This year I thought it prudent to make the base amount £1000, even though I also increased the monthly amount significantly. I allowed for some increase in October 2022, and cautiously hoped that the £1000 would still be there in April 2023. Now I am wondering if it will be and even if I will need to put some more in before then. I suppose that not only will it depend on the price fixes from October 2022 and January 2023 but on what the weather is like in the winter of 2022-2023.

Since the start of lockdown in 2020 and for some time before possibly I have been sending correct readings by email. Thus far these have always been accepted as correct.

One of the problems with all of this energy business is that the media keep on about how many pounds it will cost, but that is for some average or other, but at least some seem to treat that as if it is the rate that everybody pays. I find it unhelpful as mine is more than that and it would help if percentages were stated rathe than things like bills will go up to £2800.

kitty was the kWh rate 100% more, or the direct debit?

The important thing is to check the kWh rate, that is the actual charge, not the arbitrary DD rate they set.

The Martin Lewis article suggests accepting if the new offer is 30/40% higher but the offer was almost 100% more.

I pay by DD but just £50 and then pay the extra when the monthly bill comes in, this way I get the DD discount but no extra money is sitting in their account.

I'm with Octopus and send a monthly reading.

They put the DD up to £95 and I just went into my account and reduced it back to £50. I'm not sure if other companies' web sites allow this.

The important thing about a fix rate is what they are charging you per kWh, not what they set the DD at... the DD can always be reduced according to your usage.

It's easy!

Is the advise still to sit tight?

If it’s complicated for you volver, God help the rest of us! Well, me anyway!?

Actually now I come to think of it "Fixed Rate" isn't the same as equal monthly payments...

Does it have to be this complicated?!?!?

Paying by DD isn't the same as Fixed Rate. You can pay by DD and pay a different amount every month based on what you use. Also, I get 5% interest on any credit I have, far more than I'd get from any bank.

Also, the word "central" is important to consider. If it goes down (boiler problem) it all goes down
And, of course, a gas boiler will not start without an electric spark nor will the circulating pump work.

I don’t understand why people pay by DD. Better in my bank than theirs. We read the meter and submit readings each month then pay for what we have used. I refuse to build up a credit with an energy provider. The discount offered to entice us to pay by DD isn’t worth it.

Shinamae

???? well I definitely would not have done, it prices seem to be going up so much more than the 54% that was predicted I really don’t understand it at all…?

Have a look at Shez1955's link, Shinamae
Prices had gone up before the 54% rise on 1st April and are predicted to rise again by 42% - 46% on 1st October.

Thank you Shez1955

Shez1955

Have a look at this about fixing energy tariffs
www.moneysavingexpert.com/latesttip/

I'm off to read that Shez1955, thanks.

Our Fixed Price deal ends at the end of July and our new Fixed Price deal would cost us three times what the old deal was. We're probably going to go on the variable rate as we were able to work out what it was going to cost us based on how we expect the rates to change over the next few months, and variable will probably be cheaper.

But I don't think ordinary people should be put in the position of having to "hedge their bets" on future energy prices. Its not something that everyone can do.

My DD for gas and electricity is £50 a month and I m £280 in Credit so more than 5 months worth in credit

Have a look at this about fixing energy tariffs
www.moneysavingexpert.com/latesttip/

Why didn't we just keep to the companies we had years ago ... one for gas , one for, electric , one for phones etc !!! So much easier ! So many companies with so many different deals ... unless you are really clever, no I am not clever, to work things out like which one is cheapest ! I certainly wouldn't have put my DD up ... good on your hubby saying no ... what do they do with the extra money the companies have off customers ! My late husband would say better in your pocket than theirs ! How true is that !

I have a friend , over 80, divorced, whose total income is just over£600 every 4 weeks.
She is lucky that she lives in a small bungalow but even so it is all relative.
She survives by living on capital.
That will not last in today’s economic climate.

This is so unbelievable and so shocking I am afraid for the future of many of us.
For people on fixed incomes it is not possible to pay this sort of charge and live as well.
I so regret staying in the family home when my H died.
It seemed sustainable then , now it may not be.
Will we all end up in court for nonpayment of bills.?

Oh the 54% was what it went up by on 1st April 2022, though I think that that was for gas. I think that it was 38% for electricity, but the price for electricity was already much higher than for gas.

However, people who were already on a fixed price contract then did not have to pay that increase at the time, but when the contract ends may be amazed at what the new price will be..

This house is all electric and has been since some time in the 1960s.

Gas is cheaper per unit but if used for central heating I think that there is then the issue that a replacement boiler is very expensive, much costlier than replacing an electrical heater.

Also, the word "central" is important to consider. If it goes down (boiler problem) it all goes down.

If an individual wall-mounted electrical heater goes down, one can plug in a portable heater, such as an oil-filled portable radiator, or a modern oil-free portable radiator - though only if there is a socket conveniently near.

The problem with these very high price contracts at present is that one would be paying at a much higher unit rate now than otherwise in the hope of being protected for some time period when prices otherwise might rise even higher.

Though number of units used at that high rate over summer 2022 might be much fewer than the units used at the protected rate over the winter of 2022-2023.

Yet what if a situation arises that the company providing the
energy on a "pay more now in the hope of savings later" contract goes bust?

???? well I definitely would not have done, it prices seem to be going up so much more than the 54% that was predicted I really don’t understand it at all…?