energy prices

I’m with Shell. Used to pay £91 a month. They suggested altering it to £210 when my fixed rate tariff ended in January. I send in my readings every month, and they tell me how much I need to pay to cover my bills, without being in credit.

So my DDR has been £200, then £160, then £130, now it’s £110. I realise it will shoot up when the colder weather comes, but will just have to pay what’s needed to keep head above water.

They say I’m on the best tariff they can offer at the moment.

I'm still on a fixed tariff and so far have had no need to increase my D/D but in the past I've kept my eye on how much I've been using and argued with energy companies over them raising my D/D unnecessarily. I'm with Octopus currently and find their bills very easy to follow. I also send my readings in monthly and get an update back telling me exactly what I've used and how much if anything I owe.
Are you in arrears and paying that off?
If not talk to them and say why you think the increase is wrong? You say you can't afford it but do you actually believe it to be wrong?

I am with Octopus ? too FF - the App is so easy. However my payment went up from £158 to £250 in April and now I’m £205 in credit. Don’t forget we have that £400 to go direct to our energy supplier soon.

What £400?

From Sunak.

I refuse to pay by DD. I would get a small discount if I did but it’s not worth it. I take my meter readings each month and post them online then pay for what I have used during the month.

Oh. I've been living under a bucket and didn't know about that.
Ms Google, here I come.

When Octopus tried increasing my D/D I told them I'd rather pay extra as and when and keep the D/D the same and they agreed and that's worked really well for me. There's the £400 going straight to the energy supplier and there's also an extra Payment of £300 winter fuel allowance so don't panic yet and check your energy bill.

Don’t think we will get the £400 plus the £300! Wishful thinking!

Poppyred

Don’t think we will get the £400 plus the £300! Wishful thinking!

You will if you normally get the winter fuel allowance

Poppyred I am delighted to tell you that is what Rishi Sunak has promised to pay us lot, the old and vulnerable.

Unless Putin gets to us first, I can guarantee 100% that if you fit the criteria of living on this planet you will receive it.

Wow! £700! If that’s true I will share with my AC who will feel the pinch more than us

I'm also with Shell energy...Put me on go a rate called Flexible tarrif 7 and said it would be 138pds per month...Got another email before tarrif started to say I'm changed to Flexi tarrif 6 and will be 84pds a month....Tried emailing them but no reply...Just leaving it be till I see my next bill

Do you have to be on a benefit to get any more than 400pds... Hubby and I are only 64 and both retired....No state pension for another 19months

The details are here, Mine.

www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment

Unfortunately, you and your husband are too young to qualify.

For the Winter Fuel Payment, I should have said. Perhaps you meet other criteria for extra payments?

www.gov.uk/government/news/millions-of-most-vulnerable-households-will-receive-1200-of-help-with-cost-of-living

You can’t share the £400 Poppy because it will go directly to your fuel supplier, however your AC will get that too as it’s £400 per household.

My Octopus App allows me to make a one-off payment, but there’s also an option to get credit overpayment back. I wonder how many will do this and use the cash for something else (if it’s allowed). The extra WFA is just to be paid as usual.

Maggiemaybe

Unfortunately, you and your husband are too young to qualify.

When did they change that? It used to be 60.

The age at which WFA is paid has risen along with state pension age. Currently you have to have been born on or before 26 Sept 1955.

HowVeryDareYou

Has anyone's gas and electricity gone up a lot? I pay £145 (I increased it from £115 a few months ago) but Eon has quoted, for a new tariff, £286 a month! Almost double. We can't afford it.

How do they do that?

I am with Eon.next and they quote so much a unit for my economy 7 flex tarriff, a day rate and a 7 hours during the night rate.

How much I pay depends on how much I use.

I send them the two readings once every month, they direct debit for the cost.

Thank you.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2009/09/cash-boost-for-the-over-60s-claim-winter-fuel-payments-now/
Article of 2009, if this helps.

www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment
This is now -

Overview

If you were born on or before 26 September 1955 you could get between £100 and £300 to help you pay your heating bills. This is known as a ‘Winter Fuel Payment’.

This guide is also available in Welsh (Cymraeg).
You will get your Winter Fuel Payment automatically (you do not need to claim) if you’re eligible and either:

get the State Pension
get another social security benefit (not Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction, Child Benefit or Universal Credit)
If you do not get either of these, or if you live abroad, you may need to make a claim.

If you’ve got a Winter Fuel Payment before, you do not need to claim again unless you’ve deferred your State Pension or moved abroad.