ENERGY COMPANIES GOING BUST

Thanks for your reply. There are storage heaters but they don't work neither does the shower cooker sporadic so I know I should say something but not great landlord & am worried about her putting the rent up if I do!! Also would my energy cost come down

Pittcity

Those of you who have large amounts of credit with your utility company are a good arguement for Smart meters.
We are with Ovo and have complete control over our bills daily with hourly gas and electricity readings.
I simply change my next Direct Debit amount to cover the bill using the convenient app.
We now have smart water meters too.
No more of our cash sitting in big companies banks!

We do have a smart meter, but I prefer to get a decent fixed deal for a couple of years and pay the same amount every month. I just find it easier than changing the direct debit amount all the time, however simple it is. And then updating my finances spreadsheet every month to reflect a different amount.

We've paid £75 a month for our dual fuel for two years now (£90 a month for the two years before that), and I was lucky enough to have renewed our fixed price deal at the end of August, so assuming that Shell Utilities doesn't go under - and I'm touching wood as I type it! - that's what we'll be paying until September 2023. We are always a couple of hundred pounds in credit at the start of the cold weather, which sees us nicely through to the next summer without adjusting our payment. It works well for us.

I have made sure to save our last online bill though, showing a credit balance of £276, just to be on the safe side!

What worries me is that so many Care Homes will feel they have to close down as they won't be able to afford the heating. Why can't the Government negotiate better rates for Care Homes? After all, if they close down, that means a lot of elderly infirm or with dementia will be sent back home to their families to look after or they will try to put them in hospital which is overwhelm the NHS again.

They will not be able to send the Care Home residents back home. Most of them will have sold their homes to pay their care fees and I doubt if many of their family members will be in a position physically to house them. A family of 4 people living in a tiny three bed house on a new estate. Exacty how do they provide space and care for someone ill and probably with dementia.

What will happen is that the Councils/Government will have to take over the homes and pay the bills, or hospital beds will be needed to house many of the residents, who will be to old or frail to be looked after in any other type of accommodation. With COVID and the backlog of ordinary illnesses and patients, I am not sure where these beds would be. In the Nightingale Hospitals?