Hell's bells!

[Workingman]

I have just received a letter from Scottish Power informing me of the new prices from the 1st of October. According to them the new tariffs will cost me an extra £62 for gas and £22 for electricity. That's a total rise of just under 18%!!!

Then you get to the small print on the back page an lo-and-behold if I switch to their current cheapest tariff I can get a total saving of £59 based on my current usage - a £143 difference between the two. The £59 saving will probably be wiped out by price rises before October but at least I will be no worse off!

And once I change I can then hunt around for cheaper deals with other utilities. I am on to it.

[meriad]

I need to do the same Frank - my direct debit has gone up from 76 a month (for gas and electricity) to a whopping 126!!!! They do have a cheaper tariff I can switch to which would bring it down to 109 a month, but that's still too much.

So now looking around but want to make sure that whatever supplier I go with is 100% sustainable which does limit it a bit

[Workingman]

Well guess what...? The website is useless and the chat function is by bot and it knows nothing. I have phoned and managed to get through all the 'press this, press that' nonsense and all their people are busy so I have demanded a call-back. It will be one hour to one hour and a half.

Ria, I am also looking for other suppliers as it might be the quickest way to get the change done.

[saundra]

Wish I hadn't read that in with SS

[meriad]

Wish I hadn't read that in with SS

I'm with E.On Saundra - I think all suppliers are increasing their prices

[Workingman]

Well that was torture!

Just short of two hours for the call-back and then a bad line with both of us hardly able to understand each other. The upshot is that the change will be done on the 23rd of September but I have to have smart meters fitted whether I like them or not - the new rules - hence the delay.

At least they will be in before the new charges take place and I can get on the cheaper tariff which is fixed for 15 months. No exit fee after that so then I will be looking to move.

Saundra, Ria is correct, they are all putting their prices up due to Ofgem's price cap... and they are all going for the max by the look of things.

[Kaz]

Oh blimey! Hope you get sorted out

[meriad]

Frank, may I ask who you changed to and what they're charging per kWh on the electricity - did they tell you?

[Workingman]

Ria, I am sticking with Scottish Power for now because the meters need changing and for them to do it it is free.

It's a bit of faff getting the unit price because I cannot find the last quarter bill and the letter only gives annual figures for kWh - 1029. I do have a spreadsheet and if I look at the average daily kWh usage (about 3) and take off the standing charge it is about 15p kWh.

On some days during the summer I use less then one unit.

[cruiser2]

I am with Octopus Energy. They recently wanted to increase the monthly direct debit.
I said keep it at the ame amount-£100.00. If I owe more than £100.00 I will then send a cheque to reduce the balance. This means I keep money in my bank earning interest
until I have to pay.
It is easy to contact Octopus both by phone and email and are always helpful