Cost of living crisis.

[BKLFox]

4 minutes ago, Nalis said:

I keep a credit which now sits at about £400 thanks to paying what I did this time last year until about September of this year, never asking for the excess back as I was still shit of getting hit with a four figure bill out of the blue, which has happened to me in the past with two different energy companies.

 

Also begs the question of how much interest they gain these days from the excess credit sitting on their client account?

In the past 2yrs the credit pot has sometimes sat at £1800 (no lie) but I left it as no one really knew what was happening but when the bills come around it’s like trying to watch a magicians slight of hand trick on how they gobble that £1800 up and still tell you your £300 in debt so need to top up the already inflated DD 🤷‍♂️ 

[Lako42]

On 11/11/2023 at 08:35, DennisNedry said:

It seems that people only have EV cars through work, fleet vehicles, salary sacrifice schemes etc. 

 

Unfortunately for me I could only have an EV if I ripped out my front garden and convert it to a driveway, otherwise I'd have nowhere to charge it. 

Nope

 

Signed my deal on a private lease last week and getting my charger installed in the next week or so. 

 

All just done privately, no work. Got a cracking deal mind. 

[HighPeakFox]

I pay my electricity and gas on direct debit, and only pay for what I've used - all it takes is regular meter readings. 

 

I advise anyone with the time to sort it out to do so. 

[The Year Of The Fox]

1 hour ago, BKLFox said:

Weirdly after 2 months of BG telling me to decrease my DD only by £20 at a time mind they have now suggested I up it by £100 as they say I will be in debit by the end of contract, what gets me is that after all the over payments my account sits at £1300 in credit, I was going to ring to take at least half of that but now not so sure. But what really confuses me is that I must be clear on payments (ie paid for what I have used thus far) they now want me to up my DD from £277 to £379 & I have this pot of £1300 sat there so if an energy bill runs June to June they are predicting In the coming 6mths I will use £3,574 worth of energy which is total BS.

Prior to all this I was paying £1400-1800 per year, they have me pushing £5k for the past 2yrs now I really don’t understand how they do it and neither do their call centres as the last time I rang when they had me on a more ridiculous DD they just replied ok how much do want to / can you pay which got my back up straight away….I just want to pay for what I use 😖 

 

I’m currently on their standard variable, pay by DD with quarterly bill, 4 bed detached, thermostat doesn’t go over 18 in the 4 colder “winter” months due to wood burner & is off for the rest of the year so only showers really hitting the gas. I’m the only 1 wfh in the house during the day so even then the thermostat will go down in those 4mths so not like it’s 18 constant.

I expected to pay double due to rises which would top me out at £3600 worst case but £5k I just don’t see how and their billing systems are so confusing they have you believe them.

I can’t be alone on this, anyone have any numbers for a team in BGas that can actually answer questions….or am I being naive and £5k is what it is now?

Of course they’d like you to put extra money in their bank, whilst they accrue the interest on it 

[grobyfox1990]

1 hour ago, BKLFox said:

Weirdly after 2 months of BG telling me to decrease my DD only by £20 at a time mind they have now suggested I up it by £100 as they say I will be in debit by the end of contract, what gets me is that after all the over payments my account sits at £1300 in credit, I was going to ring to take at least half of that but now not so sure. But what really confuses me is that I must be clear on payments (ie paid for what I have used thus far) they now want me to up my DD from £277 to £379 & I have this pot of £1300 sat there so if an energy bill runs June to June they are predicting In the coming 6mths I will use £3,574 worth of energy which is total BS.

Prior to all this I was paying £1400-1800 per year, they have me pushing £5k for the past 2yrs now I really don’t understand how they do it and neither do their call centres as the last time I rang when they had me on a more ridiculous DD they just replied ok how much do want to / can you pay which got my back up straight away….I just want to pay for what I use 😖 

 

I’m currently on their standard variable, pay by DD with quarterly bill, 4 bed detached, thermostat doesn’t go over 18 in the 4 colder “winter” months due to wood burner & is off for the rest of the year so only showers really hitting the gas. I’m the only 1 wfh in the house during the day so even then the thermostat will go down in those 4mths so not like it’s 18 constant.

I expected to pay double due to rises which would top me out at £3600 worst case but £5k I just don’t see how and their billing systems are so confusing they have you believe them.

I can’t be alone on this, anyone have any numbers for a team in BGas that can actually answer questions….or am I being naive and £5k is what it is now?

You are wasting your time talking to call centres, email Chris O Shea with what you have written here, and what you want from them

[dsr-burnley]

2 hours ago, Greg2607 said:

to quote the analysis on it............  " the largest reduction in real living standards since official records began in the 1950s."

 

Do they estimate how much of this is because of covid and the Ukraine war?  They use pre-covid as the high point that they are measuring from.

[Legend_in_blue]

 

Impressive performance from Reeves imo.  Although not difficult to wipe the floor with the Jack of all Trades who is pretty much useless at everything he's been in charge of.

[westernpark]

9 minutes ago, Sideshow Faes said:

Always sad to see an ordinary person taken in by Tory nonsense.

You feel free to believe what you want.

But if you think voting right is going to do anything for your life, then you're sadly mistaken. 

As the last 13 years of broken public services, skyrocketing debt, record high taxes, worst period for living standards, and worst period for growth, have proven.

Each to their own Einstein. 

The country is broken, the notion of tax cuts or national insurance cuts is idiotic and the opposite should be happening. But as was shown with Brexit, Trump and across Europe, ordinary people don’t always vote for the centre or left parties and to dismiss it as just nonsense is perhaps one of the reasons why these party’s have success.

[Lionator]

6 hours ago, BKLFox said:

Weirdly after 2 months of BG telling me to decrease my DD only by £20 at a time mind they have now suggested I up it by £100 as they say I will be in debit by the end of contract, what gets me is that after all the over payments my account sits at £1300 in credit, I was going to ring to take at least half of that but now not so sure. But what really confuses me is that I must be clear on payments (ie paid for what I have used thus far) they now want me to up my DD from £277 to £379 & I have this pot of £1300 sat there so if an energy bill runs June to June they are predicting In the coming 6mths I will use £3,574 worth of energy which is total BS.

Prior to all this I was paying £1400-1800 per year, they have me pushing £5k for the past 2yrs now I really don’t understand how they do it and neither do their call centres as the last time I rang when they had me on a more ridiculous DD they just replied ok how much do want to / can you pay which got my back up straight away….I just want to pay for what I use 😖 

 

I’m currently on their standard variable, pay by DD with quarterly bill, 4 bed detached, thermostat doesn’t go over 18 in the 4 colder “winter” months due to wood burner & is off for the rest of the year so only showers really hitting the gas. I’m the only 1 wfh in the house during the day so even then the thermostat will go down in those 4mths so not like it’s 18 constant.

I expected to pay double due to rises which would top me out at £3600 worst case but £5k I just don’t see how and their billing systems are so confusing they have you believe them.

I can’t be alone on this, anyone have any numbers for a team in BGas that can actually answer questions….or am I being naive and £5k is what it is now?

We had this problem. British Gas don't let you reduce your direct debit even if you're massively in credit, they just give it you back when you leave which is stupid for so many reasons.

 

We switched to Octopus who are much more flexible and we truly do only pay for what we use like @HighPeakFox says, although we did the meter readings with British Gas and they still massively overcharged us. My advice would be switch to Octopus, although I think OVO do the same. 

[RobHawk]

1 hour ago, Lionator said:

We had this problem. British Gas don't let you reduce your direct debit even if you're massively in credit, they just give it you back when you leave which is stupid for so many reasons.

 

We switched to Octopus who are much more flexible and we truly do only pay for what we use like @HighPeakFox says, although we did the meter readings with British Gas and they still massively overcharged us. My advice would be switch to Octopus, although I think OVO do the same. 

Don't forget to get a octopus referral code if you do switch to them, both parties get £50 credit if you do. 

 

With this in mind, anyone who has there energy with shell energy, you are gonna be transferred to octopus soon anyway so may as well transfer now with a referral and get the £50 in your account 👍

 

Edit: here's my referral code if anyone wants it https://share.octopus.energy/mint-seal-498

Edited 22 November 2023 by RobHawk

[HighPeakFox]

13 minutes ago, Lionator said:

We had this problem. British Gas don't let you reduce your direct debit even if you're massively in credit, they just give it you back when you leave which is stupid for so many reasons.

 

We switched to Octopus who are much more flexible and we truly do only pay for what we use like @HighPeakFox says, although we did the meter readings with British Gas and they still massively overcharged us. My advice would be switch to Octopus, although I think OVO do the same. 

At the risk of contradicting you, I'm with British Gas, and they quite happily let me change from the former to the latter. Maybe I caught the right person on the right day. 

[Bellend Sebastian]

1 minute ago, RobHawk said:

Don't forget to get a octopus referral code if you do switch to them, both parties get £50 credit if you do. 

 

With this in mind, anyone who has there energy with shell energy, you are gonna be transferred to octopus soon anyway so may as well transfer now with a referral and get the £50 in your account 👍

I did this and it worked.

 

When I'll get the £500 credit I've got with Shell back is anybody's guess.

 

I've got a new Smart Meter coming as well for some reason. One is a bit temperamental but naturally they've not told me which one is being replaced

[Lionator]

9 hours ago, HighPeakFox said:

At the risk of contradicting you, I'm with British Gas, and they quite happily let me change from the former to the latter. Maybe I caught the right person on the right day. 

Maybe we just spoke to people who were very stubborn. I’ve looked on a couple forums and they do suggest that it’s not official policy but you have to keep trying with them. Anyway, it has been a lot easier with octopus. 

[Nalis]

14 hours ago, HighPeakFox said:

I pay my electricity and gas on direct debit, and only pay for what I've used - all it takes is regular meter readings. 

 

I advise anyone with the time to sort it out to do so. 

I do this and I've still somehow been screwed over in the past with unexpected bills. Havent had an unexpected one in months though so might see how things look around springtime.

[Tommy G]

12 hours ago, westernpark said:

The country is broken, the notion of tax cuts or national insurance cuts is idiotic and the opposite should be happening. But as was shown with Brexit, Trump and across Europe, ordinary people don’t always vote for the centre or left parties and to dismiss it as just nonsense is perhaps one of the reasons why these party’s have success.

Justify tax hikes when the tax burden on the individual is the highest since WW2

[Greg2607]

44 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

Justify tax hikes when the tax burden on the individual is the highest since WW2

the biggest thing that irks me, is the freezing of the tax thresholds.  

 

in 1990 only 3.5% of the population were in the higher rate tax bracket.... it's heading towards 14% when the tax thresholds will eventually be "unfrozen.  £50,000 these days isn't a "high salary". 

 

The fact that the threshold at £100,000 hasn't changed since it was introduced is also crazy. 

 

if they wanted to be in a position where the same percentage of people these days were paying "higher rate tax" as they were in 92, then the threshold would need to be at £100,000. 

 

these days, middle earners are classed as higher rate tax payers and the impact on disposable income means that there isn't a huge incentive to move into that bracket and also when they do, they have less money to spend to help support local businesses. 

 

 

[westernpark]

1 hour ago, Tommy G said:

Justify tax hikes when the tax burden on the individual is the highest since WW2

We need to pay for things. 

[leicsmac]

1 minute ago, westernpark said:

We need to pay for things. 

Nah, we don't.

 

Every man (or family) an island and no such thing as society, it would seem.

 

On the general topic and with more seriousness, laissez-faire  on the part of government has pretty much only resulted in quality of life disparity and misery for the majority in the past and there's no reason to expect otherwise now.

[Tommy G]

23 minutes ago, westernpark said:

We need to pay for things. 

Who does? The government or individuals? 

[Robo61]

19 hours ago, Zear0 said:

BG are f**ing useless. 

 

When I first got my electric car, it'll come as a shock to nobody that my usage went up a lot and my account ended up in debt.  Think I was about £800 in the red when the statement came through so they upped it to £450 p/m (no gripes).

 

Since then, all that's gone, the cap has gone down a decent amount and I'm finally on an EV tariff.  I'm now £2k in credit and still paying the £450 p/m.  The DD changer on the website has never worked for me (shock...).  Called them up and they asked me "what would you like your DD to be?".  You f**king tell me you clowns, you've got three years of my use and know what the tariff is, tell me what to pay.  Sorry sir, we can't do that, wait until your bill that is due 7th Novemember and we'll let you know.  Still no bill.

 

What really really stings is I've not found a cheaper tariff so I'm staying through gritted teeth.  I know I'll get what's owed at some point but sticks in the craw how useless they are.  D**ks

Have you tried Octopus, cheap EV tariff and comes out top in customer service reviews. I'm paying 7.5p per KW on their tariff for at least six hours (some days more) at night, and day tariff is just a could of pence more than the Govs price cap. Brings my average rate down to under 20p per KW. Price cap is around 27p as I understand it. You do need a smart meter though and either a compatible EV or Charger.

[fox_up_north]

I'm on the flat rate export tariff with Octopus. Heard some horror stories of the variable.

[westernpark]

6 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

Who does? The government or individuals? 

Well, I believe in a large and active government, centrally and locally, high taxes, at least adequate public services, infrastructure and a decent minimum standard of living. So to answer your question, both.

Edited 23 November 2023 by westernpark

[HighPeakFox]

3 minutes ago, westernpark said:

Well, I believe in a large and active government, centrally and locally, high taxes, at least adequate public services, infrastructure and a decent minimum standard of living. So to answer your question, both.

Taxation of the ordinary whilst excusing those best positioned to contribute is what irks many. 

[Guest BlueBrett]

11 minutes ago, westernpark said:

Well, I believe in a large and active government, centrally and locally, high taxes, at least adequate public services, infrastructure and a decent minimum standard of living. So to answer your question, both.

So you trust the government with your money more than you trust yourself?

 

37 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

Nah, we don't.

 

Every man (or family) an island and no such thing as society, it would seem.

 

On the general topic and with more seriousness, laissez-faire  on the part of government has pretty much only resulted in quality of life disparity and misery for the majority in the past and there's no reason to expect otherwise now.

Government is currently bigger than it has ever been. To describe the current approach, or anything we have seen in most of our lifetimes, as laissez-faire is way beyond ignorant and touching on insane. 

Edited 23 November 2023 by BlueBrett

[Guest BlueBrett]

h

Edited 23 November 2023 by BlueBrett
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