Gas and electricity bills.

[Alan2273]

Has anyone recieved there new rates for the utility bills.

I had a shock when I opened mine this morning.

The electricity bill done by direct debit stayed the same but the gas also done by direct debit went up £26 a month.

That is with NPower.

I am in the fortunate position where I do not have to worry about bills, but how do people on fixed incomes, especially pensioners cope with these rising bills.

Also fuel is going up daily and food costs as well.

I was talking to a friend the other day and his fixed rate mortgage comes to an end next month and his payments are going up by £218 a month, plus all the other rises I mentioned above, it is no wonder people are leaving the UK in droves.

[Watchful]

It is scandalous!

Fortunately I don't pay mine on DD but, when the bill comes in, at the P.O. by cheque or Debit card.

We still have them separate; i.e. Electric - EOn and Gas, British Gas, but the prices have gone up.

[Irene]

It is scandalous!

Fortunately I don't pay mine on DD but, when the bill comes in, at the P.O. by cheque or Debit card.

We still have them separate; i.e. Electric - EOn and Gas, British Gas, but the prices have gone up.

You might find uSwitch.com worth looking at, for comparisons.

It's possible that you could save quite a lot per annum. :)

[CurlyWhirly]

Fortunately I don't pay mine on DD but, when the bill comes in, at the P.O. by cheque or Debit card.

In actual fact it's a disadvantage to not have a direct debit set up as some companies charge more for any other way of paying your bills like for example BT.

I save around £26 a year on my gas and electric by paying by Direct Debit.

[catgate]

I do not know what you are all worrying about. Gordon, only in the last few days, has said that everything is fine, and we shall be much better off than the rest of the world, thanks to his prudence and diligence.

He has got his eye firmly on the ball.

Unfortunately for us he is using an old trick first ascribed to Nelson....."I see no problems".

[Watchful]

I do pay for some things by DD, as there is no option, but I hate DDs. I'm not combining my fuels either as I'm quite happy with them the way they are.

The point about monthly charges when they put them up a lot, as with fuel in this case, is that you have to pay it until the end of the year and that is money gone when you may not be able to afford it so they invest it and gain interest.

I've heard such horror stories about those who have changed and pay for their gas and leccy this way, especially with NPower, that I am not tempted

[catgate]

I've heard such horror stories about those who have changed and pay for their gas and leccy this way, especially with NPower, that I am not tempted

I have a friend who thinks this is a wonderful thing, because he always gets some back at year end.

Don't ask me how I come to have such intelligent friends.

edit:- Mind you....he is a Lancastrian!!!!

[Watchful]

I've heard such horror stories about those who have changed and pay for their gas and leccy this way, especially with NPower, that I am not tempted

I have a friend who thinks this is a wonderful thing, because he always gets some back at year end.

Don't ask me how I come to have such intelligent friends.

edit:- Mind you....he is a Lancastrian!!!!

I prefer to save my money as I go along, when I can, and then I get the interest :D

[AlanHo]

In January I checked for the cheapest supplier and changed from Npower to British gas. Before the first bill arrived I was demonstarting to a friend how to use the comparison site and used my gas and Elec consumption figures as an example to show him Guess what - British gas were now severely beaten by Eon.

It was possibly due to the fact that suppliers were increasing prices at differing times - which makes these comparison sites misleading at times.

I will wait for a couple of months and check again before deciding whether to change once more.

[Irene]

In January I checked for the cheapest supplier and changed from Npower to British gas. Before the first bill arrived I was demonstarting to a friend how to use the comparison site and used my gas and Elec consumption figures as an example to show him Guess what - British gas were now severely beaten by Eon.

It was possibly due to the fact that suppliers were increasing prices at differing times - which makes these comparison sites misleading at times.

I will wait for a couple of months and check again before deciding whether to change once more.

When you change is critical.

As you say, it depends when they all put up their charges.

For anyone who is interested, I think that Martin Lewis's website gives good guidelines in this respect. LOOK HERE.

His newsletter can be interesting too.

[AlanHo]

In January I checked for the cheapest supplier and changed from Npower to British gas. Before the first bill arrived I was demonstarting to a friend how to use the comparison site and used my gas and Elec consumption figures as an example to show him Guess what - British gas were now severely beaten by Eon.

It was possibly due to the fact that suppliers were increasing prices at differing times - which makes these comparison sites misleading at times.

I will wait for a couple of months and check again before deciding whether to change once more.

When you change is critical.

As you say, it depends when they all put up their charges.

For anyone who is interested, I think that Martin Lewis's website gives good guidelines in this respect. LOOK HERE.

His newsletter can be interesting too.

I am subsribed to Martin Lewis's site. Can be very useful at times.

You might need to post a reminder in a few days when the old fella's back from his birthday outing.

He said he was going to celebrate in Kendal - I took that to mean the town - not Felicity.....

[Irene]

You might need to post a reminder in a few days when the old fella's back from his birthday outing.

He said he was going to celebrate in Kendal - I took that to mean the town - not Felicity.....

He should be so lucky!! :lol: :lol:

[CurlyWhirly]

I do not know what you are all worrying about. Gordon, only in the last few days, has said that everything is fine, and we shall be much better off than the rest of the world, thanks to his prudence and diligence.

He has got his eye firmly on the ball.

Unfortunately for us he is using an old trick first ascribed to Nelson....."I see no problems".

Wrong thread?

[catgate]

I do not know what you are all worrying about. Gordon, only in the last few days, has said that everything is fine, and we shall be much better off than the rest of the world, thanks to his prudence and diligence.

He has got his eye firmly on the ball.

Unfortunately for us he is using an old trick first ascribed to Nelson....."I see no problems".

Wrong thread?

Not at two o'clock this afternoon B)

[AlanHo]

I do not know what you are all worrying about. Gordon, only in the last few days, has said that everything is fine, and we shall be much better off than the rest of the world, thanks to his prudence and diligence.

He has got his eye firmly on the ball.

Unfortunately for us he is using an old trick first ascribed to Nelson....."I see no problems".

Wrong thread?

Whitworth or BSF....?

[Watchful]

Brass or steel?

[catgate]

Brass or steel?

Could have been ...coarse or fine ..or... BSF or Whitworth..or ...BA or Metric. Unfortunately there now seems to be dozens to choose from.

[Watchful]

They can all get cross-threaded though

[andsome]

I check on line every few weeks. At present, for our usage EDF is the cheapest. I get a discount for an on line account, another discount for paying by direct debit, plus another discount for reading my own meter and sending them the reading. I also get Nectar points. :D

[catgate]

I also get Nectar points. :D

Is that because you are a little busy bee or does someone at EDF think you are a honey.

[CurlyWhirly]

I check on line every few weeks. At present, for our usage EDF is the cheapest. I get a discount for an on line account, another discount for paying by direct debit, plus another discount for reading my own meter and sending them the reading. I also get Nectar points. :D

I'm with EDF and I have an online account but I didn't know that you can gain from it

I do, however, have all the other benefits listed above as well as signing a contract a while ago which means that I haven't had any price increases on my gas or electric and this will continue to be the case until September 2008 B)

Here's what it says in the letter:

"Congratulations. You made a great choice.

Due to the recent increase in the cost of buying and delivering energy to peoples homes, many customers energy bills have gone up.

However, because you took the sensible step of fixing your energy prices until September 2008, your rates will remain lower than our standard prices and you won't be paying a penny more than you have been. We hope you'll agree this is good news."

[Gandalph]

I check on line every few weeks. At present, for our usage EDF is the cheapest. I get a discount for an on line account, another discount for paying by direct debit, plus another discount for reading my own meter and sending them the reading. I also get Nectar points. :D

I'm with EDF and I have an online account but I didn't know that you can gain from it

I do, however, have all the other benefits listed above as well as signing a contract a while ago which means that I haven't had any price increases on my gas or electric and this will continue to be the case until September 2008 B)

Here's what it says in the letter:

"Congratulations. You made a great choice.

Due to the recent increase in the cost of buying and delivering energy to peoples homes, many customers energy bills have gone up.

However, because you took the sensible step of fixing your energy prices until September 2008, your rates will remain lower than our standard prices and you won't be paying a penny more than you have been. We hope you'll agree this is good news."

Great, but what happens after September Curly. Will you perhaps find yourself paying an extra couple of pence more than the other people are paying now.

[andsome]

I also get Nectar points. :D

Is that because you are a little busy bee or does someone at EDF think you are a honey.

Both. :lol:

[Watchful]

Be prepared for a whopping great increase come September Curly! :0

[CurlyWhirly]

Great, but what happens after September Curly. Will you perhaps find yourself paying an extra couple of pence more than the other people are paying now.

I think the price goes up in line with the people who didn't fix their prices by signing the contract

Be prepared for a whopping great increase come September Curly! :0

I hope not (see above) but if the prices go up steeply then I will be looking for an alternative supplier.

The trouble is that they are all 'much of a muchness' these days as the energy industry is run by 5 or 6 big companies who have bought the smaller companies so not much in the way of competition to be honest :(