P&O Cruisers - What are things like where YOU are?

[Josy1953]

13 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

My tariff has jumped this year after a good deal with EDF last year. I looked at a couple of the new companies but after so many of them have gone bust over the last few years stuck with a 2 year fix with EDF. We are lucky in the fact our energy costs are reasonable because we have good insulation.

We are in the same position with good insulation.  Our EDF fixed deal finished in August but when we looked EDF were only £2 a month more expensive than the cheaper companies so we have stuck with them for another 2 years

[Harry Peterson]

13 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

My tariff has jumped this year after a good deal with EDF last year. I looked at a couple of the new companies but after so many of them have gone bust over the last few years stuck with a 2 year fix with EDF. We are lucky in the fact our energy costs are reasonable because we have good insulation.

We’ve been with a few different companies over the years, picking up some good fixed rates. This is the first time we’ve had a problem with the supplier, and in the current market it’s no surprise that the smaller ones are struggling. They’re having to pay substantially more in the wholesale market than the retail price they’re charging, and you need very deep pockets to keep that up for long.

 

The two that went under yesterday were fairly sizeable. There will be more, sadly, and the fewer there are left the better for the large ones to go back to overcharging.

 

It’s bizarre, consumers having to gamble on gas and electricity prices for a good deal, and I can’t believe this constant switching is an efficient way to run an industry.

[Adawn47]

7 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

My tariff has jumped this year after a good deal with EDF last year. I looked at a couple of the new companies but after so many of them have gone bust over the last few years stuck with a 2 year fix with EDF. We are lucky in the fact our energy costs are reasonable because we have good insulation.

We had a very good fixed tariff with Npower, but it's now been taken over by Eon. They honoured the tariff until it expired, but now..... wow!!!  I'm looking at other compnies but tbh there's not much to choose between them. I'm really annoyed that I'm penalised because I can't do a dual fuel  deal, because I don't use gas,  and won't pay by DD. The energy companies have us over a barrel

Avril

[wowzz]

5 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

and won't pay by DD

Personally we quite like paying by DD, paying the same amount each month. Means we don't get a whopping great bill in March!

[Harry Peterson]

12 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

We had a very good fixed tariff with Npower, but it's now been taken over by Eon. They honoured the tariff until it expired, but now..... wow!!!  I'm looking at other compnies but tbh there's not much to choose between them. I'm really annoyed that I'm penalised because I can't do a dual fuel  deal, because I don't use gas,  and won't pay by DD. The energy companies have us over a barrel

Avril

Why not DD, Avril? It really does make a substantial difference to what you pay.

[lincslady]

We are with e.on, for our sins.  I will not pay with Direct Debit because at the end of the year they may owe you something like £200, but won't pay it back, just put it towards next year.  We very recently had three estimated readings, with different bills, within two weeks, and then a meter man came and read the meter.  I had difficulty, but obviously agreed to pay this one - I do it all online, with debit card.

 

They keep pestering to give us a smart meter - I keep refusing, as many people have problems, and e.on made a complete hash of installing one for my son.  I  keep telling them I will have one only when I am legally obliged to do so.  The trouble is that changing to another supplier can be awful too!

 

Hope you have better luck with them, Avril.

[Harry Peterson]

34 minutes ago, Josy1953 said:

We are in the same position with good insulation.  Our EDF fixed deal finished in August but when we looked EDF were only £2 a month more expensive than the cheaper companies so we have stuck with them for another 2 years

I think this time round I'll stick with big companies too.  My present annual cost is £1590 with Utility Point on a one year fix.  The lowest price showing on the comparison sites now is £2040, and a one year fix £2250.  Quite a jump!  The Utility Point fix was good - but obviously too good for the company to stay in business with.

 

I don't much care who we're with, but if the company goes out of business part way through a fix, it's not good news.  I feel sorry for the staff too.  Not their fault, and they've been a good company to deal with.

 

 

[kalos]

I was the same as Avril regarding N-Power and got switched to E-on Next .

The online tariff is pay monthly ,I do the readings and payments online which 

I am more than happy to do. The fixed rate I am on is due to expire in October 

so I have searched U-switch and even they say there is no tariff to match this one

at present . So the new rises coming in I will just have to bite the bullet this time .

[Adawn47]

56 minutes ago, lincslady said:

We are with e.on, for our sins.  I will not pay with Direct Debit because at the end of the year they may owe you something like £200, but won't pay it back, just put it towards next year.  We very recently had three estimated readings, with different bills, within two weeks, and then a meter man came and read the meter.  I had difficulty, but obviously agreed to pay this one - I do it all online, with debit card.

 

They keep pestering to give us a smart meter - I keep refusing, as many people have problems, and e.on made a complete hash of installing one for my son.  I  keep telling them I will have one only when I am legally obliged to do so.  The trouble is that changing to another supplier can be awful too!

 

Hope you have better luck with them, Avril.

I could have written that post Lincslady. I had a lot of problems with their 'estimated' bills too. When I cancelled the DD and sent in my own readings my bills were significantly less. Alright, they adjust it once a year, but why should I overpay by so much? and you have to trust they reimburse the correct amount.  Sceptical I know, but  once bitten, twice shy.

Avril

[Adawn47]

56 minutes ago, kalos said:

I was the same as Avril regarding N-Power and got switched to E-on Next .

The online tariff is pay monthly ,I do the readings and payments online which 

I am more than happy to do. The fixed rate I am on is due to expire in October 

so I have searched U-switch and even they say there is no tariff to match this one

at present . So the new rises coming in I will just have to bite the bullet this time .

I came to the same conclusion Kalos. I read the meter and pay on line monthly. Our tariff ended in August, and I am now holding my breath.

Avril

[zap99]

1 hour ago, Harry Peterson said:

Why not DD, Avril? It really does make a substantial difference to what you pay.

I thought it was just me who likes an easy life. We compare,but tend to stick with BG, pay by DD and have a smart meter. This time around We checked the comparison sites. If we switch we can save about £4 on over £1500. Won't bother.

[Adawn47]

1 hour ago, Harry Peterson said:

 My present annual cost is £1590 with Utility Point on a one year fix.  The lowest price showing on the comparison sites now is £2040, and a one year fix £2250. 

I'm assuming that price is for gas an electicity Harry. In reply to your question about DD, I've had a very bad experience with DD payments and I now prefer being in charge of what comes out of our bank account. Once bitten as I already said.

Avril

[Josy1953]

My niece just let me know that her 13 year old son who had covid like symptoms when I dropped some shopping off for her yesterday has had the results of his PCR test and it is negative.  She was worried because 2 children in his class have it.😃

[Harry Peterson]

10 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

I'm assuming that price is for gas an electicity Harry. In reply to your question about DD, I've had a very bad experience with DD payments and I now prefer being in charge of what comes out of our bank account. Once bitten as I already said.

Avril

Yes, both Avril. I pay by DD simply because it's a lot cheaper that way. I'd sooner pay quarterly, but it adds too much to the cost.

[majortom10]

Can highly recommend Octopus Energy, not the cheapest, but very competitive compared to the big companies.

 

 

 

 

 

[wowzz]

Looking at some of the fuel bills quoted on here I'm glad we made a serious downsize when moving back from Spain. Our annual heating costs (gas) are less than £900 a year. 

[Adawn47]

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

Can highly recommend Octopus Energy, not the cheapest, but very competitive compared to the big companies.

 

 

 

 

 

My daughter uses Octopus Energy and is very pleased with it. It makes me wonder though if that could go the same way as ther other smaller companies. I hope not, the Big Four need some competition.

Avril

Edited September 15, 2021 by Adawn47

[Britboys]

I too am with Octopus and content with them. They are one of the bigger, small companies with over 2.4 million customers apparently.

[kalos]

Taken from my recent bill , I think we will stay put unless some amazing offer comes along .

 

 

Bill Reference: 190xxxxx (26th Aug. 2021) Your estimated annual cost £568.51 a year for electricity £508.53 a year for gas This is an estimate based on your expected annual energy usage, and your current tariff rates, charges and discounts, including VAT. Actual bills will vary depending on your usage and tariff selection. More information about your current tariff can be found overleaf. Could you pay less? Remember - it might be worth thinking about switching your tariff or supplier. For your electricity (on meter point 23309xxxxxxx) Good to know. You’re already on our cheapest tariff for your electricity usage. We’ll let you know if this changes. For your gas (on meter point 500xxxxxx) Good to know. You’re already on our cheapest tariff for your gas usage. We’ll let you know if this changes.

 

 

[Harry Peterson]

On a completely different tack, are any keen gardeners going to Chelsea this year?   September will be odd for Chelsea. We can’t go this year because of the spikey-bugger but maybe some here are going?

[Splice the mainbrace]

One of the problems for all energy companies and especially for the smaller ones is that the Government price cap is running behind the soaring price of wholesale energy. 

Incredibly the price of natural gas futures back in May 2020 was 10p/therm and is now 182p/ therm (up 10% again today), the years before the pandemic it tended to average around 50p/therm. It has even doubled in cost since this October price cap was set so I don't see how companies can cover the differences, although they do buy ahead. 40% of electricity in the UK is generated using Gas so it affects the price of that as well.

Fortunately I am on a 20 month low cost EDF fix which lasts until next June but looking at current comparisons the cheapest variable or fixed deal is 35% higher than I currently pay.

[Harry Peterson]

9 minutes ago, Splice the mainbrace said:

One of the problems for all energy companies and especially for the smaller ones is that the Government price cap is running behind the soaring price of wholesale energy. 

Incredibly the price of natural gas futures back in May 2020 was 10p/therm and is now 182p/ therm (up 10% again today), the years before the pandemic it tended to average around 50p/therm. It has even doubled in cost since this October price cap was set so I don't see how companies can cover the differences, although they do buy ahead. 40% of electricity in the UK is generated using Gas so it affects the price of that as well.

Fortunately I am on a 20 month low cost EDF fix which lasts until next June but looking at current comparisons the cheapest variable or fixed deal is 35% higher than I currently pay.

You’re safe enough on a fix with EDF because they’ve got the resources to cover the probable losses on those contracts. Mine was a smaller company, and just wasn’t able to cover the losses, so it’s just gone under. It’s the third in the last few days to go under, and a lot more will follow.

 

My fix is unlikely to be matched by the company taking over its customers, and if I switch again it’s going to be an extra 30-40%.  That’s a fairly typical increase for anyone coming off a fix at the moment, and it’s going to come as something as a shock when it happens.

 

 

[Harry Peterson]

2 hours ago, Adawn47 said:

My daughter uses Octopus Energy and is very pleased with it. It makes me wonder though if that could go the same way as ther other smaller companies. I hope not, the Big Four need some competition.

Avril

Deleted - my post contained inaccurate information.

Edited September 15, 2021 by Harry Peterson
Inaccurate post

[terrierjohn]

4 hours ago, Adawn47 said:

I could have written that post Lincslady. I had a lot of problems with their 'estimated' bills too. When I cancelled the DD and sent in my own readings my bills were significantly less. Alright, they adjust it once a year, but why should I overpay by so much? and you have to trust they reimburse the correct amount.  Sceptical I know, but  once bitten, twice shy.

Avril

I have not experienced major problems with overpaying whilst on DD payments. At our last house I had many years data on our consumption, which went up when we retired  and down when we invested in a new boiler, so despite regular switching I was always able to give fairly accurate consumption information.  Possibly because of this I was always able to successfully adjust our DD if we went too far into credit, due mainly to increasing our cruising, so never had to worry about an over large credit balance.

We have just switched away from EDF and they have, probably deliberately, ignored my final gas meter reading and overcharged me by at least £250, so I am not enamoured with them, and eon made a right mess of our smart meter installation, leaving us with a Smet1 when I had specifically said I would only change if they guaranteed a Smet2, then Covid hit so they claimed they were unable to change it.

So that reduces our future options.

[brian1]

5 hours ago, Britboys said:

I too am with Octopus and content with them. They are one of the bigger, small companies with over 2.4 million customers apparently.

Makes sense ,they must have their fingers in 8 different pies.