Energy Bills

[lapal_fan]

I wonder what the prices are elsewhere for domestic use on mainland Europe.  That tends to be a good marker of whether we as a country are getting shafted.

 

[AVFC_Hitz]

39 minutes ago, lapal_fan said:

I wonder what the prices are elsewhere for domestic use on mainland Europe.  That tends to be a good marker of whether we as a country are getting shafted.

 

Roughly €0.20 a kWh. Here in Bulgaria. 

After that I don't have any idea what that means.

[Genie]

46 minutes ago, lapal_fan said:

I wonder what the prices are elsewhere for domestic use on mainland Europe.  That tends to be a good marker of whether we as a country are getting shafted.

 

I saw an image a little while ago showing  the UK miles above the rates paid mainland Europe, but couldn’t verify if it was legit.

[Genie]

53 minutes ago, claretman said:

This is going to get messy. 

My mortgage is fixed at the moment until March 2023-to change now will mean a hefty repayment fee and if I wait until nearer the time I’m then unlikely to pass the affordability checks for a new mortgage due to the rising costs of everything else and the wife’s business which has been bumpy during COVID.

There are plenty in the same boat who will just have to move onto the standard variable rate and see how it pans out.  With  predicted rises that is not good. 
 

 

You’re well into your last year so the fees to leave won’t be mega.

I’m on a 5 year fix and the fees to leave early are 5% of the opening balance on year one, 4% in year 2, 3% in year 3, 2% in year 4 and 1% in the final year.

Give them a call and ask them what the fee to leave early will be. If you take another fixed deal with the same lender they may waiver it anyway.

If they don’t then you can weigh up the cost versus benefit (longer term stability).

Ask them what it would cost to exit and go from there

 

[markavfc40]

7 hours ago, It's Your Round said:

=

With bills more than doubling, after already being doubled this year. I really don’t think small energy saving tips will cut it. Unless you’re prepared to switch your heating off for the winter and limit your electricity use to a few hours a day, it won’t make a significant difference. And who wants to pay £400 a month to be cold?

 

The standing charge, amount you pay every day regardless of what you use, has gone through the roof so even if you drastically cut your usage you're not going to be saving the amount you should. The bastards are getting away with murder, literally in some cases.

Edited August 25, 2022 by markavfc40

[stuart_75]

53 minutes ago, AVFC_Hitz said:

Roughly €0.20 a kWh. Here in Bulgaria. 

After that I don't have any idea what that means.

17p kwh, that's bloody cheap!

[lapal_fan]

42 minutes ago, markavfc40 said:

The standing charge, amount you pay every day regardless of what you use, has gone through the roof so even if you drastically cut your usage you're e not going to be saving the amount you should. The bastards are getting away with murder, literally in some cases.

https://www.goodenergy.co.uk/what-are-standing-charges-and-why-are-they-increasing/

What are standing charges and why are they increasing?

[lapal_fan]

5 minutes ago, stuart_75 said:

17p kwh, that's bloody cheap!

Mostly local coal/nuclear means they aren't relying on other nations like we do.  It's out of date, but I can't think of them changing strategy.

[foreveryoung]

British gas giving 10% of there £98m profits back to consumers in the form of grants. So some do have a heart. Hopefully others will follow,  they will have too surely.

Shame the big boys aren't interested.

[turvontour]

13 hours ago, tinker said:

Once Putin turns the gas off to Europe the wholesale price will rocket. I don't think it will matter what tarrif your on. Gas will be so scarce it could lead to power cuts. 

The wholesale price is fifteen times what it usually is. Its factoring in no gas from Russia.

[bickster]

14 hours ago, foreveryoung said:

There won't be riots, kids riot these days and they don't pay bills. 

In all seriousness, people just won't pay, like the Poll tax, an we won then!

You've heard of "The Poll Tax Riots"

It wasn't the non-payment that stopped the Community Charge, it was the sheer size of the demonstrations / riots. Over a million people on the streets of London on March 31st 1990. Never forget it, we were watching on the telly in a pub (Peter Kavanaghs) with a riot going on just outside, people would come in, order a pint and have a breather, then go back at it. It was quite surreal. It was my birthday, hence me remembering the date and the reason I was in the pub

It really wasn't non-payment that caused it to be cancelled

[tinker]

I know of at least two people who never paid the poll tax when it was due and years later had to pay the outstanding balance, even though it had been stopped. Not paying is nice in theory but unless your willing to declare yourself bankrupt it's destined for failure.

Edited August 25, 2022 by tinker

[Genie]

The difference between the wholesale cost of gas and poll tax is one is 100% controlled by the government and the other isn’t.

Not saying widespread action won’t have an impact, but if they wanted to the government could say it’s out of their control to really do anything directly about it (it wouldn’t surprise me).

Can the world or European leaders come together to reset and recalculate the wholesale pricing algorithm?

Edited August 25, 2022 by Genie

[Peter Griffin]

3 hours ago, stuart_75 said:

17p kwh, that's bloody cheap!

In Ireland, I am paying 0.24 Euro between 8am and 11pm and 0.12 between 11pm and 8am. That is the total charge with VAT etc. My standing charge is 169.40 Euro a year. 

[Peter Griffin]

3 hours ago, foreveryoung said:

British gas giving 10% of there £98m profits back to consumers in the form of grants. So some do have a heart. Hopefully others will follow,  they will have too surely.

Shame the big boys aren't interested.

Its a help but not exactly going to break the bank of Centrica as they made a profit of 1.3 Billion for the 1st 6 months of 2022. British Gas is a retail network of Centrica

[AVFC_Hitz]

3 hours ago, lapal_fan said:

Mostly local coal/nuclear means they aren't relying on other nations like we do.  It's out of date, but I can't think of them changing strategy.

You also have to remember the average wage here is roughly £450-500 pm.

[stuart_75]

53 minutes ago, Peter Griffin said:

In Ireland, I am paying 0.24 Euro between 8am and 11pm and 0.12 between 11pm and 8am. That is the total charge with VAT etc. My standing charge is 169.40 Euro a year. 

UK public being ripped off shocker! 

[Peter Griffin]

Just now, stuart_75 said:

UK public being ripped off shocker! 

And in Ireland the constant topic in the media is how much we are getting ripped off and the government must step in and do something to reduce the price. It does seem crazy that a smaller country with much fewer economies of scale has electricity rate about half that of the UK. That is not 'just' market forces, there is profit gouging going on there too

[foreveryoung]

1 hour ago, Peter Griffin said:

And in Ireland the constant topic in the media is how much we are getting ripped off and the government must step in and do something to reduce the price. It does seem crazy that a smaller country with much fewer economies of scale has electricity rate about half that of the UK. That is not 'just' market forces, there is profit gouging going on there too

This is what annoys me, when some people are saying, "yeah but it's because of the war in Ukraine, high demand equals high prices. it's not about the share holders". Some might be true, but we are still being screwed and they are still making insane profits.

If profits were dropping, we might understand more!

[Peter Griffin]

38 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

This is what annoys me, when some people are saying, "yeah but it's because of the war in Ukraine, high demand equals high prices. it's not about the share holders". Some might be true, but we are still being screwed and they are still making insane profits.

If profits were dropping, we might understand more!

My Gas & Elec went up about 25% in May due to the war in Ukraine impacting the supply and thus cost of gas. However, my standing charge also went up 25% which is a complete rip off