I don't understand why anyone nowadays doesn't monitor their usage and jump ship if there's a better deal. It's not difficult if you have a computer - or a smart phone.
Mum could use a computer but she was ill for about a year - 6 months of that in hospital - before she died and it just wasn't high on her priorities, or mine.
Because Dad was blind, he would have needed specialist software to use a computer and anyway, he had other problems which would have meant learning new things was very hard for him. Technology is largely inaccessible if you don't have some sight. He couldn't use a smart phone (think about it, how would you know what 'button' to press?). Even ATMs are not an option if you can't see. So he had no idea how much money they were taking, he couldn't read the meters to check, he was completely at their mercy, basically and they absolutely exploited that. I'm sure they didn't know his circumstances but neither did they take any interest at all in understanding why the step change in usage. Luckily he had set up an LPA for me so I could step in with the bank and as I said, I simply took over the utility accounts in my own name.
They exploit the most vulnerable people over and over again and if I could realistically go off grid I certainly would.
Oh and did I mention the hoops they make you jump through to get the refund? "Oh, well because the amount is so large we need to have special authority from my manager to make the payment. You'll have to fill in a form. I'll send one out in the post. Once you return the form the payment should be made within 6 weeks. We'll post you a cheque because we can't electronically transfer such a large payment." All of which had to be done twice, once for gas and once for electricity. Without me to make the phone calls, take the meter readings, fill in the forms, make the next round of phone calls, and finally bank the cheques he'd never have got there.
Monstrous
Last edited: 30 October 2016 11:24:27
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Excellent post. Being old-fashioned ( and old ) I pay my bills quarterly, check the meter readings and tariffs occasionally but I must admit, it is so damned complicated. Why are companies who supply just 1 commodity, eg Gas or Electricity, allowed to have so many different tariffs ?
I use Ovo a local company in Bristol because they are human beings on the end of the phone and they send me an email and I email back my readings immediately
Everyone is just trying to be Happy.....So lets help Them.
I seem to remember when Thatcher was asset stripping the country and selling off everything in sight, we were promised cheaper bills and lots of competition. Since then , the utility company have all morphed back into a small handful and , effectively , work as a cartel.
Can anyone give me one single benefit to the domestic consumer from the privitisation of the water companies? We can't swap those.
I agree Hostafan. There are three utilities which are vital for our country's security so should NEVER have been privatised and those are gas, electricity and water. They need to be re-nationalised and a law making which forbids them ever to be privatised again.
Thanks to Dave, my electricity supplier was given free rein to change tariffs in order to 'make it easy' to change from one to the other. As I'm all electric (no gas supply) and was on 'economy 10' (so I get 3 hours of power to the storage heaters during the day, so I can feel some warmth other than first thing in the morning), they put the price up of the equivalent new tariff by 17%. I've contacted every supplier in the country and NONE of them will offer me an alternative: "Oh, we don't do that one."
A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
I changed when we moved here, 2 bed bungalow, both out at work bills were ridiculous with a certain French co, so I changed to one with Scottish in the title, not sure if we are allowed to mention names on here, the French company who owned the meter put in a new one, so when I went to enter my readings on-line of course my new ones were smaller than the old ones so "computer said no", rang spoke to a bloke who put the NIGHT and DAY readings the wrong way round, so guess what couldnt enter the next readings either rang, wrote, it took them NINE MONTHS to sort it out, one time I rang said thats it I am changing suppliers! Well, they put my account on hold, "pending enquiries" so I couldnt change companies, they sent a chap to read the meter at one point, although I had given them a reading EVERY single time I rang, (I was off to the Hospital to see a consultant who was possibly telling me I had cancer in my eye, thankfully I didnt) he wasnt due till the following Monday, I cancelled an overtime night shift for that day because I wouldnt have been home in time. The meter reader was so rude and abusive to me. So I changed to the one that aparently is the MOST complained about, the fuel is cheap DD gone from £110 to £52 per month, I pay EVERTHING by direct debit, never have a big bill come in.These energy watchdogs people are meant to be making the energy supplies tow the line, but its not happening.
All we can do is support the local Green Energy initiatives by investing in them to produce MORE and MORE energy by Publicly Owned Green Energy collectives
Here is an example........I am not a financial adviser just a hater of the Big 6 and all that Global Companies represent !!
As evidenced many times, I don't know much about gardening, but part of my job is to run budgeting workshops for people who want to manage their money better and reduce their expenses.
I am always asked about utilities comparisons and if £x is a high monthly bill and so on. From what I've seen working with various groups, most people struggle in this area. I'm not an expert on energy by any means, but the following might help, based only on my experience - always get proper advice and stuff (i.e. I take no responsibility!)
Do use the comparison sites, but don't treat them as being 'on your side'. As Aym points out, they're less than transparent when it comes to stating who's paying them to be on the top of the table. They are a good way to get an idea of what deals are out there and to get a feel of whether you're paying too much. Which? and Money Saving Expert also have lots of tips on using them to your advantage: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity
If you've never switched, or haven't for a while, the chances are, you could get it cheaper. Many customers are on a 'default' tariff, which is often the most expensive.
Like most things now, its worth haggling with your own supplier to see if they'll match the cheapest deal you find, if you'd rather not have to switch.
If you are in debt to a utility company (or in any debt at all), DO get in touch with your local CAB or ask your supplier about hardship grants, which most suppliers have. They might not accept direct applications, but often work work via advice charities who can help applicants successfully apply.
Your local advice agencies may also have special projects in this area - for example in parts of London, the CAB are working with local authorities to help people make their homes more energy efficient and reduce fuel poverty. Our local CAB work in partnership with a local charity for the elderly (not that one) to help people find the best deal, fill in forms, etc.
On that note, suppliers too, sometimes have initiatives to help you save energy and therefore money - e.g. our water company gives away shower timers and other water-saving gismos, British Gas (and probably others) offer free energy monitors. Sounds obvious, but there are a loads of things that you can easily do around the home to save money on energy, there are checklists that you get online and forums chock-full of ideas, from the ridiculously simple to the slightly more involved.
Direct debits aren't in themselves a bad thing, but they do exist to make things easier for the payee, rather than the payer, as they are controlled by the company taking the payment, who send a file to the clearing bank, asking for x from customer y. Having said this, companies often offer an incentive to pay by DD (or charge more if you don't). You are also protected by the DD Guarantee, so could make a claim for the payment back from your bank if it's wrong. If you choose not to pay by DD, make sure you set up a regular payment or other reminder, as some utility companies now report late payment data to credit reference agencies, so if you forget to pay, it could impact your credit file.
Do check out the 'challenger' firms. Electricity is electricity at the end of the day, and if a smaller company has better customer services and lower rates, why not see if they're suitable for you? Plenty of i
Posts
Mum could use a computer but she was ill for about a year - 6 months of that in hospital - before she died and it just wasn't high on her priorities, or mine.
Because Dad was blind, he would have needed specialist software to use a computer and anyway, he had other problems which would have meant learning new things was very hard for him. Technology is largely inaccessible if you don't have some sight. He couldn't use a smart phone (think about it, how would you know what 'button' to press?). Even ATMs are not an option if you can't see. So he had no idea how much money they were taking, he couldn't read the meters to check, he was completely at their mercy, basically and they absolutely exploited that. I'm sure they didn't know his circumstances but neither did they take any interest at all in understanding why the step change in usage. Luckily he had set up an LPA for me so I could step in with the bank and as I said, I simply took over the utility accounts in my own name.
They exploit the most vulnerable people over and over again and if I could realistically go off grid I certainly would.
Oh and did I mention the hoops they make you jump through to get the refund? "Oh, well because the amount is so large we need to have special authority from my manager to make the payment. You'll have to fill in a form. I'll send one out in the post. Once you return the form the payment should be made within 6 weeks. We'll post you a cheque because we can't electronically transfer such a large payment." All of which had to be done twice, once for gas and once for electricity. Without me to make the phone calls, take the meter readings, fill in the forms, make the next round of phone calls, and finally bank the cheques he'd never have got there.
Monstrous
Last edited: 30 October 2016 11:24:27
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Excellent post. Being old-fashioned ( and old ) I pay my bills quarterly, check the meter readings and tariffs occasionally but I must admit, it is so damned complicated. Why are companies who supply just 1 commodity, eg Gas or Electricity, allowed to have so many different tariffs ?
I use Ovo a local company in Bristol because they are human beings on the end of the phone and they send me an email and I email back my readings immediately
I seem to remember when Thatcher was asset stripping the country and selling off everything in sight, we were promised cheaper bills and lots of competition. Since then , the utility company have all morphed back into a small handful and , effectively , work as a cartel.
Can anyone give me one single benefit to the domestic consumer from the privitisation of the water companies? We can't swap those.
I agree Hostafan. There are three utilities which are vital for our country's security so should NEVER have been privatised and those are gas, electricity and water. They need to be re-nationalised and a law making which forbids them ever to be privatised again.
Thanks to Dave, my electricity supplier was given free rein to change tariffs in order to 'make it easy' to change from one to the other. As I'm all electric (no gas supply) and was on 'economy 10' (so I get 3 hours of power to the storage heaters during the day, so I can feel some warmth other than first thing in the morning), they put the price up of the equivalent new tariff by 17%. I've contacted every supplier in the country and NONE of them will offer me an alternative: "Oh, we don't do that one."
I changed when we moved here, 2 bed bungalow, both out at work bills were ridiculous with a certain French co, so I changed to one with Scottish in the title, not sure if we are allowed to mention names on here, the French company who owned the meter put in a new one, so when I went to enter my readings on-line of course my new ones were smaller than the old ones so "computer said no", rang spoke to a bloke who put the NIGHT and DAY readings the wrong way round, so guess what couldnt enter the next readings either rang, wrote, it took them NINE MONTHS to sort it out, one time I rang said thats it I am changing suppliers! Well, they put my account on hold, "pending enquiries" so I couldnt change companies, they sent a chap to read the meter at one point, although I had given them a reading EVERY single time I rang, (I was off to the Hospital to see a consultant who was possibly telling me I had cancer in my eye, thankfully I didnt) he wasnt due till the following Monday, I cancelled an overtime night shift for that day because I wouldnt have been home in time. The meter reader was so rude and abusive to me. So I changed to the one that aparently is the MOST complained about, the fuel is cheap DD gone from £110 to £52 per month, I pay EVERTHING by direct debit, never have a big bill come in.These energy watchdogs people are meant to be making the energy supplies tow the line, but its not happening.
Hostafan
Totally agree
All we can do is support the local Green Energy initiatives by investing in them to produce MORE and MORE energy by Publicly Owned Green Energy collectives
Here is an example........I am not a financial adviser just a hater of the Big 6 and all that Global Companies represent !!
http://awel.coop/
As evidenced many times, I don't know much about gardening, but part of my job is to run budgeting workshops for people who want to manage their money better and reduce their expenses.
I am always asked about utilities comparisons and if £x is a high monthly bill and so on. From what I've seen working with various groups, most people struggle in this area. I'm not an expert on energy by any means, but the following might help, based only on my experience - always get proper advice and stuff (i.e. I take no responsibility!)
Do use the comparison sites, but don't treat them as being 'on your side'. As Aym points out, they're less than transparent when it comes to stating who's paying them to be on the top of the table. They are a good way to get an idea of what deals are out there and to get a feel of whether you're paying too much. Which? and Money Saving Expert also have lots of tips on using them to your advantage: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity
If you've never switched, or haven't for a while, the chances are, you could get it cheaper. Many customers are on a 'default' tariff, which is often the most expensive.
Like most things now, its worth haggling with your own supplier to see if they'll match the cheapest deal you find, if you'd rather not have to switch.
If you are in debt to a utility company (or in any debt at all), DO get in touch with your local CAB or ask your supplier about hardship grants, which most suppliers have. They might not accept direct applications, but often work work via advice charities who can help applicants successfully apply.
Worth checking if you qualify for the Warm Home Discount Scheme - more info here: https://www.gov.uk/the-warm-home-discount-scheme/what-youll-get
Your local advice agencies may also have special projects in this area - for example in parts of London, the CAB are working with local authorities to help people make their homes more energy efficient and reduce fuel poverty. Our local CAB work in partnership with a local charity for the elderly (not that one) to help people find the best deal, fill in forms, etc.
On that note, suppliers too, sometimes have initiatives to help you save energy and therefore money - e.g. our water company gives away shower timers and other water-saving gismos, British Gas (and probably others) offer free energy monitors. Sounds obvious, but there are a loads of things that you can easily do around the home to save money on energy, there are checklists that you get online and forums chock-full of ideas, from the ridiculously simple to the slightly more involved.
Direct debits aren't in themselves a bad thing, but they do exist to make things easier for the payee, rather than the payer, as they are controlled by the company taking the payment, who send a file to the clearing bank, asking for x from customer y. Having said this, companies often offer an incentive to pay by DD (or charge more if you don't). You are also protected by the DD Guarantee, so could make a claim for the payment back from your bank if it's wrong. If you choose not to pay by DD, make sure you set up a regular payment or other reminder, as some utility companies now report late payment data to credit reference agencies, so if you forget to pay, it could impact your credit file.
Do check out the 'challenger' firms. Electricity is electricity at the end of the day, and if a smaller company has better customer services and lower rates, why not see if they're suitable for you? Plenty of i
Martin Lewis will be talking energy saving and switching in today's 5Live today at 12.20ish - you can also download the podcast later on.