Electricity bill

[Kathyan]

Just had our latest Electricity bill. They want to put up our payments from �25 to �43 per month. Just where do they think we are going to find this extra �18?

[CiderMonkey]

call them up and tell tham that this is too big a jump. they may be able to give you a smaller figure. this is what I did.

[Kathyan]

I've done that this morning, no go, they refuse to lower the amount!

[gastwo]

If you are paying by direct debit, why not cancel the mandate and just pay the bill each quarter?
Admittedly monthly payments are easier, and our supplier (south Wales) are reasonable about suggested monthly amounts - but in your case, dont be dictated to!

[NORMANTHEDOG]

i dont mean to be rude,but try cutting down on your usage of it,or if you smoke cut down on them,there are lots of ways to cut down on things,i know �18 is a lot to some people but lots of people waste electricity,we often leave the hot water on longer then we should so there is room for savings.

[pawcards]

Go to uswitch.com and find another supplier who may be cheaper.

[Pea Pod]

Do you owe them money. I was only �10 adrift on mine but they insisted on taking a higher amount.

[SHALOM]

ours has gone up from 25 to 70 a month, we have had to economise, especially my son, lights on, computer left on all the time. We have raised it to 50 a month and will see what happens.

[Rebecca611]

Hi,
It might be a good idea to switch providers. The Uswitch website is good. Don;t be fooled though you will also have to make sure that you check the charge summaries, usually on the electricity providers website as you may find that it is actually cheaper with the provider you're already with. If you do or don't change look into signing up for the deal that has you on fixed price until e.g. 2010. We looked around for a cheaper deal recently and calculated the charges with the amount of electricity we use on our current bill (Southern Electric) and found that ours was still the cheapest. We also went with the fixed price deal, and then around a month after that charges went up. We were lucky!!

[Kathyan]

We are with British Gas for both gas and electricity. Our payments haven't gone up since we moved back here 18 months ago so I suppose we were due an increase. We are in credit on the gas bill but they won't transfer the credit over to the electricity bill! I intend cutting down this winter although I don't put my lights on at night and turn off everything before going to bed. I just felt that it was a big jump in payments and was really angry. Now I have had time to think about it and calm down I don't suppose it's that bad. As my husband says 'we are better off than a lot people'. How people on low wages cope with their bills I don't know.

[meltoadhall]

southern electricity tried that with me last week �54 up to �65. I rang them and said no and that I couldnt afford it and lo and behold they said ok we will review in 6 months.
you can only try again.

[ruthann58]

they did this to us put it up from 45 a month to 75 by doing this you will eventually be in front and paying for the electricty before you use it i cancelled the direct debit and now make them wait till they send the reminder in

[cy marven]

Is this due to you not paying your bill under the current arrangement or are they putting up the unit cost? If the first ask to pay off the extra in smaller lumps. If the latter money expert dot com may help.
Cy Marven

[Eddiecurrent]

Awww Just �18? Try finding an extra �130, my missus decided that it would be a good idea to run several electric heaters plus the central heating (cos she was cold bless her!) Consequently i was saddled with a HUGE bill in January and Gritish Bas wouldn't re-assess the bill until June. Hey presto I had a rise of �130 a month.
The missus still refuses to believe it was her - must have been the fairies! I'm now waiting for the rather large rebate in time for Christmas and then I'll change suppliers. Cheating Gits! As for where they think you'll get the extra - they couldn't care less, just so long as their poxy shareholders have a decent divi at the end of the year.

[auzzie]

Mine went from �13 to �85. Phoned and told them i was NOT going to pay that amount. I asked them to read the meter and i will pay the shortfall and then put my monthly payments to �40. This was the amount i was paying BEFORE i switched. Sometimes its better the devil you know, stay where you are and ask them to compromise or you will move.