british gas to increase their prices by 8%

[mrsmaveric]

lets hope we dont have a harsh winter...

[Georgiesmum]

I agree mrsmaverick, theres a limit how much the money will stretch.
Ive always been with British Gas.I am a duel fuel customer with them.

[tonyav]

I don't think it will be long before the others follow with price rise's.

[mrsmaveric]

we are georgiesmum we switched 12 months ago and they promised us that they would not increase their prices until 2013..im waiting to see when they implement this rise...someone at bg will get an earful from me if it is before jan1st on my bill..

[B00]

Now in all fairness, how else are they expected to maintain their £742m profit? Can't have their bosses going hungry can we? Have a heart MrsM!

http://www.guardian.c...ompetition-commission

;-)

[Georgiesmum]

Yes, i thought the same tonyav, they will follow like sheep! i know they have already said that heating oil is going up.

[mrsmaveric]

its a disgrace..i feel sorry for the older people and those that will struggle this winter..

[factor-fiction]

I had a good deal with OVO lasy year but they have given me the terms for the next 12 months. Gas and electricity standing charges up by almost 25%; night rate electricity unit charges up by over 20%. Fortunately the gas unit charge is only going up by around 4% and the daytime electricity rate by 7% so the overall impact on my bill will be around 12%.
I'll be shopping around again but it could be a case of 'out of the frying pan into the fire' as others may suddenly announce big increases soon. Eon have promised not to raise prices before the end of the year- which will mean they'll go up in January.
I don't think the 8% increase announced by BG is as bad as it could have been, although from experience I think the 8% figure should be treated with a pinch of salt as it probably represents a 'typical' customer and detailed examination will show a much larger increase for many people.

[dennisb66]

I have just transferred to EDF Blue + fix price promise untill May 2014 from EON,my monthly bill dropped by £9. I would advise anyone to work out their electric and gas usage over the past 12 months and get a quote.

[secsee1]

People Power is the answer, if enough people boycotted British Gas they would soon think twice before raising prices, but of course this Britain & we just don't do things like that do we!!

[hc4361]

If you have never changed from British Gas you will make a massive saving by changing supplier, Georgiesmum.

Factor30, I had the same deal with Ovo last year and changed to EDF last month. I have just got a £180 refund from Ovo and my monthly payments with EDF are £10 a month less.

[chrissa1]

When we ran our business, profit was just that. It was the money we made after everything in the business had been paid for and allowed for.

As Boo said, £742M surely doesn't have to keep rising and rising on the back of all their customer's badly squeezed income. If they make More profit, then they didn't need to raise their prices in the first place.

[Robinia]

I'm a duel fuel customer with BG too and over the years they've been the most expensive...the least expensive...the most again... etc etc. I don't think you can win with any of them for very long. My neighbour changed supplier and had so much hassle from either no bills or incorrect bills she said it wasn't worth the little she saved.

[hc4361]

Robinia, I change at least every two years and have never had a problem, so don't let your neighbour's experience put you off.

[Georgiesmum]

Thank you hc4361.I will look into this. Its only a few weeks ago that i had the smart meters fitted with British Gas.In future it sounds as if instead of showing you how much gas and electricity you have used, you might as well have pictures of fivers flying out of the window!

[Robinia]

Thanks hc, I'll look into it.

[BayBoy1]

The energy minister Tim Greatrex says it is the fault of the previous government for the increase , typical con man when he can not think of an answer. I wonder who he blames for British gas making 742 million profit.???

[chaptazbru]

I'm really angry about this - how on earth do they keep getting away with it??!! It's to go up next month, just in time for winter and will put an average £80 a year on the annual bill. God help the elderly on a pittance and with the constant threat of the winter fuel allowance being taken off them......

[chaptazbru]

Just heard that NPower are putting theirs up too ......

[pastafreak]

My supplier-SSE (Scottish and Southern) announced their 9% increase back in the summer. It's coming into effect next week. Oh joy-I can hardly wait.
If the winter fuel allowance is stopped,there will be hell to pay by the government...they would certainly loose the baby-boomer vote.

[DTCwordfan]

I know it is confusing, chrissa, but the British Gas you are talking about is British Gas plc who are a oil and gas exploration and country supplier with huge assets overseas. They are not British Gas Residental who are owned by a company called Centrica. BG residential and industrial, are two arms of several business in there, the parent company making £345 million, which in terms of Return on Capital Employed is not that massive in percentage terms.

The confusion is a legacy of the deregulation in the 90s and the splitting up of the old BG. Both companies are predominantly UK owned.