Check your gas bills - dodgy billing

In message , Tim Woodall writes

A long and complicated post, but I always spreadsheet my bills, read the meter fairly frequently, and forecast what the bill will be after 90 days. I do this for my lady friend also.

The most blatant error was on her bill, when they read it, assumed it to be an Imperial meter, and multiplied by approximately 3! It took 5 months to sort that out with (Powergen), but they gave her 3 months free gas in the end because they had got in such a mess with her calculations and had to give her a fresh start! 8-(

I have noticed some of the points you made, but one of the main problems in a forecast/check spreadsheet is that the threshold for the cheaper secondary unit charges to start is changed with almost every bill, making the forecast and checking task almost impossible.

I think that they deliberately play with the formula in order to make it difficult to check the bill. :-(

I suppose everyone noticed that BT have abandoned the free evening calls for BTTogether 1 customers, and increased the rate per minute during the day?

I have opted for their Free Anytime scheme, because it will be cheaper for me, but I fear that they will sneak the rental payments up, once sufficient customers are snared...

If you have not already you can try Ebico as they charge one rate each for gas and electricity whatever you use making it easier to estimate usage. Their rate is between the higher and lower rates of other suppliers - however they are not cheaper for everyone as they benefit lower users more.

In message , " snipped-for-privacy@ntlworld.com" writes

I am still with originals, Brit Gas for gas and E-on, originally NWEB! Sunday Times today suggests that British Gas are cheapest capped rate dual fuel, but they mention an average annual fuel cost of approximately £850. My annual bill is less than that, so I may look at Ebico, though Scottish Power seem to have been consistently cheap. Certainly I'm a lower consumption user.

I would strongly recommend that you do not stick with your original supplier. Even if they are quoted as 'best buy' it is unlikely that you as a 'historic user' will be getting the best buy rate. Go to one of the comparison web sites, and compare their best offering with what you are getting, and remember that the prices are changing all the time, and the best buy today may not be the best buy tomorrow. It takes some effort on your part, because you need to work out the current rates/kW costs etc.

I would suggest that you check annually.

I have recently changed from British Gas to Scottish power - capped until

John

In message , Gordon H wrote

What is the AVERAGE fuel bill with Ebico? If you are not the 'average' user the figure quoted is meaningless for you.

For me dual fuel with British Gas was one of the better options. Many companies were within around £10/20 per year of each other when I entered my exact gas and electricity consumption for the previous 12 months.

-- Alan news2006 {at} amac {dot} f2s {dot} com

In message , John E writes

The problem is, John, (and Alan) that over a number of years just after I retired, I was chasing interest rates around different building societies, and found that in the end it was like chasing my own tail. :-(

I get the same feeling with power companies. I watch all the TV programmes and listen avidly to R4 Moneybox, and it seems to me that the only consistent advice is that if you haven't ever moved, you should do so, and (currently) for a capped rate.

Well, I moved some money into a fixed rate fixed term ISA bond a couple of months ago, seemed like a good idea, but with the latest news on inflation, it doesn't look as though interest rates will be crashing any time soon.

I certainly intend to get cavity insulation whilst it is free to over

Chasing rates is a pain, I agree. However, it depends how important it is to you. My rule is that it isn't worth changing for less than 0.5%. More than that, I'll definitely think about it!

With regard to cavity insulation, that is a definite yes - assuming you already have loft insulation, and have done the draughts - you will see a saving.

John

Find out what you pay per uiit for electricity and gas, abd then find out what the best deal for you according to any of the switcher sites is. Should only take 5 minutes and give you an idea of the saving. If you`re paying 15p per unit and you can get it for 10p, then it`s worth the effort. if you`d be saving 0.001p per unit then not so likely it`s worth the effort :-)

It depends on how long your money is going to be "missing".

Bank B has an interest rate which is 0.5% better than your Bank A.

You transfer your money out of Bank A on Tuesday. It arrives in Bank B on Thursday.

You have lost two days interest ie approximately 0.6%.

So it will take you over a year to recoup the 'gain'.

And that depends on all going well and that you do not pay tax on it.

Life is a loser.

Flop

How do you work that out then?

In message , Simon Finnigan wrote

But they don't price it as a single figure. It'll be so much for the first XkW then so much for the next YkW etc. and no two suppliers will have the same break points. Some suppliers will have separate standing charge and some build the costs into the price of a unit.

To be able to see which is cheaper you need to know your fuel consumption for the year.

Indeed. I once set up a spreadsheet to work out how much I would lose! Of course, transferring to a popular ISA, where your money disappears for several weeks, is a 'whole other ballgame!'

John

Ouch!!

I realised after that it was 0.6% of the interest.

Thanks for pointing this out.

Flop

In message , Simon Finnigan writes

...And the other problem is that I'm the world's worst prevaricator!

In message , Alan writes

That's true, and I've started checking over the last few years as to the Kwh used rather than just the bills. I'd rather be doing something else...

To know your exact final saving yes, but if you have a quick look you can usually get an idea how much you could be saving.

In message , Simon Finnigan wrote

Try going to one of these sites and enter a realistic guestimate of your consumption. See who offers the best deals. Then put in figures 10% more than your first entry. You will probably find some of the previously top choices are now near the bottom of the list.

And if you`re paying 25% more for your gas now than you need to be because you`ve never bothered switching, then it doesn`t really matter who you move to, as you`ll still save money :-)