I received a letter from dwp this week as I pay for my gas/electric straight from my benefits its called fuel direct I also recently qualified for the warm front thing anyhow ive been paying just under £30 a week for this it was £37 but I managed to get around an extra £8 reduction I live on my own and only use the radiators in front room and hall if im having a shower then I put the bathroom one on aswell,i can no longer use the cooker due to variouse reasons anyhow the letter said npower had been in touch with dwp and now want £40.70 a week !!!! from me for the gas I have phoned them and said there is no way I can afford that and I have arthritis aswell as other conditions affected by the cold weather they said theres nothing I can do so im sitting here in the freezing cold ( I live in Scotland )and it looks like im going to spend the rest of winter like this it is so bl..dy cruel how can they get away with such extortionate prices.
going to be feeling the cold more tha... - Fibromyalgia Acti...
going to be feeling the cold more than usual
We only have oil heating (no gas in area)...it is very expensive. Radiator in bathromm is always on, lounge goes on at 4mtil 9.30, then then the bedroom one goes on until 10.45 bedtime... when it is really cold, I. Have a hot water bottle and blanket when I am sitting down.. and I have been known to put hat scarf and gloves on, plus a body warmer. Costs are stupid, only the rich can afford utility bills these days. It is all very wrong
Hi munchkin62
I am so sorry that you are being treated this way. It really does come across as being so unfair. I hope that there is something that you can do or a way around this. Your utility bills seem rather extortionate to me. I pay by direct debit and they are not as much as yours.
Just sending you some support and take care
Ken x
HI your payments do sound extortionate.i have just had central heating put in in 2012 and only have mine on the lowest setting(in kitchen and lounge) I still have a storage heater on economy seven upstairs which does fro the bedrooms and I put the fan heater on when in the bathroom.i use to wear extra jumpers etc to keep warm before heating was put in.i pay £30 a month each fro gas and electric and am on my own .british/scottish gas have told me today they have reduced their prices and so reduced my direct debits accordingly.if oyu pay straight from your benefits does taht cost you anything extra.paying by direct debit entitles me to a discount fro each fuel.
no its meant to be similar to direct debit plus im meant to get the warm front discount im really confused with it there is no way it should be anywhere near that amount I don't even like it hot in the house so im going to look into it x
go on some money comparison sites, enter your postcode and property details (no of rooms, etc) and you should get a rough idea of what others are paying - better still if you have details of fuel used.
Does sound extortionate. I live in the sunny south. £34 per MONTH but I'm a bit of an eco warrior. I'm on economy 7 which is dearer anyway and yes, Direct Debit and online.
My supplier suggested the average for a 1 bed with 1 person would be £68 pm. So allowing for a few degrees further north. yours still sounds wrong - it's not even in the same ball park. only 1 question at the moment. Can you do without the hall?
The only advantage of Fibro:- I do my washing and a good deal of cooking at night on cheap rate but it doesn't save that much and like you I wear gloves and hat and fleece indoors.
How do you cope without a cooker? does the alternative use a lot of fuel? I NEVER use the oven. I miss a few things but pot cooking is just as nutritious. Main thing is kill bacteria and destroy poisons. Be careful of uneconomic alternatives! and microwaves aren't all they're cracked up to be.
Have you tried Uswitch?
I also think this sounds very high for your gas and electric. I live alone in a 2 bed old terrace house. my payment is between £65 and £75 a month. I have my heating on 6 - 8 in the morning and 4 - 10 in the afternoon. I also have it on most of the time at weekends. I have had a new boiler fitted on the new grant . I do tend to go to bed early as well so the bedroom radiator is on a mow-medium setting till it gpes off at 10. I would definitely look into it though as that charge is extremely high. one question is do you do a meter reading every mmonth and submit it ? or is it an estimated amount that they use.
pardon me for possibly prying but how can you manage without a cooker?need to have hot food?
Can you check if you can move suppliers United Utilities are very good came third on the WHICH list of best suppliers.
Sorry you're having this added worry. I was with power until a year and a half ago and found their charges kept going up. I went on the Which? site and did a comparison and switched to Co-operative Energy. Didn't save a huge amount initially but checked following the recent price hikes by the the big companies and now much better value. Also like that they've an ethical outfit and you get a caring person on the end of the phone instead of a drone that tells you to suck it up and shiver (I paraphrase!). Please get some advice - it sounds to me as if you're being penalised for paying direct from you benefits. I hope you get it sorted soon as you need to keep warm and comfortable x
Hi munchkin, that sounds extremely expensive, i too live in Scotland and pay£45 per month gas and about £8/10 per week for electricity, for a 2 bedroom flat. That is roughly half your costs for much more heat, the warm home grant is £130 and will be credited to your account at end of March beginning of April. Please contact citizens advice or similar in your area, you are clearly overpaying. Good luck.
I think you're paying way over the odds! I'm with Scottish Power dual fuel and up to last month I was paying £82.50 a month, online standard, by direct debit. I phoned them to make sure I was on the best tariff for me - I just want energy, I don't want all singing and all dancing!! They have now put me on the Online Fixed Price 2015 and it's costing me £60 a month!!! I couldn't believe it!!! So shop around hun....there are good deals out there! Oh! Before I forget, I changed to npower some years ago and immediately changed back as the price they quoted doubled in the first month!!! XXX
I cant understand it either my support worker will be here tomoro so ile ask him to give them a call as I get very confused plus have short term memory loss but I did say to npower there is no way im paying that plus you would think dwp would question it to huh x
I think you may find the extra is due to standing charges. They were stopped some time ago but now the government has said the bills should be easier to understand, so instead of bamboozling us with loads of tariffs the electric companies have added this charge to make sure their profits are safe.
My husband has a saying, "It is not the problem you solve, it's the one you create!"
There are supposed to be one or two small energy firms that don't charge, but then the cost per unit may be higher. No doubt about it, they get you all ways.
I have just had my gas going down my direct debit for it was £25.00
they want it to go to10.00 i phoned them to leave it 25
Hi Sorry to hear about your predicament.If you can change your supplier or go to your CAB office to see if they can help you.
Also If you have a computer or can get access to one there is a charity called Turn 2 Us who may be able to give you
a phone number of a charity who can help you get a cooker
Hope this helps
Karen.
hi everyone just so you all know I had a lengthy call with npower today and it seems they know nothing about a rise in gas payment and said they did not inform dwp of any changes to what I already pay they even spoke to dwp them selfs and phoned me back ??? very strange so ive been sitting here in the freezing cold for nothing but what gets me is if npower did not inform them then who did ? thankyou all for your kind words and support though xx
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