energy prices

[Taffin]

I like to see companies facilitate inter-employee support. We get a flex fund of an additional percentage of salary, I'd like to be able to have that paid to the lowest earners in the business during times like this (I usually just add it to my pension). Of course it would be better if employers just paid more equitable salaries but they won't do that...I think people are more likely to be generous with money when their recipients are colleagues.

[Ainsley Harriott]

20 hours ago, Victorian said:

A source on his campaign team added: "Tory members will not like the sound of Liz Truss boosting welfare - once it goes up, it's hard to take back down.

"It also means the worst off this winter are hardworking families and pensioners on middle incomes, which are Conservative and swing voters. Truss's plan is a gift to Labour."

 

Jesus wept.  A meteor is about to hit the poorest and this cretin's reasoning is all about electability.

 

Also,  "the worst off" is NOT the middle income section.  They could be the ones getting less help.  But they still wont be "the worst off".  

 

What a hideous,  rancid mindset this is.

 

VAT cuts are risky.  It's dangerous to rely on a tax cut that is collected by businesses who can find ways to edge a bit more margin for themselves.  A lot of that money can be lost in profiteering.

 

Increasing personal allowance does **** all for most of the worst off.  

And the worst off do **** all for the country as they generally have paid little in.

[WorldChampions1902]

3 minutes ago, Ainsley Harriott said:

And the worst off do **** all for the country as they generally have paid little in.

[Unknown user]

1 minute ago, Ainsley Harriott said:

And the worst off do **** all for the country as they generally have paid little in.

 

The nerve

[Ainsley Harriott]

Just now, Smithee said:

 

The nerve

True I'm sick of scroungers expecting their lifestyles subsidised by others. Covid furlough set an expectation that others should just pay for things whenever it gets tricky.

[Unknown user]

Just now, Ainsley Harriott said:

True I'm sick of scroungers expecting their lifestyles subsidised by others. Covid furlough set an expectation that others should just pay for things whenever it gets tricky.

My dole doesn't come in til Thursday, how about you just zip fifty quid directly to my account like a good lad and know your place?

[Ainsley Harriott]

5 minutes ago, Smithee said:

My dole doesn't come in til Thursday, how about you just zip fifty quid directly to my account like a good lad and know your place?

You won't get enough smack for 50 little Smurf 

[Unknown user]

9 minutes ago, Ainsley Harriott said:

You won't get enough smack for 50 little Smurf 

I've got loads, better feed the bairns soon though

[Taffin]

2 hours ago, Ainsley Harriott said:

True I'm sick of scroungers expecting their lifestyles subsidised by others. Covid furlough set an expectation that others should just pay for things whenever it gets tricky.

 

How are you defining scroungers?

 

Aren't all our lives subsidised by others?

 

 

I do agree with you that the COVID furlough arrangement was problematic.

Edited August 29, 2022 by Taffin

[dobmisterdobster]

 

My thoughts on the situation.

[ri Alban]

1 hour ago, Taffin said:

 

How are you defining scroungers?

 

Aren't all our lives subsidised by others?

 

 

I do agree with you that the COVID furlough arrangement was problematic.

Ainsley thinks his parents tax covered all his education, transport system, emergency services etc... Etc.. The biggest benefits cheats reside at WM and number 10.

[Jambo-Jimbo]

The Belgian energy minister Tinne Van der Straeten is calling for an EU wide freeze on gas prices and also for it's decoupling from the price of electricity, otherwise Europe will face awful winters for the next 5 to 10 years.

 

The Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer is also calling on the decoupling of gas & electric prices and added that we need to stop this madness in the energy markets and stop allowing Putin to determine the price of electricity everyday. (I was on about this the other day, that we need to stop playing Putin's games here and take control of this situation.)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-62710522

[frankblack]

11 minutes ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

The Belgian energy minister Tinne Van der Straeten is calling for an EU wide freeze on gas prices and also for it's decoupling from the price of electricity, otherwise Europe will face awful winters for the next 5 to 10 years.

 

The Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer is also calling on the decoupling of gas & electric prices and added that we need to stop this madness in the energy markets and stop allowing Putin to determine the price of electricity everyday. (I was on about this the other day, that we need to stop playing Putin's games here and take control of this situation.)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-62710522

 

Sounds like a sensible start.  Better than the halfwit Tory candidate is proposing.

[Taffin]

50 minutes ago, ri Alban said:

Ainsley thinks his parents tax covered all his education, transport system, emergency services etc... Etc.. The biggest benefits cheats reside at WM and number 10.

 

It's possible...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just kidding Ainsley 👍

[Jambo-Jimbo]

32 minutes ago, frankblack said:

 

Sounds like a sensible start.  Better than the halfwit Tory candidate is proposing.

 

Truss doesn't have a clue, she seems to think a few tax cuts will solve the problem, it's way beyond that now imo.

 

This is a European wide emergency and imo the only solution is a total and complete freeze on the price of gas & electricity for at least 2 years.

Sure it's gonna cost a hell of a lot of money, but it's going to cost a hellva lot more not to.

[frankblack]

1 minute ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

Truss doesn't have a clue, she seems to think a few tax cuts will solve the problem, it's way beyond that now imo.

 

This is a European wide emergency and imo the only solution is a total and complete freeze on the price of gas & electricity for at least 2 years.

Sure it's gonna cost a hell of a lot of money, but it's going to cost a hellva lot more not to.

 

Totally.

 

I do think there will be some serious riots that will increase the longer she ignores the problem.

 

If she is as clueless as she appears then the best thing would be to have a general election to remove this failed government.

Edited August 29, 2022 by frankblack

[Jeffros Furios]

6 minutes ago, frankblack said:

 

Totally.

 

I do think there will be some serious riots that will increase the longer she ignores the problem.

 

If she is as clueless as she appears then the best thing would be to have a general election to remove this failed government.

Her car crash of a visit to Moscow where Lavrov had to correct her on her geography confirmed she is that clueless. 

[dobmisterdobster]

39 minutes ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

Truss doesn't have a clue, she seems to think a few tax cuts will solve the problem, it's way beyond that now imo.

 

This is a European wide emergency and imo the only solution is a total and complete freeze on the price of gas & electricity for at least 2 years.

Sure it's gonna cost a hell of a lot of money, but it's going to cost a hellva lot more not to.

 

£100 billion for two years according to estimates. 

Is it worth it? Personally I prefer to simply use less energy.

[Jeffros Furios]

7 minutes ago, dobmisterdobster said:

 

£100 billion for two years according to estimates. 

Is it worth it? Personally I prefer to simply use less energy.

Na it's not worth it .. let them all die 

[Boab]

50 minutes ago, Jeffros Furios said:

Her car crash of a visit to Moscow where Lavrov had to correct her on her geography confirmed she is that clueless. 

Not a strong point, the old geography !

Gets her seas mixed up into the bargain.

Black, Baltic...what's the difference ?

 

An imbecile !

[WorldChampions1902]

15 minutes ago, dobmisterdobster said:

 

£100 billion for two years according to estimates. 

Is it worth it? Personally I prefer to simply use less energy.

When the massive government subsidy/intervention comes into play, feel free to donate the difference of £5500 (i.e. Next Springs projected typical energy bill of £6700 minus the average £1200 bill before the Ukraine war started), to a charity of your choice.

 

Meanwhile, back in the real world, over half the UK’s population will rest easy knowing that they can afford to keep the lights on - literally.

[Don Dan]

Gas light at the end of the tunnel 

 

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Economy Minister Robert Habeck expects gas prices to fall soon as Germany is making progress on its storage targets and won’t have to pay the high asking prices currently commanding the market, he said on Monday.

“As a result, the markets will calm and go down,” he said, adding that they had shot up recently due to high demand as well as market speculation, which could not be sustained long term.

Germany’s gas storage facilities are nearly 83% full and will hit 85% full in early September, Habeck said at an energy event in Hamburg. Germany has set a goal for gas storage levels to be 85% filled by Oct. 1 and 95% filled by Nov. 1.

Habeck also reiterated that Germany will not allow a Lehman Brothers-style collapse to happen to its gas market.

“I promise on behalf of the German government that we will always ensure liquidity for all energy companies, that we don’t have a Lehman Brothers effect on the market,” said Habeck, referring to the U.S. investment bank’s collapse, which helped trigger the 2008 financial crisis.

Germany will impose a gas levy on consumers from Oct. 1 through to March 2024 as part of measures to ensure utility companies remain liquid enough to maintain an intact gas market.

Uniper, Germany’s largest importer of Russian gas, needed a 15 billion euro ($14.93 billion) government bailout last month after Russia drastically cut flows, forcing Germany to buy gas elsewhere at much higher prices.

The German government has warned that utilities risk a similar collapse to that of Lehman Brothers, due to soaring energy prices.

($1 = 1.0048 euros)

Reporting by Miranda Murray and Christian Kraemer; Editing by Paul Carrel and Susan Fenton

[dobmisterdobster]

19 minutes ago, Imaman said:

Gas light at the end of the tunnel 

 

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Economy Minister Robert Habeck expects gas prices to fall soon as Germany is making progress on its storage targets and won’t have to pay the high asking prices currently commanding the market, he said on Monday.

“As a result, the markets will calm and go down,” he said, adding that they had shot up recently due to high demand as well as market speculation, which could not be sustained long term.

Germany’s gas storage facilities are nearly 83% full and will hit 85% full in early September, Habeck said at an energy event in Hamburg. Germany has set a goal for gas storage levels to be 85% filled by Oct. 1 and 95% filled by Nov. 1.

Habeck also reiterated that Germany will not allow a Lehman Brothers-style collapse to happen to its gas market.

“I promise on behalf of the German government that we will always ensure liquidity for all energy companies, that we don’t have a Lehman Brothers effect on the market,” said Habeck, referring to the U.S. investment bank’s collapse, which helped trigger the 2008 financial crisis.

Germany will impose a gas levy on consumers from Oct. 1 through to March 2024 as part of measures to ensure utility companies remain liquid enough to maintain an intact gas market.

Uniper, Germany’s largest importer of Russian gas, needed a 15 billion euro ($14.93 billion) government bailout last month after Russia drastically cut flows, forcing Germany to buy gas elsewhere at much higher prices.

The German government has warned that utilities risk a similar collapse to that of Lehman Brothers, due to soaring energy prices.

($1 = 1.0048 euros)

Reporting by Miranda Murray and Christian Kraemer; Editing by Paul Carrel and Susan Fenton

 

Awful lot of bailouts going on. 2008 all over again. 😐

[Jambo-Jimbo]

1 hour ago, dobmisterdobster said:

 

£100 billion for two years according to estimates. 

Is it worth it? Personally I prefer to simply use less energy.

 

For most people they won't have any other choice but to use less energy, simply because they won't be able to afford it.

Might even get more people to do star jumps to keep warm.

[Victorian]

Apparently peasants should hug pets to keep warm.  Then eat them to not starve.

[Jambo-Jimbo]

2 hours ago, frankblack said:

 

Totally.

 

I do think there will be some serious riots that will increase the longer she ignores the problem.

 

If she is as clueless as she appears then the best thing would be to have a general election to remove this failed government.

 

Her plans have been savaged by the IFS, who are warning that her tax cutting plans might actually crash the economy rather than stimulating it, the IFS have even called her plans 'simplistic' and 'worrying'.

https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/20830129.experts-warn-liz-trusss-vat-plans-inappropriate-risk-exacerbating-inflation/

 

Pressure must be getting to her, as she's just pulled out of a planned BBC interview tomorrow.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-62715983

 

[frankblack]

6 minutes ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

Her plans have been savaged by the IFS, who are warning that her tax cutting plans might actually crash the economy rather than stimulating it, the IFS have even called her plans 'simplistic' and 'worrying'.

https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/20830129.experts-warn-liz-trusss-vat-plans-inappropriate-risk-exacerbating-inflation/

 

Pretty damning.

 

6 minutes ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

Pressure must be getting to her, as she's just pulled out of a planned BBC interview tomorrow.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-62715983

 

 

She pulled out of all head-to-head debates too with Sunak.  🤔

[SwindonJambo]

1 hour ago, frankblack said:

 

Pretty damning.

 

 

She pulled out of all head-to-head debates too with Sunak.  🤔

 

The pressure is obviously getting to her. And that’s just in the race for the job. I thought she performed very poorly in earlier debates against her rivals yet she’s a stick on for the job. Sunak can eat her alive in a one on one. Said pressure will multiply exponentially once in post. I think she’ll join this list of shortest lived PMs. It says a lot about the pressures of modern politics how recent most of these PMs are.

 

https://www.history.co.uk/articles/the-7-shortest-serving-uk-prime-ministers-in-modern-history

[Taffin]

1 hour ago, Victorian said:

Apparently peasants should hug pets to keep warm.  Then eat them to not starve.

 

Peasants shouldn't have pets.

[Taffin]

1 hour ago, Victorian said:

Apparently peasants should hug pets to keep warm.  Then eat them to not starve.

 

Peasants shouldn't have pets.

[Psychedelicropcircle]

15 minutes ago, Taffin said:

 

Peasants shouldn't have pets.

The peasants are lizzys pets

[Unknown user]

1 hour ago, Taffin said:

 

Peasants shouldn't have pets.

Want to buy a dog?

[Taffin]

Just now, Smithee said:

Want to buy a dog?

 

I'd actually say nobody should have a pet but that's a discussion for another thread.

 

I do hope you know I was joking about peasants and pets though!

[Unknown user]

10 minutes ago, Taffin said:

 

I'd actually say nobody should have a pet but that's a discussion for another thread.

 

I do hope you know I was joking about peasants and pets though!

Aye aye of course!

Little ****er nearly caught a deer the other day though, so if anyone does want to buy a dog...

[Taffin]

5 minutes ago, Smithee said:

Aye aye of course!

Little ****er nearly caught a deer the other day though, so if anyone does want to buy a dog...

 

 

😂😂

 

Now your selling it to me...love venison!

[Dawnrazor]

8 minutes ago, Smithee said:

Aye aye of course!

Little ****er nearly caught a deer the other day though, so if anyone does want to buy a dog...

Keep your dog and I can give you gralloching / skinning / recipe advice!

[Don Dan]

Absolutely no government will survive this catastrophic price increase.
‘A winter catastrophe is coming’: Prepay meter customers set to be slammed with £700 a month energy bills

Millions of households across the UK face fuel poverty this winter after Ofgem confirmed the energy price cap will rise 80% to £3,549 on 1 October 2022.

Demand for energy is highest over the winter months, with around 80% of domestic gas needed between October and March.

Analysts at the Resolution Foundation said it means typical energy costs over this period will be three times higher than they were last winter at around £500 a month.

The UK’s four million customers on pre-payment meters, who tend to have lower incomes than those on direct debits, face the biggest challenge as they can’t smooth their bills over the year.

Typical energy bills in January alone could hit £714 – over half of their monthly disposable income.

SIGN UP

The think tank’s chief executive Torsten Bell warned: ‘Even with the targeted payments and the universal £400 rebate already committed, a winter catastrophe is coming unless extra support is provided, with families forced to turn off their heating, or fall behind on bills and run up arrears.’

Lauren Johnston is 38 and a single mum living in the Scottish Highlands with her seven-month old baby. Her prepay meter was already in her home when she moved in at the start of January of this year.

‘I’m dreading winter and how much it’s going to be,’ she tells Metro.co.uk.

‘I feel luckier than most because I have a modern insulated home with an air source heat pump but still, it worries me greatly.’

Living in Fortrose, north of Inverness, Lauren is facing a colder winter than most families in the UK.

‘I don’t really check my meter so it clicks off when I run out,’ she says. ‘It means I have to put it onto emergency credit all the time, until I next get to a shop to top up.’

Lauren, a finance admin assistant, keeps a spreadsheet documenting her incomings and outgoings and updates it every day.

‘If I can wait a few days until another month comes then I will,’ she explains. ‘I have an emergency fund if the worst comes to the worst and although technically I’m still on maternity leave from my job, I have just set up my own freelancing website to make some extra cash where I can doing finance, admin and website maintenance.’

Lauren says it’s not only the rising cost of energy bills that is worrying her. ‘Shrinkflation is also annoying me,’ she adds. ‘I recently bought some biscuits with 20% less in than usual but the packet and the estimated weight were the same so that was extremely sneaky.’

She believes the government should ‘definitely’ be helping more.

“Plenty of other countries aren’t paying nearly as much, even the Isle of Man government has announced a price freeze for its citizens the past few days,’ says Lauren. ‘Being in between prime ministers isn’t helping because no one is doing anything.

“Given that energy companies are boasting of record profits and having so much money they don’t know what to do with it, they should be taxed more. The wealth divide is getting greater and make no mistake, vulnerable people will die this winter as a direct result of having to choose between heating and eating.’

Analysis from Citizens Advice shows one in four people in the UK simply won’t be able to afford to pay their energy bills in October, double the number already in the red ahead of the price cap rise.

This could rise to one in three people in January when prices are predicted to soar above £4,200.

The charity’s projections take account the energy rebate and cost-of-living payments offered by the government, leaving no doubt that spiralling costs are rapidly outstripping the support on offer.

A spokesman from Citizens Advice said: ‘Of those who won’t be able to pay in October, 68% have a household income of less than £30,000.

‘Some will bear the brunt of rising energy bills, with 3.2 million disabled people and 4.4 million families with children set to be unable to afford October’s hikes. On average, those who can’t afford autumn’s predicted rise will end up almost £100 a month in the red.’

This is particularly worrying in light of Ofgem data obtained by Debtbuffer through a freedom of information request, which shows that in Q1 2022, nearly 300,000 households had their gas and electricity prepayment meters set to recover debt at top-up.

How much do energy suppliers take from prepay customers in debt?

DebtBuffer analysed the most popular energy suppliers’ websites to uncover how much debt they claw back from customers when they fall into arrears on their agreed weekly payments or if they have to use emergency credit to keep their supply connected.

For example, based on Debtbuffer’s research below, if your agreed weekly amount is £10 and you top up £10, British Gas will put £9 towards your debt and leave you £1 for gas. You’ll still owe £1, which the company will take next time you top up that week.

This could prove disastrous for the most at-risk households. Debtbuffer’s analysis suggested that prepayment customers who fall into arrears on their agreed weekly debt payments or use emergency credit face 100% of electricity top-ups and up to 90% of gas top-ups being used to repay arrears before any credit can be spent on energy usage.

It means customers in this situation are even more likely to fall further and further behind, racking up disproportionately large debts.

The company also investigated how each of the most popular energy suppliers in the UK charge their prepayment meter customers to claw back emergency credit and repayment arrears.

‘The results are shocking,’ said Heather Rose, DebtBuffer’s head of debt help.

‘Throughout the whole of 2021, the number of customers repaying gas debts has risen every quarter. Unsurprisingly this data carries on into Q1 2022 and unfortunately we expect it to rise at a far higher rate into this year.’

Rose claims that energy companies are ‘increasingly making use of court warrants to force customers who were on monthly direct debits, onto prepayment meters where these meters are then set to recover their debts in weekly payments’.

This year energy companies have been granted 187,000 warrants to forcibly install prepayment meters in households, she adds.

However, if you don’t top up enough to pay any debt on your electricity meter, it will display the total of everything it couldn’t take on-screen.

When you next top up, it’ll take that amount first to pay towards your debt before it can be used for electricity.

‘To automatically deduct 100% of any electricity arrears and up to 90% of any gas arrears before any credit can be used to heat or power households is simply not good enough, in fact, it borders on callous,’ said Rose.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing [email protected]

Share your views in the comments below.

MORE: Ofgem to be sued over 80% hike to energy price cap

MORE: The cost of living crisis is forcing some parents to choose between food and hygiene products

MORE: ‘Sometimes it’s a choice between buying food or making content’: Could the cost of living crisis mark the end 

[The Mighty Thor]

This week's chancellor away to the yoo ess ayy to discuss the CoL crisis.

 

Must've been called in by the donors and sponsors for a bit of face time

[Jambo-Jimbo]

1 hour ago, The Mighty Thor said:

This week's chancellor away to the yoo ess ayy to discuss the CoL crisis.

 

Must've been called in by the donors and sponsors for a bit of face time

 

Thought all the donors and sponsors were Russian.

[Jambo-Jimbo]

10 hours ago, Imaman said:

Absolutely no government will survive this catastrophic price increase.
‘A winter catastrophe is coming’: Prepay meter customers set to be slammed with £700 a month energy bills

Millions of households across the UK face fuel poverty this winter after Ofgem confirmed the energy price cap will rise 80% to £3,549 on 1 October 2022.

Demand for energy is highest over the winter months, with around 80% of domestic gas needed between October and March.

Analysts at the Resolution Foundation said it means typical energy costs over this period will be three times higher than they were last winter at around £500 a month.

The UK’s four million customers on pre-payment meters, who tend to have lower incomes than those on direct debits, face the biggest challenge as they can’t smooth their bills over the year.

Typical energy bills in January alone could hit £714 – over half of their monthly disposable income.

SIGN UP

The think tank’s chief executive Torsten Bell warned: ‘Even with the targeted payments and the universal £400 rebate already committed, a winter catastrophe is coming unless extra support is provided, with families forced to turn off their heating, or fall behind on bills and run up arrears.’

Lauren Johnston is 38 and a single mum living in the Scottish Highlands with her seven-month old baby. Her prepay meter was already in her home when she moved in at the start of January of this year.

‘I’m dreading winter and how much it’s going to be,’ she tells Metro.co.uk.

‘I feel luckier than most because I have a modern insulated home with an air source heat pump but still, it worries me greatly.’

Living in Fortrose, north of Inverness, Lauren is facing a colder winter than most families in the UK.

‘I don’t really check my meter so it clicks off when I run out,’ she says. ‘It means I have to put it onto emergency credit all the time, until I next get to a shop to top up.’

Lauren, a finance admin assistant, keeps a spreadsheet documenting her incomings and outgoings and updates it every day.

‘If I can wait a few days until another month comes then I will,’ she explains. ‘I have an emergency fund if the worst comes to the worst and although technically I’m still on maternity leave from my job, I have just set up my own freelancing website to make some extra cash where I can doing finance, admin and website maintenance.’

Lauren says it’s not only the rising cost of energy bills that is worrying her. ‘Shrinkflation is also annoying me,’ she adds. ‘I recently bought some biscuits with 20% less in than usual but the packet and the estimated weight were the same so that was extremely sneaky.’

She believes the government should ‘definitely’ be helping more.

“Plenty of other countries aren’t paying nearly as much, even the Isle of Man government has announced a price freeze for its citizens the past few days,’ says Lauren. ‘Being in between prime ministers isn’t helping because no one is doing anything.

“Given that energy companies are boasting of record profits and having so much money they don’t know what to do with it, they should be taxed more. The wealth divide is getting greater and make no mistake, vulnerable people will die this winter as a direct result of having to choose between heating and eating.’

Analysis from Citizens Advice shows one in four people in the UK simply won’t be able to afford to pay their energy bills in October, double the number already in the red ahead of the price cap rise.

This could rise to one in three people in January when prices are predicted to soar above £4,200.

The charity’s projections take account the energy rebate and cost-of-living payments offered by the government, leaving no doubt that spiralling costs are rapidly outstripping the support on offer.

A spokesman from Citizens Advice said: ‘Of those who won’t be able to pay in October, 68% have a household income of less than £30,000.

‘Some will bear the brunt of rising energy bills, with 3.2 million disabled people and 4.4 million families with children set to be unable to afford October’s hikes. On average, those who can’t afford autumn’s predicted rise will end up almost £100 a month in the red.’

This is particularly worrying in light of Ofgem data obtained by Debtbuffer through a freedom of information request, which shows that in Q1 2022, nearly 300,000 households had their gas and electricity prepayment meters set to recover debt at top-up.

How much do energy suppliers take from prepay customers in debt?

DebtBuffer analysed the most popular energy suppliers’ websites to uncover how much debt they claw back from customers when they fall into arrears on their agreed weekly payments or if they have to use emergency credit to keep their supply connected.

For example, based on Debtbuffer’s research below, if your agreed weekly amount is £10 and you top up £10, British Gas will put £9 towards your debt and leave you £1 for gas. You’ll still owe £1, which the company will take next time you top up that week.

This could prove disastrous for the most at-risk households. Debtbuffer’s analysis suggested that prepayment customers who fall into arrears on their agreed weekly debt payments or use emergency credit face 100% of electricity top-ups and up to 90% of gas top-ups being used to repay arrears before any credit can be spent on energy usage.

It means customers in this situation are even more likely to fall further and further behind, racking up disproportionately large debts.

The company also investigated how each of the most popular energy suppliers in the UK charge their prepayment meter customers to claw back emergency credit and repayment arrears.

‘The results are shocking,’ said Heather Rose, DebtBuffer’s head of debt help.

‘Throughout the whole of 2021, the number of customers repaying gas debts has risen every quarter. Unsurprisingly this data carries on into Q1 2022 and unfortunately we expect it to rise at a far higher rate into this year.’

Rose claims that energy companies are ‘increasingly making use of court warrants to force customers who were on monthly direct debits, onto prepayment meters where these meters are then set to recover their debts in weekly payments’.

This year energy companies have been granted 187,000 warrants to forcibly install prepayment meters in households, she adds.

However, if you don’t top up enough to pay any debt on your electricity meter, it will display the total of everything it couldn’t take on-screen.

When you next top up, it’ll take that amount first to pay towards your debt before it can be used for electricity.

‘To automatically deduct 100% of any electricity arrears and up to 90% of any gas arrears before any credit can be used to heat or power households is simply not good enough, in fact, it borders on callous,’ said Rose.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing [email protected]

Share your views in the comments below.

MORE: Ofgem to be sued over 80% hike to energy price cap

MORE: The cost of living crisis is forcing some parents to choose between food and hygiene products

MORE: ‘Sometimes it’s a choice between buying food or making content’: Could the cost of living crisis mark the end 

 

With prices increasing by 3 times the amount they were a year ago, you'd have to use 66% less energy just to be paying the same as you did last year. (If I've worked that out right)

[Armageddon]

 I know we're all in the same boat, £83 per month, up to using £149, paying £151 and have a £300 credit on the account that I can't touch for some reason.

[Dazo]

18 minutes ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

With prices increasing by 3 times the amount they were a year ago, you'd have to use 66% less energy just to be paying the same as you did last year. (If I've worked that out right)

What do you think is a realistic figure you are able to cut your usage ? I’m thinking 30-35%

[Konrad von Carstein]

29 minutes ago, Dazo said:

What do you think is a realistic figure you are able to cut your usage ? I’m thinking 30-35%

Shower every other day at home?

(I have shower facilities at work so that might be an option when not WFH)

Turn boiler settings down?

Turn everything off at the switch at night?

Eat more salads?

Take out every other light bulb?

Only use radiators in the room you are using?

 

Doing all of the above probably won't touch the sides...

Edited August 30, 2022 by Konrad von Carstein

[Jambo-Jimbo]

21 minutes ago, Dazo said:

What do you think is a realistic figure you are able to cut your usage ? I’m thinking 30-35%

 

At most, probably more likely 25-30% and even then that'll mean having the heating on only when it's really cold.

 

The point here is, it's easy for anybody to say just use less energy, but the amount needed to be reduced isn't really that practicable, certainly not being able to cut your usage by 2 thirds, just to stand still.

[Taffin]

29 minutes ago, Dazo said:

What do you think is a realistic figure you are able to cut your usage ? I’m thinking 30-35%

 

I'm hoping for more. The vast majority of my usage is heating in the winter. I don't intend on using it at all this year and instead doing some additional insulation work over the next 6 weeks and wearing more when at home when the colder weather comes. Ideally then I'll keep it to much the same usage as today and 'only' be hit with the unit price increases.

[Dazo]

Just now, Konrad von Carstein said:

Shower every other day at home?

(I have shower facilities at work so that might be an option when not WFH)

Turn boiler settings down?

Turn everything off at the switch night?

Eat more salads?

Take out every other light bulb?

Only use radiators in the room you are using?

 

Doing all of the above probably won't touch the sides...

I’ve think you’d be surprised. Not in a monetary sense at the moment but in terms of usage it can be significant. Obviously this depends on the wastage going on beforehand, which in our house is proving substantial. 🙄

[Dazo]

2 minutes ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

At most, probably more likely 25-30% and even then that'll mean having the heating on only when it's really cold.

 

The point here is, it's easy for anybody to say just use less energy, but the amount needed to be reduced isn't really that practicable, certainly not being able to cut your usage by 2 thirds, just to stand still.

Yeah I’m not saying it’s easy or it’s going to bring bills down enough but I think there is definitely scope for savings in most households. 

[Jambo-Jimbo]

1 minute ago, Dazo said:

Yeah I’m not saying it’s easy or it’s going to bring bills down enough but I think there is definitely scope for savings in most households. 

 

Of course there is, that's not what I'm saying or getting at.

 

[JudyJudyJudy]

9 minutes ago, Konrad von Carstein said:

Shower every other day at home?

(I have shower facilities at work so that might be an option when not WFH)

Turn boiler settings down?

Turn everything off at the switch at night?

Eat more salads?

Take out every other light bulb?

Only use radiators in the room you are using?

 

Doing all of the above probably won't touch the sides...

I never have my radiators on in rooms im

not using . 

[Konrad von Carstein]

10 minutes ago, Dazo said:

I’ve think you’d be surprised. Not in a monetary sense at the moment but in terms of usage it can be significant. Obviously this depends on the wastage going on beforehand, which in our house is proving substantial. 🙄

I hear you 🙄☹️