Category Archives: Energy Bills

Sorry, This Popular Radiator ‘Hack’ Isn’t Saving You Any Money

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Spring is on its way but this is the UK and in typical UK fashion, it’s still cold. This means many Brits are still trying to find ways to save money on their energy bills.

The average bill is expected to rise from £2,500 to £3,000 this spring when the UK Government raises its energy price guarantee.

So it’s not shocking to know that people are sharing heater hacks left, right and centre on social media apps.

However, many of these so-called ‘hacks’ that are circling around can actually waste more energy and increase electric bills, with experts warning against trying them out for yourself.

Fortunately, an energy expert from Land of Rugs has done some major debunking around some of these ‘tricks’ and has a few tips on how to keep your house warm for less instead.

1. Turning the heat off if you are not home

While leaving the heat on low sounds like it will waste money, increasing the temps 10-15 degrees until your desired temperature has been reached is more expensive than keeping the house warm throughout the day.

“Keeping the thermostat set between 16-17C when nobody is home and bumping it up a couple of degrees to 18-20C when needed is the most efficient way to heat the house, as small adjustments of 1-2 degrees for short periods do not greatly increase energy bills,” the pro explains.

“Program your thermostat or set a timer to increase the heat a couple of degrees, just when some extra warmth is needed, such as before bed or in the morning.”

2. Tinfoiling the radiators

This is a common “heating hack” on TikTok, but it doesn’t really increase the temperature in your home or save money. In order for the tinfoil to be effective, radiators need to be turned on extremely high for long periods of time.

“The best way to save money with radiators is by making sure that they are working efficiently, not blocked by furniture, and that they have been bled at least once a year,” the expert from Land of Rugs says.

3. Using portable heaters

Portable heaters are usually not cheaper to use than central heating, as using them to heat the entire house can cost 2-3 times more than central heating. If you want to heat up one room in your house, a space heater could potentially save money, but central heating still seems to be the cheapest way to heat an entire home.

Instead of following these hacks, the expert suggests following these instead.

Seal windows and doors

Resealing doors and windows with caulk and weather stripping is beneficial, but using cling film or rolled towels around windows and doors is another inexpensive way to keep draughts out and heat in.

“Add a few extra layers by putting bubble wrap over windows and closing the curtains or blinds to keep the cold air from entering rooms,” they suggest.

Draught-proof your letterbox

If your letterbox is not fitted snugly to your door, it can let heat out and cold air in. Fitting a letterbox draught excluder with brushes can prevent cold air from seeping in through the box.

“A money-saving hack is to pop a sponge in your letterbox to absorb the cold air. Make sure it is fitted snugly and be sure to tell the postman,” the expert adds.

Install curtains over your front door

While many have curtains over windows to assist with keeping the heat in, it is also beneficial to install curtains above the front door. Door curtains can prevent cold air from seeping in whenever the door is opened.

The expert advises, “make sure to install the curtain rod a foot past the entryway if possible, and choose curtains made from thick, thermal material.”

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Scammers Are Using The Energy Price Crisis To Sell Dodgy Heaters

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If you’ve had your eye on a brand new budget heater, you might want to check whether its low cost is actually too good to be true.

Why? According to one safety charity, the cost of living crisis is being used to sell dangerous heaters by online retailers.

Electrical Safety First found all three heaters it bought via links within online ads – branded Keilini, HeatPal and InstaHeat – posed a serious risk of electric shock, with mains plugs not meeting UK safety standards.

The heaters were tested by the charity after seeing ads that claimed they would help Brits save on their energy bills.

Two of the heaters had very poorly-made plugs there was a risk of the pins breaking off when plugged into a socket, putting the user at risk of an electric shock.

The Keilini heater had no UK plug whatsoever, instead being fitted with an EU mains plug and a highly dangerous, substandard UK travel adaptor with no fuse, which creates a fire risk.

Not just that – all three heaters were missing safety standard CE marks.

“Claims made about safety found on adverts for these heaters are highly misleading. We urge shoppers to stick to reputable high street stores or go directly to their online websites to ensure the product you’re purchasing is safe,” Lesley Rudd, Electrical Safety First chief executive.

“Consumers are handing over their hard-earned cash and in exchange receiving a product that puts their safety at risk, Rudd added.

The charity has reported its findings to the Government’s Office for Product Safety and Standards and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

Last month, the ASA banned four advertisements for electric mini-heaters for misleadingly suggesting they could provide cheaper heating than gas and save householders money.

The ads, for the InstaHeat, Keilini, Heater Pro and Heater Pro X, all claimed they were a cheaper alternative to gas central heating and could rapidly warm a room.

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Can Energy Companies Switch Off Your Supply If You Can’t Or Don’t Pay?

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Energy bills are set to climb again this autumn – but what happens if you actually can’t pay?

The energy regulator Ofgem will announce another substantial increase in the energy price cap on Friday, with industry experts expecting the annual average cost to jump from the current £1,971 to £3,553.

Fuel poverty and blackouts are becoming a pressing worry for millions across the country, so the grassroots movement, Don’t Pay UK, is calling for people to boycott energy payments from October 1.

What would happen?

If you don’t pay your bill for 28 days, your supplier may get in touch to explain how they could disconnect your gas or electricity.

If they decide to cut you off, suppliers must offer you a chance to pay your debt through a payment plan.

What if you can’t pay off your debt?

Suppliers can apply for a warrant to enter your home and disconnect your supply if you do not reach a settlement about paying off your debt.

They should send you a notice of this, to let you know that they’re applying to court.

Citizens Advice recommends you try to come to an agreement with your supplier prior to the hearing.

It also suggests attending the court hearing even if you haven’t spoken to your supplier, as it’s still possible to come to an arrangement.

If the court grants the warrant, suppliers have to provide a week’s notice in writing before coming to your property and disconnecting the supply.

If your meter is outside your home, your supplier won’t need a warrant to cut you off.

Similarly, if you have a smart meter, suppliers could cut you off remotely – although they must contact you about repaying your debt first, and visit your home to check in with your personal circumstances.

However, Citizens Advice claims suppliers are more likely to fit a prepayment meter in your home than apply for a warrant.

Who can’t be disconnected?

If you are of State Pension age, your supplier cannot cut you off between October 1 and March 31 if you live alone, or you only live with other people of State Pension age (or children under 18).

Your supplier also has to offer support if someone you live with has reached State Pension age, is disabled, or has a long-term physical or mental health condition.

This, again, applies between October 1 and March 31.

Your supplier could set you up with a payment plan during this time.

What is the ‘vulnerability commitment’?

Most UK suppliers are also part of the Energy UK Vulnerability Commitment, which means they will not disconnect you during this six-month period if you live with a child under 16.

Any supplier who is part of this promise also won’t disconnect a household at any time of the year if you are disabled, have long-term health issues, severe financial problems or children under the age of six living with you.

But, for those who have not signed the agreement, they are not obliged to take your personal circumstances into consideration.

Citizens Advice explains that you can make a complaint against your supplier if you think they’ve disconnected you when they should not have done so.

How do you get access to energy supplies again?

You would need to contact your supplier, pay your debt, the reconnection fee and administrative costs.

Some suppliers may request a security deposit too, although only if you do not have a prepayment meter installed.

Once these payments have gone through, you should be reconnected within 24 hours (or within 24 hours of the next working day if they money goes through out of hours).

If this does not happen, you may be entitled to £30 compensation within 10 working days, either as credit to your account, cheque or bank transfer. Further delays will mean more £30 payments.

So, how would Don’t Pay UK work?

As rising energy bills are one of the primary reasons the UK is stuck in a cost of living crisis (while gas and oil giants are reaping huge profits), Don’t Pay UK is calling for immediate action.

It wants at least one million people to pledge not to pay their energy bills if the government does increase the energy price cap on October 1.

However, the campaign is discouraging anyone not on prepayment meters who could face self-disconnect if their credit runs out from getting involved.

This includes households where the energy bills are part of the rent, and for those who risk eviction if bills go unpaid.

If you are struggling to afford your energy bills, you should follow the advice set up by Citizen’s Advice.

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These UK Businesses Have Already Closed Due To The Cost Of Living Crisis

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Calls for immediate government intervention are becoming urgent, as more and more UK businesses are having to shut down over the cost of living crisis.

Downing Street seems to be in a state of paralysis right now, with Boris Johnson on holiday just weeks before his successor is elected, and little action coming from the rest of the government despite promises to draw up new cost of living support.

Martin McTague, the national chair of the Federation of Small Businesses, has warned that the “toxic cocktail” of rising taxes, energy costs, inflation and shrinking economic growth means “action is needed right now”.

“The cost of living crisis can’t be solved without addressing the cost of doing business crisis,” he claimed.

So here’s a look at just some of the most recent closures which have caught local headlines across the country:

Chinese takeaway in Aberdeen

The Royal Crown Chinese takeaway in Scotland is expecting to close after its energy bill soared by £10,000.

Owner Martin Tang told the BBC he closed the 40-year-old shop because “every time I turn on a burner to cook something, I’m losing money. This is enough to kill off my business.”

Tearooms in Belfast

Molly Brown’s Dog Friendly Team Room is shutting in September after an electricity bill costing £4,000 for 10 weeks came in.

The owner, Richard Stewart-Brown, told BelfastLive: “As we were working to recover from being shut in lockdown, we like everyone else, discovered that our costs had just exploded and in addition to that instead of being one of seven cafes on the promenade, we are now one of 17 on the road and that doesn’t include other cafes in the town.

“The electric bill for two months and two weeks was £4,000 followed by a letter to say the prices were going up in August again and for us, as a small family run business, it was too much to handle.”

Yorkshire restaurant

Italian restaurant Santoni is closing after five years due to the £2,000 monthly energy bill expected to hit this winter.

Its owner Marco Di Rienzo told YorkshireLive that it was closing despite still being popular, due to the worsening cost of living crisis and soaring prices.

280-year-old inn in Bath

The Faulkland Inn near Bath, which is 280 years old, is said to be considering closure.

The landlord Andy Machen told The Guardian: “Our gas and energy bills have doubled since April and we’re facing annual fuel costs of at least £20,000, which will wipe out our profits.”

Seafood company in Watford

A caller told LBC’s Eddie Mair that his business was going to shut up shop and relocate to the Netherlands due to the energy price rises.

He said the 11 storage and distribution seafood centres he owns have to moved to avoid bankruptcy – although this means “we’re looking at 900 redundancies plus” within the UK.

And there have been wider warnings about other businesses too…

Schools

The Telegraph reported that schools are considering three or four day weeks to cope with energy bills and teacher pay rises.

Marc Jordon, chief executive of a trust which runs 17 schools across Norfolk and the Midlands, said he had “heard mutterings of a three-day week to save on energy costs”.

However, a department for education spokesperson said the school week cannot be less than 32.5 hours a week.

Nurseries

The Pregnant Then Screwed campaign group claimed that nurseries have been reporting they suddenly have to close due increased food and energy costs, along with staffing issues.

Pubs

Pub owners have warned that closures are likely this winter due to rising costs and reduced consumer spending.

Josh Green from the British Beer and Pub Association warned PoliticsHome that there is a “particularly potent cocktail” of issues which will put places out of business.

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Ofgem Has Changed Its Energy Cap Policy Again. Here’s Why It Matters

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Energy regulator Ofgem has confirmed a major policy change today which could impact your bills, yet again.

Now the price cap will be updated quarterly (every three months) instead of every six months, in a bid to prevent large-scale disruption.

The cap was set out in law in 2018, and reflects the maximum suppliers can charge consumers per unit of energy.

It means suppliers can only take 1.9% as profit, but it’s not a cap on the maximum bill a household can be charged, as this is based on their usage.

While it may seem like an insignificant change in policy, it will have a substantial impact on your bills. Here’s what you need to know.

How important is the price cap?

Ofgem made headlines when it raised the price cap in April, meaning every household had to pay more for their annual energy bills.

The average household had to then start paying £700 more for their yearly annual bills, raising them to a record £1,971 (it was previously £1,227).

For many, this is seen as the start of the cost of living crisis.

While the cap stops prices rising and falling dramatically for consumers as wholesale prices go up, it does mean the cost of living is likely to only get harder in the short-term.

However, when wholesale prices fall, the reductions will be passed on the customers as Ofgem should lower the price cap. This will happen more quickly with the quarterly price cap.

The cap was set to rise again come October (to a staggering £3,358 a year according to analysts Cornwall Insight) but this policy change from Ofgem means the next price cap level will be published at the end of August.

Why has this changed?

Ofgem say this change prevents the cost of both gas and electricity lagging behind changes in the market, but admits the market is currently “volatile” so the price cap methodology is to be kept under review.

Ofgem CEO Jonathan Brearley acknowledged that “this situation is deeply worrying for many people”.

He then blamed Moscow’s decision to squeeze its gas supply to mainland Europe, which has a knock-on effect for the UK.

“As a result of Russia’s actions, the volatility in the energy markets we experienced last winter has lasted much longer, with much higher prices than ever before,” he said.

“And that means the cost of supplying electricity and gas to homes has increased considerably.

“The trade-offs we need to make on behalf of consumers are extremely difficult and there are simply no easy answers right now.”

He said this change means consumers will pay the “real cost of the energy”, but added: “We will keep working closely with the government, consumer groups and with energy companies on what further support can be provided to help with these higher prices.”

Why has the change been heavily criticised?

Back in May, MoneySavingExpert Martin Lewis laid into Ofgem’s early proposals to review the price cap every three months, rather than every six.

Explaining how he had lashed out at the regulator over the suggestions in a Twitter thread, he said the changes were “a fucking disgrace that sells consumers down the river”.

He apologised for his outburst, explaining: “I should’ve behaved better. My ire’s institutional not individual, it was inappropriate.”

However, Lewis claimed the changes would bring “dire consequences for consumers”.

Cornwall Insight also predicts that the energy price cap will go up to £3,615 in January. For comparison, it was £1,400 a year in October 2021.

MPs already called on the government at the end of July to take urgent action to help households amid warnings that prices will soar this autumn.

“Once again, the energy crisis is racing ahead of the government,” said Darren Jones, the chair of the business, energy and industrial strategy committee.

“To prevent millions from dropping into unmanageable debt it’s imperative that the support package is updated and implemented before October, when the squeeze will become a full-on throttling of household finances and further tip the economy towards recession.”

With this new policy change confirmed and the new price cap looming at the end of August, this threat of “unmanageable debt” is likely to only creep closer.

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Don’t Pay: The Campaign Group Calling On Brits To Stop Paying Energy Bills

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A campaign group is calling for people to stop paying their energy bills – and it comes as BP reported its biggest quarterly profit for 14 years.

The UK is in the midst of a cost of living crisis, with prices for petrol and gas soaring for British households. Typical household energy bills are expected to be more than £3,600 this winter, with bills set to rise again in October.

Suppliers have blamed the war in Ukraine and surging wholesale prices for the hikes, but on social media, some have dubbed the current situation “the cost of greed crisis”.

BP recorded a profit of $8.45bn (£6.9bn) between April and June, more than triple the amount it made in the same period last year. And it is not the only energy firm to report a staggering profit – both British Gas owner Centrica and rival Shell have recorded huge earnings recently, too.

Rising energy bills are one of the main reasons for the cost of living crisis. The government did introduce a one-off windfall tax on oil and gas companies in July, but it does not apply to profits announced by BP and other energy firms between April and June.

And as more households continue to struggle to pay bills, people aren’t happy – which is why the ‘Don’t Pay’ campaign is demanding action.

The campaign group is trying to get at least one million people to pledge not to pay their energy bills if the government continues with its goal to increase the price cap on October 1.

“We started this campaign because we were worried about how we will pay our energy bills. Everyone around us is struggling and we know it will only get worse with no end in sight,” the campaign group says.

“So far around 1,300 people have expressed an interest to become an organiser in their town, village and city. From there we will fan out the campaign with a local presence.”

Speaking on ITV’s programme Peston, money saving expert Martin Lewis previously warned a bill payment strike could be on the horizon.

“The big movement that I am seeing is an increase of growth in people calling for a non-payment of energy bills, mass non-payment. Effectively a consumer strike on energy bills and getting rid of the legitimacy of paying that,” he said. “It’s small at the moment, there’s a Twitter handle with about 5,000 followers.

“We are getting close to a Poll Tax moment on energy bills coming into October and we need the Government to get a handle on that, because once it starts becoming socially acceptable not to pay energy bills people will stop paying energy bills and you’re not going to cut everyone off.”

‘Don’t Pay UK’ began trending on Twitter following the BP profit release, but there are some things you need to consider before taking part in the protest.

What are the risks of taking part?

Of course, not paying your bills will have some consequences and you’ll need to look at the terms and conditions for your individual energy supplier to see what these may be.

SSE Energy, for example, says it will try to contact customers first regarding unpaid bills, but adds: “In some cases we might also try to visit you at home to work out the best way to pay, but we’ll add the cost of this visit to your account.

“We may take a case to court to obtain a warrant to enter your home. We don’t want to, but sometimes we’re left with no choice.”

Similarly, British Gas says it may do the following when met with unpaid bills:

  • Pass your details to a debt collection agency

  • Apply for a warrant to install a Pay As You Go meter to make it easier to pay back the money you owe

  • If possible, switch your smart meter to a smart Pay As You Go meter remotely.

Utility Bidder says if you haven’t paid a bill for 28 days, you cannot come to a repayment agreement and you refuse to have a prepayment meter installed without good reason, “your provider can disconnect your power supply”.

It’s worth noting that the Don’t Pay campaign is discouraging anyone on prepayment meters who face self-disconnection if their credit runs out to get involved. This also goes for those whose energy bills are included in rent and risk eviction if bills go unpaid. Instead, they want those people to support them online.

If you are struggling to afford your energy bills, you should follow the advice set up by Citizen’s Advice.

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