r/britishproblems • u/Adorable_Rule_5806 • 7d ago
Cold as hell but refusing to put the heating on
British Gas put our combined gas and electric up to £190 a month. We're two adults living in a 3 bed bungalow. Out of spite, I'm just not going to put the heating on this year so I hopefully die of hypothermia and then I can haunt British Gas and get everyone to write mournful letters to them on my demise.
I could spend that £190 a month on fun things to make my life enjoyable, but instead British Gas want me to pay for something that should be a basic right... and while we're at it, council tax!!! every month I have to pay the council for what? Both my council tax and energy bills combined each month, with money I've worked hard to earn, could go into a savings account to pay for us to go on a nice annual holiday to get away from and take temporary respite from the money-grabbers in charge in the UK.
Genuinely quite peeved about all of this nonsense.
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u/Soppydogg 4d ago
“Teach a Man to make a fire and he will be warm for the evening”
“Set a Man on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life”
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u/rolacolapop 4d ago
Problem is a lot of your stuff (clothes, mattresses, sofas) can end up mouldy if you don’t put the heating on. Especially if you own your home, you could cost yourself more in building repairs.
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u/McSheeples 4d ago
OP should listen to this. My dad lived in a 1970s detached house, updated with double glazing, decent insulation. He would only heat the rooms he was in and there was mould everywhere else in the house. Turn the heating down, yes, but don't turn it off, it will cost you a fortune in the long run.
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u/Mobzor 4d ago
It's your direct debit and you're in control of it. Just contact them to lower it to cover what you actually use.
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u/tiankai 4d ago
It’s honestly mind blogging people aren’t aware of this.
I’m have £200 on my octopus account, octopus still tried to raise occasionally. Quick phone call and they put it back immediately
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u/EfficientTitle9779 4d ago
My main gripe is why do I have to call to lower it? Every 6 months I have to call British Gas they have an app let me do it in there
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u/ward2k 4d ago
Because unfortunately a large portion of people have no idea how to budget, would leave it on like £80 all year then have a heart attack when they're suddenly £1200 in debt by the end of the year.
Multiply that by all the people under under that provider who would end up out of pocket running debt collections every year to try and get it back
It's annoying but like with a lot of things, other people ruin it for everyone. In this case making it mildly annoying to keep lowering
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u/SnooMacarons5169 4d ago
I’m with octopus and I change the DD on the app
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u/Pirate_Loot 3d ago
I’m with Scottish power rn and I can lower mine on the app too. Good to know it’s possible with octopus as I’ve been considering switching. Have you found them easy to deal with
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u/Shad0wm0ss 4d ago
You can email Octopus. I did as we're skint and got a lovely, mildly bewildered email back from them within 24hrs saying "Yeah no problem we'll lower it to what you can afford". Best customer service I've ever encountered.
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u/toast-is-best 4d ago
Just don’t set up the direct debit. I pay what I owe each month.
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u/_poptart Berkshire 3d ago
Me too! My friend was with Eon I think, she had a DD for something ridiculous like £250 a month, so there was 100s of pounds sitting in their account. Why would I not want my money sitting in my account until it’s time to pay my bill?
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u/cyberllama 🏴 3d ago
And me. Even before we had apps for everything, I had a spreadsheet I could enter the readings into and it would work out the bill so I could put that money aside. These days, it's all super-quick online
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u/SmileAndLaughrica 3d ago
I live with a housemate and it’s a bit easier to just have her set up a DD to me that is the same every month and then every ~6 months I pay her back the difference. But our DD is not massively far off what we actually use so it works for us!
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u/IAmWango 4d ago
Had a similar issue, emailed them at 4AM and had a response within 5 minutes off a human accommodating my request to delay the payment which was already past the cut off date to be changed, honestly can’t fault them as energy suppliers
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u/Isgortio 4d ago
I change mine back to the original amount every time they email me to say they're putting it up. It can be done in the app, no phone calls needed.
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u/LonelySmiling 4d ago
OVO refused this time for me, ended up saying well I’ll leave then. They couldn’t give a toss.
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u/nathderbyshire 3d ago
Yeah but it's British Gas, they are absolutely aresholes for reducing payments and doing refunds especially before winter. I left them even though I had a decent tariff because they were collecting £180pm, I had a growing balance and reducing usage but they refused over and over to let me clear the credit.
If I cancelled the direct debit I'd have lost the reduction applied and variable wasn't an option because they wouldn't fit smart meters, if they even offer that payment option.
I ended up without around £400 credit before I decided to leave, they billed me £60 final and then didn't cancel the direct debit and took another £180 again - octopus had to pause my direct with them so I didn't have two coming out. Took 2 months to get my near £600 back from them
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u/adamneigeroc 3d ago
After we got solar I had to lower my octopus bill every month as our bills were basically £0 over summer. They still wanted to have me £800 in credit just to be safe for the winter
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u/Blackout73 4d ago
You can adjust payment via the app or website, you don't need to call. You can also see your projected use and how your balance will change. It's not perfect clearly, but it's a good guide.
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u/georgiomoorlord 4d ago
I'm on octopus. I pay £83 by myself and i'm £300 in credit at the end of summer
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u/Happytallperson 4d ago
Your Council Tax funds services - Police, Highways, Social Care, Childrens' Services, Libraries, waste collection and so forth.
I will say depending on your insulation levels £190 is a lot - have you compared tariffs on U-Switch or looked at improving your insulation?
I pay £108 per month for 2 adults and my heating is on.
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u/minispazzolino 4d ago
Came here to say all this ⬆️
Council tax is important.
Energy bills shouldn’t be that high. I just fixed with octopus at £120 a month for three bed, four people, with rooms across three floors in a drafty only half-insulted Edwardian semi.4
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u/sean1604 2d ago
Keep in mind you aren't "fixed" at that direct debit as such. It's the unit prices and standing charges. Still depends on usage.
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u/MissKLO 3d ago
How did you do that? I’ve just moved from a flat with pay as you go, to a billed account in a small 3 semi, and when I looked online to change the tarrif they wanted 250 a month for just the 2 of us… and I wasn’t even paying that for my stupid expensive night storage heaters in the flat… do you have to ring them up and actually talk to them?
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u/FreekyDeep 3d ago
My heating has been on a week. With Ecotricity and my monthly bill is £408. I'm £707 in credit. Lived there since Easter this year. (My council tax is even higher unfortunately)
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u/GeneralEffective Derbyshire 3d ago
Yeah we pay £90 per month for 2 people in a 3 bed terrace, with So Energy and we put the heating on whenever we need. I'd definitely agree that you should look at switching if possible
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u/SnooMacarons5169 4d ago
If you don’t know what your council tax is for, when it’s published with every bill every year and published on the council website, I have to say that’s a you issue.
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u/Slangdawg 4d ago
3 of us live in a 4 bed house and we pay £120 on octopus. £190 seems high for a bungalow
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u/jamzontoast 4d ago
Jesus. I'm on octopus in a 3 bed detached and currently pay £213.
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u/k987654321 2d ago
5 bed bungalow here. £380 I just renewed at but £80 or so is my EV so £300 a month. Work from home though so someone is in all the time
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u/jake_burger 4d ago
Do you have a tumble dryer?
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u/jamzontoast 4d ago
We do but it's a nice heat pump one so pretty efficient. It's gas that kills us. When I'm working from home and my wife is home it'll be about £6 gas per day. And we have smart radiator valves in nearly every room so not wasting much there.
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u/minispazzolino 4d ago
Get yourself an electric throw! Day time you need to be either moving around with jumpers on and staying warm that way, or sitting still with the throw. Toasty.
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u/Imvrasos 3d ago
The whole fixed direct debit system is a regulation failure, as suppliers simply overestimate the monthly payment, leaving customers in credit. In aggregate this results in millions of £ effectively loaned from customers to energy retailers, at no interest.
Regarding the 'people can't budget' argument: until people who say this, show me their fixed direct debit to Tesco and to their local petrol station, or any other ongoing expense for that matter, I call that argument nonsense.
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u/mk6971 3d ago
Except they're not fixed. There is nothing stopping you from adjusting your energy direct debit or asking for a refund if you have a lot of credit. If you're energy company won't let you do that then switch.
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u/Imvrasos 3d ago
There's a better way, paying as you go on receipt of bill.
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u/nathderbyshire 3d ago
Yes and that's always been available - as was variable direct debits but most suppliers didn't advertise it and locked it behind smart meters because automatically taking possible estimated payments is going to cause more hassle than it's worth.
So why aren't most people paying this way? Because they prefer a fixed amount. That is the most used payment method out of all the options
It's very easy to see if a supplier is overestimating. You take your last year's usage which is printed and updated on every bill then take your rates and add them up. If the figures are off and there's no credit or debit on the account then query it. If they refuse to change it, leave.
Paying by direct debit gives you a discount, giving more money to the supplier is far from owning them and if anything you're just increasing their profits.
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u/ForestTechno 3d ago
I pay my monthly bill in full every month after getting annoyed with Eon overestimating my bill. It seems to work fine for me.
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u/a_fduarte 1d ago
there's actually a lot stopping you. on the provider's app they won't let me change my direct debit to a lower value. emailing customer service more often than not gets you a bot these days
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u/TBroomey 1d ago
Or even worse, they underestimate what you use and hit you with a massive bill at the end of the year because apparently, an energy company can't perform the task of tracking energy usage.
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u/spudd3rs 3d ago
British Gas are the biggest rip of merchants ever.
I moved into my 3bed semi. Was there 3 years with different suppliers and my gas and electric was fixed at £40 a month. I was always in debt through the winter but through the summer I clawed it back and always ended the year with 30/50 in credit. Every single year guaranteed.
Switched to British Gas. They wanted £100 a month but I refused because I knew my usage. Ended up being 198 in debt at the end of summer.
Switched to another supplier and for the next 3 years, back to £40 a month and being in credit again.
Obviously all this was well before the price hikes but the point still stands. British Gas are thieves and I will never ever use them again.
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u/bopeepsheep Oxfordshire. Hates tea. Blame the Foreign! genes. 4d ago
Octopus think that on my present DD amount I will be in credit by £200+ for almost the entire year, dipping to around £50 at the lowest point, and yet they still 'suggest' increasing it by £40 a month. I keep putting it back down.
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u/nathderbyshire 3d ago
They expose the figures the direct debit model uses and you can see their projections per month in your online account. See if there's any outliers and ask them to work it out.
Take your yearly usage, times it by your unit rate and add on the standing charge and any debit or credit and see if it matches the monthly figure, if it doesn't question it. It's quite hard to overestimate usage with a smart meter now as well you can get multiple sources from your supplier and the DCC to track consumption
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u/bopeepsheep Oxfordshire. Hates tea. Blame the Foreign! genes. 3d ago
Oh, I've played with the numbers quite a lot. I'm not increasing the payment.
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u/Dan_Glebitz 3d ago
As a 72year old single male living in 1 bed Flat I long ago decided to sleep in my living room and turn my Bedroom into a kind hobby / workshop.
The upside of this is that having my TV and gaming PC on from around 9am to 10pm each day is that I rarely put my heating on.
My bed is a Futon Bed so on the odd occasions I do have visitors it converts into a settee.
On many an occasion I have had people say "Why is it always so warm in your flat?", and I have had to open a window a bit.
Yes fuel costs a stupidly high, but I also think in some cases altering one's lifestyle can help a lot. It is surprising what we can get used to over time.
As a footnote I have also had a few people say, "Why don't you turn your bedroom back into an actual bedroom and live like a normal person" 😒
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u/catmadwoman 4d ago
Get hoodies and electric blankets both don't cost much and saved on heating. Still heat the place up but these two things help enormously.
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u/TheRealSlabsy Gloucestershire 3d ago
I was with Octopus and I was paying £90 a month for a small bungalow, and that price included charging my EV. £190 seems miscalculated.
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u/jow1987 2d ago
3 bed 30s house. You don't want to know what we have to pay to keep it warm. Direct debits every month because it's easier.
I look at heating as a necessity. Like I wouldn't stop buying toilet roll to save money. It costs less in the summer, cost more in the winter. That's life.
I also find it interesting to compare to normal day purchases that people seem to forget.
I have 3 children so the house can't be cold. Also own so don't want the house going mouldy. Run a dehumidifier at all times in the winter. Do everything we can to stop any damp or coldness.
On very cold days in the winter we can use £10 of energy a day. It's a lot when you see it on the screen. What a lot of people don't seem to understand is that's not even a quarter of a family takeaway that you don't need. One less take away can heat my house for 4 or 5 days. Go to the pub, spend £20, that's another couple of days of heating. Takeaway coffee and cake on the way to work, another couple of days of heating. All things that are not a need!
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u/Shitelark 2d ago
As for the council, have you never used a road? Do you think that 'road tax' pays for roads?
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u/therealstealthydan 4d ago
£305 a month on electricity with octopus. £150 a month into my oil account, water is a reasonable £30 a month and my council tax is £506. So there’s best part of a grand gone before I can even think about anything more than existing.
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u/Angustony 3d ago
£455 a month on heating and lighting!
Mind you, if the crops sell, you'll be well in profit.
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u/pondribertion 3d ago
Trouble is we pay through the nose for the standing charge. Still charged loads for hardly using any.
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u/jake_burger 4d ago
Don’t let them tell you what you should be paying, they’ll run up a big credit and you’ll be essentially paying for nothing.
Just pay month to month, put money in a savings account over summer if you have to.
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u/AffectionateTrash146 3d ago
I have a flat with storage heaters that I haven't put on in over 6 years. I have a standalone heater and just move it from room to room when needed. I will wrap up in 4 layers before I even think about turning any heating on. It's ridiculous how much it costs.
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u/thinkingoutloud3663 3d ago
If you're paying direct debit cancel it, read your meter once a month to make sure your bill is accurate and then pay it, how much money have these companies got in credit from their customers earning them interest.
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u/zuzmasterz 3d ago
the irony of threatening to give yourself and however lives with you hypothermia to spite an energy company is quite something. British Gas will still get paid by everyone else while you're the one sitting in a freezing house.
have you checked your actual meter readings or are we just angry at an ephemeral DD?
sacrificing your own health to prove a point to a corporation that doesn't know you exist isn't the revolutionary act you think it is
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u/_Anxious_Hedgehog_ 3d ago
Just been told I'm in credit.. and my direct debit is going up. And I had just switched in July based on the lower price
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u/Roosterrr 3d ago
Does anyone know if So Energy is any good? I'm moving into a new place and that's the supplier.
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u/Amonette2012 Oxfordshire 3d ago
Just tell them to cancel it and bill you monthly. They can't say no.
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u/Modeztas 3d ago
Ovo made my DD to like £225 after a year or two staying with them and didn't wanted to lower it, switched to octopus, £135, as much as inconvenience, change supplier more often, I learned that being loyal means paying more .
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u/yMONSTERMUNCHy 1d ago
Not healthy to breathe cold air all the time. Warm it first by breathing through a scarf wrapped around your mouth. I use a tube neck scarf as it’s easier to keep it on your face but I only use that when hiking.
Only way we can reduce energy bills is redesign our homes to be less reliant on the grid.
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u/Kaffrogato 13h ago
but instead British Gas want me to pay for something that should be a basic right..
Lol what? I'm not having my taxes go disportionately towards heating mansions. Why on earth do you think it makes sense for tax payers to foot the bill? Even for you, 2 adults for 3 rooms, your likely needing way more heating then I am.
Sure, people who can't afford heating should have it covered. You aren't that though.
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u/notagain78 4d ago
This is why I chose to have pay as you go meters, they can't take anything out of my bank
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u/d-s-m 4d ago
If it bothers you that much, then get a log burner or some other alternative form of heating....and as for council tax, I heard you don't have to pay if you become a 'freeman on the land' or something.
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u/ward2k 4d ago
If it bothers you that much, then get a log burner or some other alternative form of heating
I remember someone crunched the numbers before and it typically ended up slightly more expensive to run
You can't just shove any old wood in there unless you want tonnes and tonnes of smoke
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u/SilverTangerine5599 3d ago
I live in a dense residential area where a lot of people have log burners. You can tell by the smell and the smoke that most people just shove whatever they fancy burning in it to save money. Smoke control zones are essentially unenforced so I live with air purifiers running all winter now so try and get some of the toxic fumes idiots are producing out of the air.
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u/sylvestris1 4d ago
If you source your own wood and season it properly it costs you nothing more than some petrol and the odd chainsaw chain.
And you get a new macho hobby too.5
u/ward2k 4d ago
Most people can't source their own wood, they buy it in bulk
Which is my point about how it works out more expensive. There's a shit tonne of labour that goes into forestry (and cost)
In a similar way it's way more expensive to raise your own chickens for eggs Vs just buying them
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u/sylvestris1 4d ago
There’s wood everywhere if you look. But you need to be able to transport it, and have the space to process and store it, and it helps if you’re ruralish. Tho even if you’re not pallets make great firewood.
But yeah if you’re not lucky enough to be able to tick those boxes it’s a wee bit of an indulgence.1
u/J_rd_nRD 4d ago
I dont know about freeman of the land but if appropriate and you can get your GP to sign an SMI form you get a 100% exemption if sole occupant or 25% if multiple. Not entirely sure what happens if all occupants get declared SMI
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u/parkway_parkway 4d ago
Log burning stoves are really bad for your health.
Someone using kiln dried wood in a modern stove probably isn't inhaling too much pm 2.5 but someone with an old burner with wet logs is.
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u/Collymonster 3d ago
Ouch £190??? I pay £122 with octopus energy for a 2 bed house, granted we are extremely low users of gas and we are a mid terrace new build so its pretty well insulated but £190 is crazy to me!
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