The joys of a free market economy,
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Most liked posts in thread: Utility Firms going ………Chaos in the market place
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Hulmebantam Squad PlayerP.L. 21/22 Entrant Supporter
Just had an email advising our bill is going up £45.00 a month.
Can afford it, but like you say, there will be plenty of people who will really be struggling.Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...vladimir, Storck, RCarol and 1 other person like this. -
Polo-Bantam Impact SubQatar 2022 Entrant P.L.22/23 Entrant SupporterStop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
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Polo-Bantam Impact SubQatar 2022 Entrant P.L.22/23 Entrant SupporterStop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
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trevor likes this.
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It may well be that the price your now on reflects the raw cost.
It was the con that these companies enticed people with ‘headline’ prices which they could not sustain.
This Government has allowed the proliferation of these companies which are unfit for purpose.RCarol likes this. -
The big boys - EDF, EON, BG, SSE etc - all have generating capacity or involvement in gas production back up the line. And that's where they make most of their profits. The big boys can weather the storms because as energy prices go up on the wholesale markets, their generation side takes the benefit. The new boys who are basically retailers, buy energy on the wholesale markets and sell the energy into the retail market. And therein lies the problem. Most retail customers buy their energy on fixed price deals from energy suppliers. The energy prices in the wholrsale markets are not fixed price but are a combination of spot prices and forward prices with some hedging as an insurance policy. When wholesale prices increase - as they have done - the energy retailers are squeezed and go under if squeezed too much as we've seen. They have little resilience.
Ofgem used to stress test all energy companies to ensure that they had the headroom to absorb major fluctuations in energy prices. This was particularly important to the energy retailers who didn't have the back up as generators etc. This stress testing was quietly dropped a few years ago and instead the Govt asked other providers to step in if a reatiler found itself in trouble. There were lots of warnings about the consequences of these changes but the warnings were ignored. And this is what is now playing out. It's chaotic - not helped by the UK's over reliance on gas, the reduced storage it now has after closing acouple of huge storage facilities in the N Sea and below average winds - and unfortunately the market in energy retailing is falling apart. It's a shame for the small companies and their customers as many are now experiencing. Better regulation in energy markets is required.Interested Bystander likes this. -
The problem is those chasing market share we’re hoping that the price they pay didnt rise much and didn’t buy futures or anything to cover the current eventuality. Other firms planned longer term and tied themself into slightly higher priced contracts but longer term and thus avoiding the fluctuations.
It is the free market economy where the customer is chasing the cheapest dealHulmebantam likes this. -
Stafford Bantam CaptainModerator P.L.22/23 Entrant P.L.23/24 Entrant Supporter P.L. 20/21 Top 30
Normally, you would be transferred to a SoLR (Supplier of Last Resort), but as it's possble no one would be able/willing to take on Bulb's 1.7 million customers, you may be transferred to a special administrator (a sort of government owned company) at least for a while. Whoever you ended up with, your energy rates would almost certainly be at the cap (which goes up by around 12% tomorrow and is forecast to go up by a further 14% in April).Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...bantam65 likes this. -
Stafford Bantam CaptainModerator P.L.22/23 Entrant P.L.23/24 Entrant Supporter P.L. 20/21 Top 30Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...Allotment Bantam likes this.
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Bronco likes this.
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Polo-Bantam Impact SubQatar 2022 Entrant P.L.22/23 Entrant Supporter
Also don’t like the idea of them having more of my money and then going bust
Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...Storck likes this. -
Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...Bronco likes this.
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If anything this is a good reset to get the true cost back to realityInterested Bystander likes this. -
M supplier suggested last month that I up my payment by about £25....I didn't bother.
This morning they upped them off their own back...feckin livid.
I live on my own in a small 2 bed cottage and now pay £110 a feckin month. Feckin robbery! -
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Allotment Bantam Squad PlayerQatar 2022 Entrant P.L.22/23 Entrant P.L.23/24 Entrant Euro 2020 P.L. 20/21 Top 30
Similar position here. We were with Ebico who went bust last year. We were moved to British Gas and stayed with them as they honoured the deal we were on until the end of August. We then moved to Igloo. Haven't got the credit back from British Gas yet. We then worried about prices going up so moved again to a good fixed 2 year deal with Sainsbury's Energy. We move to them on Saturday, or should do, but now Igloo are bust and they owe us money too! I am hoping our 2 year fixed deal isn't hijacked at the last minute too.
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It would be interesting to know who the minister was who signed off the reduction in safeguards.
I absolutely agree that better (fit for purpose) regulation should be introduced. -
If you want to enter into a contract on the basis of trust, be very careful. Caveat emptor and all that.
But having said that, I think every customer in a monopoly market such as energy retailing should expect the regulator to be looking after the customer's interests. And I don't believe that has been the case for some time in the retail energy market. We wouldn't have this mess if the Govt and the regulator hadn't been asleep at the wheel for some time ignoring the warning signs and the advice provided to them. -
Get Rid Of It Squad PlayerP.L.22/23 Entrant Supporter P.L. 20/21 Top 20
I blame Martin Lewis OBE,
Wife listened to him and felt swapping from EON online to unheard of Igloo would save us money.
It did for a few months, then they started to put price up but now awaiting ofgem to link us to a new supplier.
Because of the current increase in tariff next years bills are going to continue to be high.
£30-£60 increases are going to hit those that struggle the hardest.Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
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