Shrink Our Bills

Whether you are moving or just reviewing, let me help you with the choosing.

Pamela Hatswell, The Shrink,  contact me on support@shrinkourbills.co.uk

Bill Clinic
The Shrink

Water Bills are going up in April

If you don’t currently have a water meter installed at your home, then your water bill is determined by a rateable value of your property, and has nothing to do with the amount of water you actually use.  Rateable values are historic, dating back before 1990  (if your home was built after 1990 then a water meter was fitted automatically).  So, if you live on your own or in a property with a high rateable value (which cannot be appealed), you may also be paying too much for your water.  Ask your water company to fit a meter free of charge so you can have accurate bills.

Energy prices drop for what you use but go up for the standing charges unless you have a prepay meter.

Meter Monitor
Daily energy usage

 

At last those on prepay meters are being treated fairly with a levelling of their charges.   However, the cost has been transferred to credit meter customers and so the new prices from April will be on average as follows.

Average Electricity rates  If you are on a standard variable tariff (default tariff) & pay for your electricity by direct debit, you will pay on average 24.50 p/p/kWh. The daily standing charge is 60.10 p per day  and includes VAT.

Average Gas rates If you are on a standard variable tariff (default tariff) and pay for your gas by direct debit , you will pay on average 6.04 p/p/kWh. The daily standing charge is 31.43 p per day includes VAT.

People on a prepayment meter who get their electricity and gas from the same supplier will save around £49 per year (£52 including VAT), but people who pay by Direct Debit will pay an extra £10 per year.

Average usage of Gas is  11,500 kWh and Elec 2,700 is kWh (medium sized household)  Elec 3,900 kWh for  Economy 7 customers  – varies by region

Priority Services Register

You may be surprised by the questions asked to decide if you would benefit from being on the PSR.   For example, do you keep medications in the fridge?  So if you think this would benefit your household, talk to your supplier.  In the event of a power cut you would be given consideration for your needs.

Mid contract price rises for Mobile Phones   If you are facing a price rise for your mobile phone contract you may be surprised that the amount is a lot more than usual.  It is based on the Retail Prices Index (RPI), plus around 2-3%.  Some companies use the CPI index.   There are some network providers that do not increase prices mid term.

Text INFO to 85075 to find out the information about your contract. If you’re not sure whether you’re still in contract with your provider and if you would have to pay termination charges to end your contract early, you can find this out but it does not cause your contract to end, it just gives you information.

Text PAC 65075 informs your present company that you are considering switching.   You will be given a code that lasts for 30 days.  You can offer this code to a new company who then handle the switchover and should enable you to keep your number, but if you do nothing you stay with your existing company.

It is important that your phone is unlocked – free to be used on other network providers.

Customers can already switch without a penalty during a 30-day period after a provider announces an unexpected price rise.  So it is important to be clear if this price rise was known by the customer from the start.

 

 

Whether you are moving or just reviewing, let me help you with the choosing.

Pamela Hatswell, The Shrink,  contact me on support@shrinkourbills.co.uk