gas & electricity bill shocker, just saved 700 quid

dermatrov

Just got hammered again on my gas and electricity bills, two bills in a row. Christmas bills cost over €600 for them both. Fuming. The missus is going mad as the next one is going to be a belter too with us working from home. Out of contract so went onto a new site i seen advertised on the Independent called www.choosy.ie. Switched electricity and gas together as they reckon we'll save over €600 in a year. Sweet, not bad for 5 minutes work. Annoyed I didn't do this earlier. Check your bills lads.

kg703

I just got hit with a whopper bill for my gas - nearly double what it was from the previous months which makes no sense at all. Same - now both WFH so dont know what they'll be like in the next three months!!

dermatrov

Same with my parents who are pensioners. their bill doubled too..I feel so bad for them, as my mother leaves the heating on all the time.... Prices need to fall more.

kg703 wrote: »

I just got hit with a whopper bill for my gas - nearly double what it was from the previous months which makes no sense at all. Same - now both WFH so dont know what they'll be like in the next three months!!

bargainboy66

dermatrov wrote: »

. Prices need to fall more.

The big problem is the deals are all for new customers, so you have to switch with someone like Choosy comparison every year to get the best deal, otherwise you're just being used to top up their profits. If your parents don't like doing stuff on the computer they can ring Choosy who will do it for them, or you can switch them yourself if you get their meter details. You can cut your bills by about a quarter if you do switch, much more than any tiny price cut.

Heres Johnny

Just to let you all know there is a work from home tax relief available to offset some of the extra bills you run up.....something like €3.20 a day but 2 people would be entitled to claim it as far as I know

Would add up to a decent bit over a few months

dermatrov

Nice one. any links to that, is it easy to apply for? every lidl helps

Heres Johnny wrote: »

Just to let you all know there is a work from home tax relief available to offset some of the extra bills you run up.....something like €3.20 a day but 2 people would be entitled to claim it as far as I know

Would add up to a decent bit over a few months

Salary Negotiator

Heres Johnny wrote: »

Just to let you all know there is a work from home tax relief available to offset some of the extra bills you run up.....something like €3.20 a day but 2 people would be entitled to claim it as far as I know

Would add up to a decent bit over a few months

My brother has worked from home for years and rang revenue to ask about claiming this credit. He was told that unless your employer pays it to you directly it’s not worth claiming it from revenue.

I’d be interested in hearing from anyone who has claimed it from revenue and how difficult it is.

dermatrov

Fair point. I doubt my parents have changed their provider for donkeys if ever.
I'll have to check that for them. They definitely use more gas than me, probably electric too.

bargainboy66 wrote: »

The big problem is the deals are all for new customers, so you have to switch with someone like Choosy comparison every year to get the best deal, otherwise you're just being used to top up their profits. If your parents don't like doing stuff on the computer they can ring Choosy who will do it for them, or you can switch them yourself if you get their meter details. You can cut your bills by about a quarter if you do switch, much more than any tiny price cut.

dermatrov

Hi I did a bit of digging on this and found this article. Happy days. €3.20 a day tax free will add up soon enough...

https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2020/0320/1124297-working-from-home-tax-relief/

Heres Johnny wrote: »

Just to let you all know there is a work from home tax relief available to offset some of the extra bills you run up.....something like €3.20 a day but 2 people would be entitled to claim it as far as I know

Would add up to a decent bit over a few months

dermatrov

much of a muchness. Seems they use more gas than me but less electric. They havent changes for about 4 years, so have been ripped off since.
I looked at their actual usage on their web account. (about 7500 electric and 15000 gas over the year, which is high. ) I put them numbers into the www.choosy.ie and they will save €638 over the year, which for pensioners is a lot of cash. If only my dad could buy himself a few pints.....

Also spotted their fuel allowance as pensioners has been extended for 4 weeks which will help too. https://www.gov.ie/en/news/8d0be0-government-announces-four-week-extension-to-existing-fuel-allowance-/

dermatrov wrote: »

Fair point. I doubt my parents have changed their provider for donkeys if ever.
I'll have to check that for them. They definitely use more gas than me, probably electric too.

dermatrov

Found the revenue page for the expenses claim here: https://www.revenue.ie/en/employing-people/employee-expenses/e-working-and-home-workers/index.aspx

Get applying lads

Every lidl helps....

Has anyone seen this being paid?

Salary Negotiator wrote: »

My brother has worked from home for years and rang revenue to ask about claiming this credit. He was told that unless your employer pays it to you directly it’s not worth claiming it from revenue.

I’d be interested in hearing from anyone who has claimed it from revenue and how difficult it is.

gourcuff

dermatrov wrote: »

Found the revenue page for the expenses claim here: https://www.revenue.ie/en/employing-people/employee-expenses/e-working-and-home-workers/index.aspx

Get applying lads

Every lidl helps....

Has anyone seen this being paid?

surely this can only be claimed next year (jan 2021) as it will be covid related and for the tax year 2020?

shaveAbullock

dermatrov wrote: »

Just got hammered again on my gas and electricity bills, two bills in a row. Christmas bills cost over €600 for them both. Fuming. The missus is going mad as the next one is going to be a belter too with us working from home. Out of contract so went onto a new site i seen advertised on the Independent called www.choosy.ie. Switched electricity and gas together as they reckon we'll save over €600 in a year. Sweet, not bad for 5 minutes work. Annoyed I didn't do this earlier. Check your bills lads.

Nothing new here, most of the main electricity companies offer a discount on your first 12 months.
Everyone should change company once a year.

dermatrov

Just had a look. No I dont think so. By reading it, seems like your employer can pay you an extra €3.20 per day before tax......so deducted at source now


Required conditions
You can make the payment of €3.20 per workday tax free when:

there is a formal agreement between you and your employee that the employee is required to work from home
your employee is required to perform essential duties of the employment at home
your employee is required to work for substantial periods at home.

Maybe I am wrong, but maybe worth talking to your employer or HR team?

gourcuff wrote: »

surely this can only be claimed next year (jan 2021) as it will be covid related and for the tax year 2020?

Muahahaha

Had a electricity bill arrive last week which was higher than I expected. Looked at the breakdown and its because Im out of the 12 month contract and now being charged about 24% more per unit.

Switched straight away so I dont get hit twice. The options on Bonkers were mainly companies with standing charges between 220 and 280 per year but low rates on the per unit cost. I ran some calculations and for me it is better to get the lowest possible standing charge even if the unit price is higher. Got a standing charge of 128 euro from Glow Power for the year with day units at 18.8c and night at 10.6c. Im not a heavy user so for me the lower standing charge will save me money over the year.

dermatrov

I doubt many go to the bother of doing the sums, which is why so many people are paying too much. Starting to look at everything else I am paying now as circumstances have changed and the missus is out of work. Saving in the supermarkets....next? Hoping for a car & health insurance refund too....

Muahahaha wrote: »

Had a electricity bill arrive last week which was higher than I expected. Looked at the breakdown and its because Im out of the 12 month contract and now being charged about 24% more per unit.

Switched straight away so I dont get hit twice. The options on Bonkers were mainly companies with standing charges between 220 and 280 per year but low rates on the per unit cost. I ran some calculations and for me it is better to get the lowest possible standing charge even if the unit price is higher. Got a standing charge of 128 euro from Glow Power for the year with day units at 18.8c and night at 10.6c. Im not a heavy user so for me the lower standing charge will save me money over the year.

Muahahaha

dermatrov wrote: »

I doubt many go to the bother of doing the sums, which is why so many people are paying too much. Starting to look at everything else I am paying now as circumstances have changed and the missus is out of work. Saving in the supermarkets....next? Hoping for a car & health insurance refund too....

Yeah it wasnt until I did the sums and found out my usage from the last 12 months that I realised in my circumstances going for a lower standing charge over a lower unit price is the way to go. I only use 4,500 units per year distributed about 65-35 in favour of day units to night. I could have got lower unit prices from Bord Gais and a couple of others but all the standing charges were 220 up to 280 so that more than wiped the savings from the lower unit price. If I use the same amount of electricity this next year as I did last year then I stand to save about 90 over the other companies with higher standing charges. And of course there is already another saving by just getting off the higher rates of my previous provider.

That was Energia who actually rang me up this morning trying to win me back as a customer. I told him Glow Power had given me a standing charge of 128 and thats all that mattered to me because Id done the sums. He said all they could do was 220 a year (same as last year) but he could re-apply the 12 month promotional unit price for another year. I declined as my paperwork is filled out and it still wouldnt have saved me money because of the high standing charge.

There must be a fine line between what standing charge and unit prices you are on. Heavy users of power would perhaps see better value from lower unit prices but if you're not a family of 4 or 5 then its likely going for a lower standing charge makes more sense. You've got to figure out your annual usage and then do the sums to be sure of which way is best for you.

Ive set an annual alarm on my phone now so I'll switch again this time next year. Loyalty is punished with higher prices so Im just going to keep switching every year, it only takes 10 minutes and is a no brainer to save a few hundred.

baegan

I'm with flogas for both elec and gas and just finished 1 year contract.

I'm looking for advice on best provider for dual fuel.

Also anyone have a nest/climate/smart home bundle they would recommend (preferable as part on new contract)

I don't want big yearly connection costs or be tied into long
Longer than 1 year contract.

Muahahaha

Probably just best to check on bonkers.ie and onebigswitch.ie and see what deal comes up cheapest for you. Try to find out how many units you used in the last 12 months to get an accurate estimation of the best deal

opus

Just giving my experience with this, was coming to end of my contact with SSE Airtricity for gas & electricy so got the email teling me how much extra they were planning to charge me which was ~€300 for the next year.

I emailed them & CS said for GDPR reasons their loyality dept couldn't email me but could only call me & the best they could offer was the 10% discount on this page.

So I just used Bonkers & found that by moving to Bord Gais not only would it not be a price hike but rather a price cut compared to my current bill. Anyway once I put in the order, I got an email from SSE with this:

If you choose Ireland’s cheapest Dual Fuel

bundle* today you’ll not only get 36% off

your electricity costs and 35% off your gas costs.

Seems GDPR doesn't apply once you've said you're leaving.

I've moved anyway just to do my small part to help stop this nonsense from providers!

Baseball72

When I go into the site and go to drop down menu for service providers - Prepay Power (my current provider) is not there to select from.

opus

opus wrote: »

Seems GDPR doesn't apply once you've said you're leaving.

I'm not following you very well, but re the above - GDPR very much protects you whether you're with a company or not a customer of a company.

In fact, it's even more important that a company doesn't contact you without your permission if you're not a customer.

opus

Deleted User wrote: »

I'm not following you very well, but re the above - GDPR very much protects you whether you're with a company or not a customer of a company.

In fact, it's even more important that a company doesn't contact you without your permission if you're not a customer.

They said their loyalty dept (or whatever it's called) couldn't email me due to GDPR & I had to phone them to see if they had any better offers. Once I put in the move to a different provider, I got the email that I quoted in the post with a better offer. Does that make better sense?

Gerard93

opus wrote: »

They said their loyalty dept (or whatever it's called) couldn't email me due to GDPR & I had to phone them to see if they had any better offers. Once I put in the move to a different provider, I got the email that I quoted in the post with a better offer. Does that make better sense?

It all Boils down to Standing Charge and Unit Price forget about x % discounts etc these are the two items you compare so look at the cost if these 2 x charges after any discounts and compare

tvjunki

dermatrov wrote: »

I looked at their actual usage on their web account. (about 7500 electric and 15000 gas over the year, which is high. )

The gas usage seems very high. It might be time to check if the boiler needs a service or if they can buy a new boiler. Check if they have heavy curtains and look at insulation.

My mum had oil heating and the boiler gave in and it was costing her 4 to 5fills a year. The old boiler struggled and most of the time the immersion had to go on in the afternoon so her electric was high also.



She got a new boiler and she has already saved. Instead of the 4/5fills she only had 3 per year as the house is heating up quicker also she had free hot water set when the heating went on. Electric also dropped by 60euros bimonthly.



Within 2years the boiler has paid for itself.

Also maybe check the timer and set it so it is only on during the day and not at night. You do not need heating on when in bed.

opus

Gerard93 wrote: »

It all Boils down to Standing Charge and Unit Price forget about x % discounts etc these are the two items you compare so look at the cost if these 2 x charges after any discounts and compare

Not sure what you mean by this, of course I looked at the different charges. See my original post above where I explained what happened.

All of them offer a discount to new customers which ends after year one hence why you have to move or at the very least threaten to. I moved just cause this silliness on the providers part annoys me & no doubt I'll be moving again in May next year!

Muahahaha

Yeah in my own case I just saw my normal bill jump by about 30 quid so I switched straight away from Energia to Glow Power. Energia rang me up on the day before the switch was actually happening and offered the previous years rate but their standing charge was very high (220) and Im not a heavy user so stuck with Glow Power whose standing charge was 128. . About 10 days later Energia sent me a letter saying they're sad to see me go, etc and if I wanted to switch back their offer was still on the table. But no point taking it as the sums for me say I'll make savings with the lowest standing charge possible even if the unit price is slightly higher.

Perhaps next year I'll just ring up Glow Power and give them the chance to offer the discounted rate before moving. But switching really isnt much of a hassle, its about five minutes filling out a form and then its done. It wouldnt bother me at all to just do it every 12 months if I had to.

zell12

I've switched to EI recently,
they have high unit costs and standing charge, but the e175 cashback credit made them overall cheaper based on my low annual usage.

Car99

I was switching to glow power from electric Ireland. I rang electric ireland and they said please stay we'll give you €50 credit. I told them I'd save €200 by switching . They said ok switch then , bye. Anyways I processed the switch and then a few days later electric ireland rang me and said they'd give me €200 credit on my account and a free climote with free installation worth €200. I took the deal and I'll be trying the same again in 12 months time. It's worth it for very little hassle.

Muahahaha

Great result Car99. Just goes to show their whole business model is centered around getting people to sign up for a year at a discounted rate and then hoping they wont bother or else forget to switch when their bill goes up a year down the line.

The fact they could match that 200 offer shows they're still making profits off the lower rates, its pure gravy thereafter from the majority of their customers who never switch. Loyalty actually costs you money in the electricity and gas markets.

One More Toy

Any thoughts on iberdrola? Switched the parents there a few weeks ago was simple enough

Sonya4u

One More Toy wrote: »

Any thoughts on iberdrola? Switched the parents there a few weeks ago was simple enough

I have just switched to them too, so hopefully all goes ok!

Muahahaha

One More Toy wrote: »

Any thoughts on iberdrola? Switched the parents there a few weeks ago was simple enough

Theres a thread on them somewhere on Boards but I cant remember which forum, do a search and it should show up. From memory a few people had some minor problems. But I think in general with electricity companies you can get problems resolved quickly. In all my years of dealing with different companies I only once had to ring up, that was Energia who charged me more than the agreed rate that the saleperson at the door quoted. They resolved it instantly and gave me 30 euros credit as a gesture of good will.