Tuesday 23 August 2011

'Clueless' households paying £400 too much for energy


More than 40pc of energy customers turn a blind eye to their gas and electricity costs.

EDF gas bill. UK energy overhaul 'will cost homes and businesses £27bn'
'Clueless' households paying £400 too much for energy
British households could be paying over the odds for their gas and electricity as new research show that nearly 40pc of us are clueless of our monthly usage costs.
Despite the rising year on year costs of our energy bills, the survey by moneysupermarket.com show that 16pc us have no idea at all as to how much we are coughing up towards energy bills every year, and a further 20pc of monthly bill payers have no idea of the total cost of their yearly bill.
This could mean that households may be unnecessarily paying higher bills, especially after this summer where we will see gas prices rise by 16pc to 19pc and electricity prices by 7pc to 16pc this summer.
Scott Byrom, utilities manger at moneysupermarket.com said: “With the current spate of price hikes taking the average bill to record highs, customers should be on their game and know exactly how much they are paying in gas and electricity charges each year. The message is simple – for a medium user, if you pay more than £37 for your electricity and more than £51 for your gas per month, then you are potentially paying too much and should be looking to switch to a better tariff.”
For many households, gas and electricity costs are the second largest monthly outgoing following a mortgage or rent payment and being unaware of the price you pay for your gas and electricity could mean that you are paying £411 more than you need to with the most expensive tariff coming in at over £1,391 compared to the current cheapest at around £980.
This advice follows the ongoing Ofgem investigation into the Big Six energy giants over growing concerns that the energy suppliers may be attempting to appear less profitable to justify the hike in energy prices this summer. The energy watchdog has brought in forensic accountants from BDO to scrutinise how the Big Six energy suppliers calculate their profits.

Fact
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ByTheTelegraph 

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