British Gas to raise its gas and electricity prices

[alferret]

Whilst I deplore these price hikes, we feel like we are in a better place this year thanks to BG & MDC (Mansfield district council)

We live on an estate that had its heating & hot water supplied by district heating (3 coal fired boilers) This heating system has come to the end of its life so BG & MDC have installed gas to the whole estate & installed new heating systems in every house be it council, owned or rented at zero cost to the occupier/owner.
We live in a 3 bed semi, fully double glazed, cavity filled & loft insulated house and under the district heating system we were paying £19.00pw (per week without subsidy) and this was solely down to the cost of keeping these antiquated things running and fuelled.
Although we havnt had it installed for that long, working out our usage and comparing that to what we were paying we should be between £400-£500 a year better off with what BG want us to pay (clear & simple)
We had to be tied to BG for 28 days then we could switch to whomever we want to, so using Uswitch to find the cheapest we have gone over to Npower (who also supply or leccy) but have not taken a dual fuel tariff option (Jan14 tarrif) & will be another £50+ a year additionally better off.

Using sites like Uswitch give the end user the option of finding a cheaper supplier which may help with the price you have to pay as long as your not tied in or have a debit on your account you'll be good to go.

Originally Posted by Sirius

What did your mates in labour do to stop it, when they were in power ruining the country Arthur

Expect your answer sometime never from him!

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Mick

Expect your answer sometime never from him!

I know but i had to try

[Vieil Homme]

A little off subject but BG promised to pay me £50 back in June for going over to a new online tariff. This would be paid in November, when I asked about this payment when they phoned me to see if I had any problems all information regarding this promise to pay had gone from my account.

They were not going to pay as they had no record of the offer, but I had the original email making the offer plus a second email confirming the payment would be made. They have now credited my account with the £50

The reason for posting is in case other members get the same rubbish from BG and have no proof of the offer.

[denphone]

British Gas profits boosted by colder weather.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21598504

And why does one get the feeling that sooner rather then later higher prices rises will be announced and profits will rise even more again as a result of that.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by denphone

British Gas profits boosted by colder weather.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21598504

And why does one get the feeling that sooner rather then later higher prices rises will be announced and profits will rise even more again as a result of that.

They will claim that they did not make the right type of profit and put prices up.

I left British Gas years ago and will never return to them, there is only one supplier worse than BG and that's Npower.

[GrimUpNorth]

Originally Posted by Sirius

there is only one supplier worse than BG and that's Npower.

Seconded

Cheers

Grim

[Osem]

Originally Posted by denphone

British Gas profits boosted by colder weather.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21598504

And why does one get the feeling that sooner rather then later higher prices rises will be announced and profits will rise even more again as a result of that.

Thanks to the idiocy of closing down power stations before we have replaced their capacity, gas prices are only heading one way IMHO.

As for profits, well it's not all bad news since profits are what tax is paid on. No profit = no tax.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Osem

Thanks to the idiocy of closing down power stations before we have replaced their capacity, gas prices are only heading one way IMHO.

And the nimby's will ensure that the only real viable power station design will never be built and thats Nuclear power. Wave and wind are red herrings put forward by tree hugging idiots who think wind and wave will supply all our needs in the future

Originally Posted by Osem

Thanks to the idiocy of closing down power stations before we have replaced their capacity, gas prices are only heading one way IMHO.

As for profits, well it's not all bad news since profits are what tax is paid on. No profit = no tax.

unless they can use one of the still open tax loopholes and avoid paying as much as they can

[mertle]

Originally Posted by tizmeinnit

unless they can use one of the still open tax loopholes and avoid paying as much as they can

I have not seen anywhere British gas is do this to be fair on this side of things unlike cheating water boards. If every profit going into our energy solutions then got not problem.

If not why not. Then only solution is government put penalty fine on profits to pay for our urgent need for energy. I am staggered government allowed profiteering not used levy fines.

Something not right how they using unethical practise gorge on its customers in the winter. Surely we can set rule in parliment winter should be cheaper tarrif.

Argue that Now time for regulators to fix tarrifs.

[Osem]

Originally Posted by tizmeinnit

unless they can use one of the still open tax loopholes and avoid paying as much as they can

I don't know anyone who pays more tax than they have to. Fact remains that without profits there is no tax at all so those who quite like it when companies announce losses might like to focus on that.

Originally Posted by Osem

I don't know anyone who pays more tax than they have to. Fact remains that without profits there is no tax at all so those who quite like it when companies announce losses might like to focus on that.

That is the point the loopholes mean they have to pay less than they should do. And you do realise that most the time when they talk about losses they do not actually mean losses they mean they took that much less than they thought.. No company that reports losses of millions would be in business if it actually meant they made less than nothing/Losses on paper as it were. It is all artificial

[Osem]

Which loopholes are you specifically referring to in the case of BG/Centrica and how many of them are potentially 'dodgy' as opposed to being entirely in keeping with Govt. regulation and long accepted business practice? If they're acting within the rules (like you are by say utilising your tax free ISA allowance) then they are by definition paying what they owe. We can't go around assuming that all companies are engaged in what amounts to tax evasion, that's a matter for HMRC and the courts to determine. If you're suggesting that all revenue should be liable for tax irrespective of the costs etc. incurred in generating it and the various concessions made by Govt. for so doing then I think we can all look forward to much higher bills.

[ThunderPants73]

Not exactly news is it?