Pigs Getting Me In Debt, Any Help Would Be Really Appreciated.

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The only discounts suppliers are allowed to give us for dual fuel, direct debit and online account management. So if you aren't on any of those you could save money immediately.

@Kerrie74 british gas have bent the truth a bit there. Prepayment meters usually cost the same as that suppliers standard tariff (without direct debit discount). Suppliers are only allowed to offer 5 tariffs at any one time so mostly prepayments are on a standard tariff (though there are a few fixed tariffs finally sneaking in). Out of the remaining credit meter tariffs standard will be the most expensive meaning people on prepayments do end up paying more than those able to access the cheaper deals. British Gas didn't lie but they were very selective in the facts that they used.
 
Kerrie74 said:
Thanks @Lady Kelly I really wanted to switch to DD with them.. I am actually on a fixed tariff on the electric but was wondering if I'd save paying via DD?
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If you are currently on a prepayment meter then it will be down to whether they allow you to go back to a credit meter, generally involves a credit check and they will also consider your history with them. You will also need to check whether there is a cost involved as many suppliers will charge a fixed fee for installing a credit meter, on the plus side you could try and wangle it by requesting a smart meter at the same time, its worth trying to get them to waive the fee seeing as they would need to send someone out to fit a smart meter within the next few years anyway.

I think the fixed prepayment for British Gas is the fix & fall tariff which is the same cost as the standard tariff but if they drop their prices again yours are guaranteed to fall as well. If you are looking at going on direct debit you should get a discount and according to their website this is on average (for standard tariff customers) £43 for gas and £30 for electric but depends on the tariff you are on. The credit meter would then give you the option of 4 different tariffs - either standard or one of three different fixed tariffs.
 
Coco&Luna said:
I have double glazing but the sealant really does need redone. That heater looks really good and the draft excluder at the door is a good idea, they have nice ones in home bargains for like a fiver, i'll buy one of those and the emergency blankets. :)

Heat lamps are quite expensive and i need something to heat the whole cage. Luna even though she obviously get's cold wont sit near the heat pads, so i assume she wouldn't sit under the bulb. I just out the pads in to try and warm the general area and hope for the best.

I'm with Scottish Power. :/
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Hi there sorry for jumping into your conversation but I see your having bother with Scottish power and you are looking into pre payment metres I can honestly say since moving into my flat which already had them installed they are great and I can keep track of how much gas and electricity I use as before I was direct debit with Scottish power I was £300 in debt within 3 months as they had me on the wrong tariff despite me saying I was in my first home and hadn't a clue how much energy I would use I only had electricity no gas supply and had storage heating. I was apprehensive about the pre payment meters but gave them a try since they were there and I wouldn't go back to direct debit as you don't get into debt with the pre payment metres. Hope this helps you even a little bit
 
£108 is what I'm actually using but i'm now paying £163 in gas and electricity from now to start paying off the £700 debt. I've had a few people check that i'm getting the best deal, and they all seem to think so, and i remember using an online comparison site when i switched to them and scottish power seemed to be the best.
This is ok for now, as long as i get the pigs sorted.
I was actually thinking about switching to the key meter after i had payed this off, i actually don't mind a slight increase in what i pay if it means i dont have to watch what I'm doing like a hawk and because i can keep an eye on how much money i have left, but if its drastically more expensive then i wont bother. I don't understand how the bill has got this high so quickly, It's only been a couple of months. Ive been sitting at the hospital all day yesterday and today & not had a chance to phone them back so i'm still just sitting worrying about it, lol.
@GloriousGuineaGirl would i have to ask them when i speak to them on the phone then? that would be lovely. lol

I did find this heater on amazon that i liked? it's only £31 after P&P.
I've also bought that silver insulation which ill put down tonight and an extra heat pad.
 
We had a really high electric meter reading a few years ago. We were (and still are ) with Scottish Power. We rang customer services and they were very helpful.
 
Coco&Luna said:
£108 is what I'm actually using but i'm now paying £163 in gas and electricity from now to start paying off the £700 debt. I've had a few people check that i'm getting the best deal, and they all seem to think so, and i remember using an online comparison site when i switched to them and scottish power seemed to be the best.
This is ok for now, as long as i get the pigs sorted.
I was actually thinking about switching to the key meter after i had payed this off, i actually don't mind a slight increase in what i pay if it means i dont have to watch what I'm doing like a hawk and because i can keep an eye on how much money i have left, but if its drastically more expensive then i wont bother. I don't understand how the bill has got this high so quickly, It's only been a couple of months. Ive been sitting at the hospital all day yesterday and today & not had a chance to phone them back so i'm still just sitting worrying about it, lol.
@GloriousGuineaGirl would i have to ask them when i speak to them on the phone then? that would be lovely. lol

I did find this heater on amazon that i liked? it's only £31 after P&P.
I've also bought that silver insulation which ill put down tonight and an extra heat pad.
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Thats exactly the radiator I use :)

Also are you giving regular meter reads...? That is what was happening to me regarding the price I was paying but they were constantly estimating my bill it will say on your bill if they are doing it and if they are give them a read and if its over yes, ask them for a refund. By law they cannot refuse it x
 
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Aw thats good, ill get this one then.

A guy comes out and reads the meter regularly. I'll ask nicely when I phone them, :tu: Fingers crossed.
 
I had a guy come and read my meter, the bill shortly appeared afterward and was much higher than I expected. I decided to check my own reading it turns out he took down the wrong reading, my advice is check for yourself.
 
flintstones said:
I had a guy come and read my meter, the bill shortly appeared afterward and was much higher than I expected. I decided to check my own reading it turns out he took down the wrong reading, my advice is check for yourself.
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I had this myself once when changing suppliers. Guy had switched two of the numbers round. Took many phone calls and several weeks for both suppliers to correct the error.
 
I had a similar problem, I did get compensation from the energy company to which was a nice surprise considering how difficult it was to sort it out.
 
What a joke, how hard is it to copy down a few numbers in the right order. eugh..
 
Hi not sure if you have sorted anything out yet or which supplier you're with. I'm with British gas for both fuels (prepayment meter) and have just been told from another supplier that I am spending 130.00 per year too much. This is because of a standing charge BG have put on the meters. 1.28 per week per meter doesn't seem a lot but when you add it up....... I'm changing suppliers to one that doesn't charge me for the privlidge of using their meters but I can still use the key meter. Check out Economy energy.
 
Midge&Panda said:
Hi not sure if you have sorted anything out yet or which supplier you're with. I'm with British gas for both fuels (prepayment meter) and have just been told from another supplier that I am spending 130.00 per year too much. This is because of a standing charge BG have put on the meters. 1.28 per week per meter doesn't seem a lot but when you add it up....... I'm changing suppliers to one that doesn't charge me for the privlidge of using their meters but I can still use the key meter. Check out Economy energy.
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Be very careful with this. There are currently only about 3 suppliers that offer no standing charge. For all others the standing charge can be up to about 29p per day depending on which supplier you are with. Generally speaking those WITHOUT the standing charge cost more per unit than those WITH the standing charge. This is great news IF you are a low user. If you use a fair amount of energy, like the OP does, you are likely to be spending more on the new company. A full cost up based on usage needs to be done but don't trust the new company will be that truthful with you.

Economy energy are a very new company and I can't say too much about them as I haven't heard much. I only know of one person who switched from Eon to them on the promise of around £200 per year saving. At the moment she is finding that she is probably only saving around £5 per month so the real saving is likely to be around £60 not £200.
 
Coco&Luna said:
I'm really struggling with my gas an electricity bill because of Luna.
I'm now £700 in debt with my gas and electricity from trying to keep the temperature of the house up for Luna.
During the night the temperature drops to 14-15 degrees when i don't put the heating on.
Luna seems to be really sensitive to this and quickly develops a URI overnight when it happens.
So i've had to set the heating to click on at specific times during the day and night to maintain the house temperature at about 18-19.
I can't do this anymore because the debt will quickly become unmanageable if i don't, i'm already really worried about it.

I've got heat pads, the problem with this is that a couple of times a week just now i'm leaving the house at about 2pm and not coming home until the next morning because i've got family problems coming out my ears and need to be with them, and the pads don't stay warm that long.

I cant put that many cosies in the cage just now because Luna and stanley have only been together for a short time and when i add in the cosies with only one opening it seems to trigger dominance issues and Luna starts being a right snappy cow to the poor boy. lol.

Any help at all could be really, really appreciated. I can post pictures of their current set up if it might give any one ideas?

Thanks so much,
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Have you tried solar lamps?
I'm going to look if they sell a solar heating lamp my wife wants me to do something but I'll get back to you. I know how it is I have a one year old daughter and I cannot work because of my spine disease but the government says it's not enough to get disability even though I recently had to go to the hospital in a e.r
 
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This one says you have to min order of 500, but there's 360sellers willing to hassle just one order and this is just a idea to help.
You could charge it outside and when it gets cold bring it in and use it.
 

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Thanks guys, the weathers been really good the past week, so things are ok.

I got the sealant on my window fixed which made a big difference
& put down the silver insulation, got an electric heater, got them one of those trixie hutches for in the C&C for them to keep snuggly.
I've paid off £300 of the debt to try and get it over with as fast as possible. I now have £40 to last me until the 16th. lol.

I'm gunna stick with scottish power & leave the key meter for now. I feel a bit better about everything thank god.

@MooMoo&Nibbles Thank you :) That's a really good idea, might be really helpful for other members too!
 
Lady Kelly, just had a rep around from the energy watch. Just gone through all the comparisons with him and British gas even with the standing charge is second cheapest we can have. Economy energy have a costlier unit price. Didn't explain that to the OH. Sneaky sods
 
wow loads of advice for you.. hope you are feeling better and your piggies are nice and cosy xx
 
Midge&Panda said:
Lady Kelly, just had a rep around from the energy watch. Just gone through all the comparisons with him and British gas even with the standing charge is second cheapest we can have. Economy energy have a costlier unit price. Didn't explain that to the OH. Sneaky sods
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Sadly is often the case. A few years back N Power had a huge fine as their reps were signing people up on the doorstep even when the person said no! Following this, most suppliers have stopped doing door to door sales. It's sad as its probably not representative of the companys policy but when you have individuals probably struggling to live on minimum wage that are offered high bonuses and commission for selling things to people you are likely to end up with some unfair practices taking place. It's part of what got us into this recession in the first place, banks giving commission to staff for selling products like loans and credit cards.
 
Are your piggies nibblers with blankets etc? There is dressing gowns/ house coat (whatever u want to call them!) from primark that are a fiver- the amount of heat they hold is amazing. They are a thick fluffy material, not the towel like ones. I swear by them, i rescued a 14 year old yorkshire terrier that had a number of health issues and was underweight from the day i got her. She wore jumpers everyday as she always felt the cold- she was never too warm and loved nothing more than those house coats, they kept her super cosy. I ended up with 4 and brought 2 into work for heating up small animals after anaesthetics when their body temperatures dropped. Much safer than the heat pads as they could move away when awake and warm enough. If your pigs arent likely to eat them u could give them a try. One of my girls ate the vet beds and shattered my nerves but stopped after a few hours when they where no longer interesting! She can burrow under the layers of the house coat if shes cold, or u could fold it up and attach top layer to side of cage to create a wee tent. Glad you have it sorted just now :)
 
Have you thought about putting as much hay in the little hutch as you can for extra insulation? I used to do something similar with my old Rabbit, and it kept him lovely and snug in the depth of winter even though he lived outside in a hutch/run.
 
Hi, I haven't read the whole thread (sorry) but I just wanted to show you this if no one has suggested it: http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4152095.htm

My grandparents bought a couple of these as they have storage heaters which are costly, they're super cheap to run, like 5p an hour or something (they have one of those energy trackers things that displays how much you're using and the cost, that's how they know) and the best thing is that unlike fan heaters, once these go off they stay warm for ages and give out a lot of heat. My grandparents have an electric one and my mum has an oil filled one and they're equally good! Would it be worth investing in something like this and setting it on a timer so it goes off late morning, back on in the afternoon and so on? you could have it near the cage and leave your normal heating on its usual settings.
Just a suggestion, hope you're ok :)
 
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