BULB is increasing its electricity and gas prices AGAIN for its 1.6million customers – adding £69 a year for bills.
It was only last month that customers saw their energy bills hiked, when the energy firm added £91 a year to costs.
1
The change comes into force on June 21 and will affect direct debit customers.
If you prepay for your energy, then you’ll be glad to know that this change doesn’t affect you and your prices won’t change.
Bulb is contacting customers to let them know about the changes.
The tariff is currently £1,057 a year with typical energy and gas use, but it’s going to increase by £69 to £1,126 a year.
How to save on your energy bills
SWITCHING energy providers can sound like a hassle – but fortunately it’s pretty straight forward to change supplier – and save lots of cash.
Shop around – If you’re on an SVT deal you are likely throwing away around £300 a year. Use a comparion site such as MoneySuperMarket.com, uSwitch or EnergyHelpline.com to see what deals are available to you.
The cheapest deals are usually found online and are fixed deals – meaning you’ll pay a fixed amount usually for 12 months.
Switch – When you’ve found one, all you have to do is contact the new supplier.
It helps to have the following information – which you can find on your bill – to hand to give the new supplier.
- Your postcode
- Name of your existing supplier
- Name of your existing deal and how much you pay
- An up-to-date meter reading
It will then notify your current supplier and begin the switch.
It should take no longer than three weeks to complete the switch and your supply won’t be interrupted in that time.
Anybody new who signs up to Bulb from May 31 will automatically be charged the new rates too.
But anyone joining between now and June 21 will pay the current rate before it changes.
You can look up the current and new rates for your area by visiting Bulb’s tariff page.
Scottish Power, EDF Energy and EON have already hiked energy bills massively over the past year as the wholesale price of electricity and gas has gone up significantly.
Since the new price cap was introduced last month, fixed deals have been slowly rising and in some cases up by 10% at an average of almost £100 extra per year.
Bulb is putting the same reason down to its latest increase too, but in line with keeping costs down for customers the green energy supplier has still kept prices below the cap.
A Bulb spokesperson said: “Wholesale energy prices have doubled since this time last year, and are up by a third since March.
“We pass on cost savings when the cost of supplying energy falls, so when it drops sufficiently, so will our prices.”
What to do if you can’t pay your bills
FALLING behind on your energy bills can be extremely stressful.
If you’re struggling to pay what you owe, contact your supplier as soon as possible.
Your provider has to help you come up with a solution, and you should be able to negotiate a deal that works for you both.
One option is to agree a payment plan where you pay off your debts in affordable instalments.
You may be able to pay off your debts directly from your benefits through the Fuel Direct Scheme.
A fixed amount will automatically be taken to cover what you owe plus your usage.
To be eligible, you must be getting one of the following benefits:
- Income-based jobseeker’s allowance
- Income support
- income-related employment and support allowance
- Pension credit
- Universal Credit (but only if you’re not working)
If you cannot come to an agreement with your supplier, they may try to force you to get a prepayment meter installed.
In very rare cases, where you refuse to negotiate, your supplier might threaten you with disconnection.
The announcement of the price hike came yesterday as Bulb says it will give customers 30 days’ notice of any price increases that may be coming into force.
Bulb doesn’t have any exit fees, so if you aren’t happy with the newly imposed price hike then you’re free to shop around, and if you find something cheaper you can leave without a penalty.
You can use sites like uSwitch, Moneysupermarket or Gocompare to help you compare different rates and find the cheapest option.
Martin Lewis’ MoneySavingExpert has already urged bill payers to switch energy deals so they can save hundreds of pounds a year.
The savings blog has said that the cheapest tariff for direct debit users is on average £281 a year cheaper than Bulb’s new price on typical use.
WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER
When does McDonald’s Monopoly 2021 start?
GET MINTED
The 12 most valuable £2 coins in circulation worth up to £85
CHOCS AWAY
Lindt is selling a MASSIVE mystery box of chocolate for half price
BAGGED UP
Supermarket trick means shoppers pay FOUR times the price for the same product
POT LUCK
Why MILLIONS face smaller pension pots – and how you can fix it
AISLE BE DAMNED
What’s in the middle of Lidl this week? Six bargains you can find in shops
It’s thought that a quarter of young people don’t understand the energy bills they have to pay.
Brits waste hundreds of millions of pounds each year on energy bills so we have some tips on how to cut those costs.
This comes after they have been baffled by how much it costs to run individual items in the home.
Man shares easy tips to keep your home warm WITHOUT turning up the heating – and they’re all completely FREE
