The cost of living... what can we do?

It's been that way for decades, Jack. Why do you think so many 'play the system', don't work, don't contribute etc.. It's becoming much the same here. House-owners are heavily penalised for....owning a house instead of renting! Even to the point of being ineligible for help with healthcare costs despite a minimal income It seems to have escaped the tiny brains within the Government that house owners not only pay Council tax and hefty construction and amendment fees, but keep local commerce turning via the maintenance of their homes. No incentive whatsoever to work, look after your own home, live 'correctly'. Is it any wonder that more and more don't choose to?

 

As I said earlier, this average household the news programmes keep quoting is a bit vague.
Means nothing to me.

 

I think it's intentionally an over simplification as a benchmark only.

Trouble is, even those that dig into the detail find it less than straight forward.

This is as much as I understand it.

The price cap really refers to the maximum amount we can be charged per unit, be that a kWh for electricity, or whatever a unit of gas is called.

Except I don't think it's quite that simple, because retail gas per unit is usually cheaper than retail electric per unit, and most people consume both, so I'm not sure how they apportion it.

For me, in my all electric house, it simply means my electric price per unit is capped, or it would have been if I hadn't recently made an expensive mistake. More on that shortly. If a household consumes more than average, that doesn't matter. You're price per unit is still capped.

WARNING. I mentioned I'd just made an expensive mistake. Hopefully I can undo it. The price cap only applies to whatever tariff your supplier calls their standard variable rate. If you panicked and took out a fixed deal to mitigate against market volatility, as I did, then the price cap does NOT apply. So if you've done that before the recent announcement, now is the time to consider trying to get out of it and onto a standard variable rate tariff.

 

They have a mythical figure of how much an average family uses.
They have capped the KWh price at a level that would make their annual bill £2500.

If you use more energy than the average, you will pay more.

 

I think the problem is the media coming up with this strange way of putting it.

Yes we need to know the true price, the rest that they prattle on about is pie in the sky.

 

Who on earth would have chips with gravy yuck.

 

We are electricity = sole power. We have 4 way meter reading = Warmwise.
I enquired about a smart meter
" we cannot fit one with your sort of set up - sorry "
We cannot change from Warmwise...
Jenny namaste

 

I've never heard of Warmwise.

 

A rare bird indeed. It was selected at the time our Communal dwellings were erected some 20 years or so ago. It was beneficial to us 100 year leaseholders but the benefits have been eroded over time.

Jenny namaste