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

Paying by dd is automatic so less overhead; it's their way if saying 'pay by dd and get a better deal!' so they can keep their costs down.
I think.

 

That's how I understand it. I stopped my DD and pay monthly straight after I got my fixed tariff but I shall check into it.

 

They said they wouldn't allow me to pay a variable DD and wanted to charge me, in Autumn, £700 per month.

 

The fixed DD is based on what you consumed in the previous year. We were in for about £500 per month, that's gas and electric. But like most households we have seriously economised, added more insulation, draught proofed, turned things off, etc. During the summer our monthly bills were less than £100. This month, if this cold weather continues, we will hit £500. Averaged out we expect to pay around £350 to £400. We swapped to variable DD.

 

As we are both with British Gas I decided to have a chat (Live Chat) with them. They said you must be on the old BG system and they are gradually migrating all accounts to the New Energy system. At the moment that system doesn't have variable direct debit and they don't know if they will be having it. So I asked for them to put in a formal complaint from me about it. I also complained about it when they asked for feedback.

That also said "No, you'll not be charged extra for paying On Demand" which is what I do. I send in my meter readings and when I receive my bill, usually within hours, I pay. You can either pay online or through an automated telephone system.

 

I just have good old fashioned meters. Don't want any of these new fangled smart thingies. I don't like anything smarter than me around the house (apart from the Mrs) and it's too easy for that to happen

I've never had any problem with Live Chat and they answer pretty quickly. As I don't trust anyone I take screenshots of the conversations.

 

When we had the building works done and new windows fitted they didn't use cavity stoppers so we have a small air gap between cavity insulation and around the window frame. Not a huge issue except in the ensuite and kitchen where the sill reveal is tiled and gets condensation above what is the wall cavity.
I'm planning on drilling from outside underneath the exterior sill and foaming just the underside of the frame to insulate it and in theory stop the condensation. Just like retro fitting cavity wall insulation but on a vastly small scale.
Very much non urgent so far t won't be done until it's warmer weather!

 

I've also found some draughts from around the kitchen flooring where the bi-folds are etc. Does anyone have a suggestion for plugging the gaps? There's a bit of plastic trim to cover the gap which I'll lift and the gap varies between nothing and more than an inch. I'm not using expanding foam here as it will go everywhere!