Welcome
to the issue 37 of the weekly Polar Money Tips
newsletter. In this edition we explore home fuel
bills and how to reduce them... read on!
£1,000 Fuel Bills and what to do
about them |
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British
Gas customers are likely to see their gas bills
rise by as much as 25% this month, bringing
the average home fuel bill to more than £1,000
a year.The UK’s largest energy supplier
has failed to confirm the price increases, but
is widely expected to announce make an announcement
in the next few weeks.
A
25% increase would be the largest ever fuel
bill price rise in the UK, and community groups
have expressed concern that even more people
– particularly the elderly and poor –
will suffer from fuel poverty, spending 10%
or more of their income on energy.
If,
as expected, British Gas confirms the price
rises, other energy suppliers are expected to
follow suit. It is expected to send letters
to its 11 million customers within the coming
weeks that outline details of the higher bills.
A
25% increase would be 10 times more than the
rate of inflation.Late last year British Gas
hit customers with a 14.2% price increase in
gas and electricity prices.
Why
prices rise
Energy companies attribute price rises to wholesale
costs, even though most supply is purchased
on long-term contracts.Centrica, the parent
company of British Gas, said it cost Britain
an extra £300 million this winter because
it did not have sufficient access to European
gas to meet demand.
A
spokesman for Centrica said: "Wholesale
gas prices for 2006 are up about 75% on 2005."Clearly,
all suppliers are buying their gas in the same
market, therefore we would expect that suppliers
will be increasing their tariffs substantially
as we go through 2006."But we haven't said
anything about timing or scale of an increase."Independent
switching and comparison service uSwitch said
the rumoured price rises would mean British
Gas customers had suffered a 43% increase in
prices over the last five months.
What
you can do
Make sure you're getting the best deal on your
home utilities by comparing
suppliers online. We have teamed
up with uSwitch.com to bring you a quick and
easy way to find the cheapest
gas and electricity suppliers in
your area.
| uSwitch.com |
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Click
Here - to find
out how you can save an average
of £283 by changing your
gas, electricity and telephone
suppliers. View your annual
savings and find out who your
cheapest supplier for gas, electricity,dual
fuel or telephone is by using
our comprehensive and impartial
energy calculator. Then sign
up online in only
a few minutes. (Energywatch
& Ofcom accredited)
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| Tell Us What You Think |
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| We would love to hear what you think of this issue of Polar
Money Tips. And of course,
if you have any suggestions for upcoming
issues that you'd like to share with
us, please send those, too!
Just e-mail me at: moneytips@polarloans.co.uk
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