We finally received the dreaded email this week. Myself and my partner, along with millions of others across the country, have braced ourselves for this moment, the worry and the stressful question of what our new bill will look like has finally been answered.
My energy provider E.ON sent out an email to us on Tuesday, April 26, to inform us what our new price will be after our tariff ended on Monday, April 25. Residents across the UK may already find themselves on a higher tariff already following the energy price cap increase that came in on April 1.
Energy regulator Ofgem hiked its energy price cap by 54% at the start of the month. The energy price cap, which limits the rates a supplier can charge for each unit of gas and electricity you use, jumped by £693 from £1,277 to £1,971. Prepayment customers have been worse hit, with a jump of £708 from £1,309 to £2,017, and that's without the possibility of further hikes, with wholesale gas prices increasing regularly.
Read more: I worked from home all day and this is how much my British Gas smart meter charged me
The email from E.ON had a subject line of "Important: we’ve reviewed your Direct Debit amount" and I couldn't help feel an overwhelming sense of anxiety and worry. What are we going to do if we can't afford this? What if we've been paying the wrong amount all this time, and will it matter anyway because the cost of gas and electricity is sky-high?
Myself and my partner Mark have been with energy company E.ON for 13 months, with our contracting beginning in January 2021. We were paying on average £69 a month for gas and electricity.
We've known for a while that the energy hikes have been coming and have tried to save in other areas of living to help us out. For example, we've been using TopCashback when doing our normal shopping purchases to get money back on deals, and we've also cut down on going out for meals and bulk buying food, as well as only using the car when absolutely necessary. But the cost will still add up and when I read the E.ON email further I winced.
E.ON began the email by stating: "Following the latest Ofgem price cap announcement and increase in our variable tariff prices from 1 April, we've reviewed your energy use and Direct Debit to check your monthly payments are set to the right amount.
"We know that many households will be under increased financial pressure so by taking action now, you can spread the cost of your energy and budget better. Even if you use the same amount of energy as before, it will cost you more from 1 April."
E.ON has said to help us avoiding building up a debt on our account, they will increase our monthly direct debit to £157.91 from May 26, 2022. That's an increase of £88.91 a month, which works out as £1,066.92 for the year. This comes in at £5.62 more than they originally quoted us at the start of April..
Overall it's an extra £238.92 a year, which may not seem like a massive figure to some but it adds up every month. It will essentially work out as an extra bill for us.
E.ON has told us that if it doesn't seem right to give them an updated meter reading. We have done this but who knows if this figure is right? It seems slightly over to me based on their last predictions but with prices very high elsewhere too it's hard to know if this is actually correct or not.
The email has also informed us that we are in a credit deficit too. Which means we are currently minus £37.16 on our account, and this figure will be included on the new rate to pay back over the year.
Typically, when reading about the support in the email E.ON has told us that their phone lines are really busy but if we need to get in touch with them to reach out on social media.
E.ON added: "We understand that rising costs, not just for energy, mean you may be facing challenging times ahead. Please have a look at how we can help if you're struggling to pay, where you'll find info on all the available support from us, and other independent organisations.
"We know the first step can be the hardest, but it's also the most important one as we can only help if you get in touch, and we'll do all we can when you do. Our phone lines are really busy right now so we've covered all of the info we think you'll need in this email. But if you do need to get hold of us, we're also here 24/7 on Facebook and Twitter, or just reply to this email."
Our next steps will be to reply to the email, with updated meter readings and ask E.ON if they can knock anything off the bill to help us out. At the same time though, I do feel somewhat lucky because this figure is no where near as high as other's. Many are facing thousands of pounds more, with some families choosing whether to heat their homes or eat to get by.
We are coming into the summer so energy usage will be lower, which may work out better for those on a smart meter but not those on a these new tariffs that energy companies are setting. Come winter too it will only get worse for those struggling.
