Heating Oil Price Rocketing

[Last Visit]

Oil club for my area quoting 67ppl (excl VAT). Cheapest for here in a long time.

[oblio]

BG put my £200 alternative payment government money into my electric account on the 21st. Now over 700 quid in credit so I'll contact them next week and see about getting some of it withdrawn.

[anonymous-user]

Last Visit said:

Oil club for my area quoting 67ppl (excl VAT). Cheapest for here in a long time.

Getting cheaper here, too - Oil Club quoting 65.26ppl (excl VAT). That applies for all order volumes, even down to 500 litres.

Itchy finger time; stick or twist?

[Earthdweller]

Just had a fill up, took 750L which refilled the tank, last fill was last week in August which works out at 26L per week, just under 4L per day. Grateful for a fairly mild winter overall apart from the Dec cold spell. Worked out at £0.94 per/litre including taxes (converted from €)(3000sq/ft rural detached)

[Flip Martian]

oblio said:

BG put my £200 alternative payment government money into my electric account on the 21st. Now over 700 quid in credit so I'll contact them next week and see about getting some of it withdrawn.

That seems a bit cheeky - Scottish Power paid mine directly to my bank account. Which is what I thought suppliers had agreed to do. Keeping hold of it is rather naughty.

[AdeTuono]

Flip Martian said:

oblio said:

BG put my £200 alternative payment government money into my electric account on the 21st. Now over 700 quid in credit so I'll contact them next week and see about getting some of it withdrawn.

That seems a bit cheeky - Scottish Power paid mine directly to my bank account. Which is what I thought suppliers had agreed to do. Keeping hold of it is rather naughty.

SP did the same for me.

[Flip Martian]

Ultimately the money is FROM the govt. TO the person using heating oil. Energy companies are the payment conduit. It's not THEIR money. Whether you can already afford the oil is neither here nor there - it's your money, not to be retained by British Gas (or anyone else).

[ARHarh]

Just had a email from BG .

It says

"We know this winter is a difficult time for households all around the country, with rising energy bills putting pressure on your budget.

What is the Alternative Fuel Payment scheme?

The Alternative Fuel Payment scheme is part of the Government’s cost of living support package for customers this winter. It’s for anyone whose property isn’t on a mains gas supply and uses alternative fuels to heat their homes. You can find more information at Government's Help for Households page.

How will I receive the payment?

The payment will be applied as a credit to your energy account in February, so you don’t need to do anything. It will appear on your bill or statement as 'Alternative Fuel Payment'. "

So still not sure if they will pay into my account or not. Don't need to be £200 plus in credit.

[Flip Martian]

ARHarh said:

Just had a email from BG .

It says

"We know this winter is a difficult time for households all around the country, with rising energy bills putting pressure on your budget.

What is the Alternative Fuel Payment scheme?

The Alternative Fuel Payment scheme is part of the Government’s cost of living support package for customers this winter. It’s for anyone whose property isn’t on a mains gas supply and uses alternative fuels to heat their homes. You can find more information at Government's Help for Households page.

How will I receive the payment?

The payment will be applied as a credit to your energy account in February, so you don’t need to do anything. It will appear on your bill or statement as 'Alternative Fuel Payment'. "

So still not sure if they will pay into my account or not. Don't need to be £200 plus in credit.

I got a very similarly worded email from Scottish Power before they sent mine - except under "How will I receive it?" they stated it would be sent to the bank account they have on my direct debit record. They did say for anyone not on DD, they would be contacting those separately, I think. But if you're on DD, no reason it shouldn't go directly into your bank account.

[Tom8]

BG are holding it which is entirely wrong, it is not for them it is for the customer. They advise if you want the cash t will take them another 5 days to process it. They are using it to line their own pockets. I have written to my MP about it and you should do the same. I think every other supplier is paying it to people. Not sure how much government money they are pocketing but it will be an awful lot. Like poster above already in credit they are just banking and leveraging it for their own needs.

[M1AGM]

I’m with octopus and they credited my account the £200 on 14th Feb and then took the full monthly bill (I pay in full by DD monthly) on the 20th Feb. So now I’m £200 in credit.

So no, not everyone else is paying the money direct into bank accounts.

I even get a big button that says “why cant I have a refund?’ and when I click the link the ever so useful octopus website/app tells me the reason I cannot have the money refunded is because I havent sent them a meter reading in the last 30 days. I’m on a smart meter. Lol.

[Flip Martian]

I just checked on the gov website: https://www.gov.uk/get-help-energy-bills/alternati...

"Most homes that are eligible for this payment will get it automatically as a credit on their electricity bills from February 2023."

So actually BG (and Octopus) are entitled to keep it, according to the government. Which is nice...

Thankfully Scottish Power thought otherwise then...

[J210]

Not had it credited to my Octopus account. Been told I will probably have to apply for it via the Govs site next month...

[hmg]

Tom8 said:

BG are holding it which is entirely wrong, it is not for them it is for the customer. They advise if you want the cash t will take them another 5 days to process it. They are using it to line their own pockets. I have written to my MP about it and you should do the same. I think every other supplier is paying it to people. Not sure how much government money they are pocketing but it will be an awful lot. Like poster above already in credit they are just banking and leveraging it for their own needs.

I’m quite happy for it to sit in my electricity account as it’s supposed to be used towards our energy needs and I’ve requested that my direct debit come down again.

Although I’m sure you will ring fence the money for what it’s intended,the worry when it’s paid into an account is some lesser scrote(s)will be using it to buy fags/booze/larger TV etc etc whilst on the other hand pleading fuel poverty.

[Flip Martian]

They can plead what they like - they still need to buy heating oil, or go cold. They can indeed spend it on what they like, if they can already afford their heating oil. As it was THIS scrote had just paid out for an 800 quid oil bill, so having that go into my bank was very handy.

[ewanjp]

Anyone got it from Bulb yet?

[hmg]

ewanjp said:

Anyone got it from Bulb yet?

Yes about 10 days ago. Just added to the account balance though.

[soupdragon1]

Earthdweller said:

Just had a fill up, took 750L which refilled the tank, last fill was last week in August which works out at 26L per week, just under 4L per day. Grateful for a fairly mild winter overall apart from the Dec cold spell. Worked out at £0.94 per/litre including taxes (converted from €)(3000sq/ft rural detached)

Still fairly expensive in NI too versus what some on here are paying for oil.

Cheap electric though

[Coxey]

Just had the £200 credited to our Eon account. I know this is a dumb question but how do the government know I have a oil fired boiler?

[Murph7355]

soupdragon1 said:

Earthdweller said:

Just had a fill up, took 750L which refilled the tank, last fill was last week in August which works out at 26L per week, just under 4L per day. Grateful for a fairly mild winter overall apart from the Dec cold spell. Worked out at £0.94 per/litre including taxes (converted from €)(3000sq/ft rural detached)

Still fairly expensive in NI too versus what some on here are paying for oil.

Cheap electric though

I just paid 72ppl Inc tax and thought I was being bummed! (even though that's the cheapest it's been for a year or so).

Prices still fluctuating so bought a bit which will hopefully do until summer easily now. We us near 11l a day on average (next to none Apr to Sept and then it drinks it.