Owning your own home

Who are you with? Just change supplier, I've never been with a supplier who automatically increases DD payments, how you could ever be over £500 in credit is beyond me.

They have my DD info so that argument falls flat.

Ah sorry I thought you meant 'scrap the DD, just send an accurate bill'

I have yet to leave a property where the utility does not owe me money. Often in excess of £500. So their estimates are shit - even when you constantly update them with readings. Fuck that. I am not a bank and I am not lending them money.

Don't pay by DD then - they love that :)

I'd guess that overcharging is structural to them - they gamble with the whatever overpayments to make moar dorrah so they can get more helicopters I mean supply cheaper product. pisses me off no end, too, mostly because when you do move getting the final balance sorted out is always a massive headache.

hey boss.

not heard owt since we pinged back an email to our solicitors asking the sellers solicitors #wtafigo

we're quietly confident it's all a big miscommunication and that the intention was always to sell us the freehold along with the leasehold. Apparently the titles can be merged which our solicitors have offered to do at no extra cost should this be the case.

Our solicitors, whilst not the cheapest on the block, have been a fucking delight to deal with. worth every penny.

there are shit hot posters on this very thread that have an actual understanding of this process.

My last two suppliers did just that.

have you looked at Tonik, they give you 3% interest on in credit balances

phew! would've been a shitty situation neighbour.

fresh update: the seller's latest wheeze is to try and hit us up for 2500 notes for the freehold because "that's what he paid for it".

the continued interest of his full asking price buyers is hanging by a fucking thread and he has the brass neck to try this on? unbelievabru.

he's been told to fuck off seawards.

^ duly noted.

Yes, I'm totally with you on that one too. My flat has a 66 year lease - so I paid £30k under asking for it. I'll pay that back when I have to extend but that's the deal. It's not worthless - it's just worth less.

Also, the LKP has picked up on this story: https://www.leaseholdknowledge.com/mp-attacks-charity-residential-freehold-owners-gaming-leasehold-system-cites-mary-magdalene-holy-jesus-trust

Won't be long before this is sorted.

“But it claims that it ‘cannot change it as things presently stand.’ This is because it has received legal advice informing it that it is under no obligation to sell or extend the lease, and fears repercussions from the Charity Commission if it does so.

What a bunch of dickheads

I'd guess that overcharging is structural to them - they gamble with the whatever overpayments to make moar dorrah so they can get more helicopters I mean supply cheaper product. pisses me off no end, too, mostly because when you do move getting the final balance sorted out is always a massive headache.

That was kind of my point. They have this technology that basically means they can stop guessing how much of their product you consume, so what do they do with it? Fuck knows because the obvious answer of "improve the customer experience" doesn't seem to have dawned on them yet.

Also - holding credit balances is not hard if the supplier only sends you quarterly statements and then caveats the balance such that you think you'll burn through it in the next quarter. It's all bollocks and they don't pay interest. It's free financing for them.

I should switch to @amey 's provider so I can just stick all my savings with them as massive over payments. 3% is not bad.

fresh update: the seller's latest wheeze is to try and hit us up for 2500 notes for the freehold because "that's what he paid for it".

Are you buying it from a D.Foffa? That logic sounds familiar.....

its 5% now for last 2 weeks! (its just high/mid-high risk nutmeg)

Hmmm, isn't this one of those 'how much is your honesty worth' moments?

They have this technology that basically means they can stop guessing how much of their product you consume, so what do they do with it? Fuck knows because the obvious answer of "improve the customer experience" doesn't seem to have dawned on them yet.

Ultimately providers don't want them though, right? They were kinda imposed on them. I thought. If that's the case it's not really surprising that they won't use them to do what they are supposed to do.

dicks!

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/lower-energy-direct-debits

(Page is currently down but looking at the google cache...)

"
Know your rights

After years of persistent complaints, the regulator finally stepped in and introduced new licence conditions setting out guidelines for fair and reasonable direct debits.

Under condition 27 of the Gas Supply Licence, suppliers must:

o Set fair direct debits. They must take reasonable steps to ensure customers' direct debit levels are based on the best available information, including the quantity of gas and electricity supplied.

o Give clear explanations. If you ask, your supplier must clearly explain why it's chosen that amount for its direct debit.

o Refund credits. If a credit has accumulated and a customer asks for it back, suppliers must refund it. If the supplier thinks the credit should be withheld, the reasons why must be clearly explained but customers can challenge this (see how to challenge it).

In theory, this should make it much easier for consumers to get fair direct debits set for them and reclaim refunds where due. As this is a licence condition, Ofgem can fine suppliers if they breach it. Many energy companies, including all of the big six, now offer automatic refunds when you're in credit (though the threshold for this happening varies). However in some cases it'll still be up to consumers to demand a refund.

Annoyingly, Ofgem doesn't set out what's "fair and reasonable". Instead, it leaves it up to the supplier to decide. If you disagree and the company won't sort out your complaint, you can go to the free, independent Energy Ombudsman to dispute it (see escalate your complaint).
"

Find a single OF(fill in the TLA blank) that has ever come down like a ton of bricks on any industry. Ever. They are toothless bodies keen to write massive amounts of guidance but not much else. Switching providers once I had the customer services guy ACTUALLY read 3 pages of complete legalese gibberish Ts&Cs, out loud, because of OFGEN regulations. No idea what the point of that was. It has been a few years since we have had to switch to times may have changed.

But it would be nice if the price increases would go back down, which they have not. Shame the regulatory bodies are pointless.

Question on heating.

All my house radiators are on a wireless thermostat, which floats around the ground floor of the house - it doesn't have the range to go anywhere further afield.

We just had underfloor heating put in on the ground floor, which is on a separate thermostat.

Result - the radiator stat always thinks its nice and warm because of the underfloor heating, so doesn't ever turn on. Our whole house is now freezing apart from the ground floor. Unless I ramp the temperature on it (to get it to heat to above the floor stat), but then the house gets absolutely boiling as the radiator stat is set so hot to still be on even when the floors have warmed up.

Anyone got any experience / ideas? I imagine a longer range thermostat for the rads is the most likely change.

My energy supplier (all electric) said "we think you will use x amount in the coming months therefore we recommend a DD of x£££s" which was more than double the DD I was paying.
So I rang them and said I was more than capable of regulating my own power usage ( the website monitoring is very good via the smart meter) and yeah thanks for your concern but I'm not paying that. We agreed on an increased DD (winter months) but no where near their 'estimate'.

tl:dr - they try it on and they know it - challenge.

Just checked mine (I should switch, although I think I've got my m^3 to kWh conversion wrong so that may mess up the calcs) and I spent most of last year in debit, it's only recently changed to me being in credit.

hey boss.

Get back to work

rumbled.

Anyone got any experience / ideas

1 .Put the rad stat by a window or in the fridge

1. Turn the rad stat off, set the boiler / rads on timer, use thermo valves to control the temperature on each rad
   

Turn the rad stat off, set the boiler / rads on timer, use thermo valves to control the temperature on each rad

So the boiler to the rads just stays on (for a given number of hours, or the rad stat gets rammed up high so that the hot water always flows), and each rad decides how much hot water to consume? That sounds promising...

So the boiler to the rads just stays on (for a given number of hours, or the rad stat gets rammed up high so that the hot water always flows), and each rad decides how much hot water to consume? That sounds promising...

Pretty much - it's a throw back to how these things worked before thermostats. I think modern radiators come with thermo valves still so you can balance the heat in the home.