Has your energy company gone bust?

[sir wanksalot]

No, thanks.

Just a bit of long term planning and government intervention. The free market works relatively well until things go wrong then it starts seizing up and problems ripple out.

I'm only playing devil's advocate

Is it really a bad idea to find a way to avoid reliance on other countries supplying us?

[Fugly]

Best dig out the candles just in case. Then there will be panic buying and there will be a candle shortage 

...bought 60 candles just before lockdown #1 'cos I thought there'd be a Walking Dead style dystopia....ahem 
(I blame the film Contagion for that)

[lillythesavage]

in the past Germany would typically buy gas over the summer when it is cheaper to fill the storage.
Our largest gas storage facility was the Rough off-shore field, this has been shut down due to "safety concerns".
Back in the good old monopoly  days of British Gas they could afford (i.e. force us to fund) to have larger storage, nowadays all the smaller companies are just looking at the bottom line so storage isn't their problem.
Security of energy supplies is vital for our economy so the government needs to step in and sort it out even if it means we have to pay more for our energy.

I have spent many a week filling in gas storage facilities all over London, and a few reservoirs, ready for development. It was quite obvious storage was not a priority.

[lillythesavage]

I'm only playing devil's advocate

Is it really a bad idea to find a way to avoid reliance on other countries supplying us?

Not at all, but it would take decades to get anything done and cost triple whatever the original deal was, then we have the protesters to slow things further.

The only thing guaranteed is we are going to pay more, some right now it seems.

[Blackpool Rock]

Now here's a thought - How about people put a jumper on instead of just reaching for the central heating as soon as the temperature drops below 20 degrees 

It never ceases to amaze me that most of the fuckwits at work seem to permanently have their heating on, oh and then complain how much their bill is 
My combined gas and electricity is about £40/month and i've just checked my tariff which looks like about £15 of this is standing charge, people at work pay £100's a month and I mean up to about £400/month FFS 
One guy says his wife wants it on from about now until the end of March and it's on 24/7 even when they go away for 2 weeks over Xmas, then the stupid bitch sits watching the news wearing short sleeves and complaining about global warming 

[lillythesavage]

Now here's a thought - How about people put a jumper on instead of just reaching for the central heating as soon as the temperature drops below 20 degrees 

It never ceases to amaze me that most of the fuckwits at work seem to permanently have their heating on, oh and then complain how much their bill is 
My combined gas and electricity is about £40/month and i've just checked my tariff which looks like about £15 of this is standing charge, people at work pay £100's a month and I mean up to about £400/month FFS 
One guy says his wife wants it on from about now until the end of March and it's on 24/7 even when they go away for 2 weeks over Xmas, then the stupid bitch sits watching the news wearing short sleeves and complaining about global warming 

Fucking hell, do you sit in the dark too, I use fuck all and am in a very warm insulated house and rarely need the heating on even in winter, and the lowest I got was 75 quid.

[lostandfound]

Now here's a thought - How about people put a jumper on instead of just reaching for the central heating as soon as the temperature drops below 20 degrees 

It never ceases to amaze me that most of the fuckwits at work seem to permanently have their heating on, oh and then complain how much their bill is 
My combined gas and electricity is about £40/month and i've just checked my tariff which looks like about £15 of this is standing charge, people at work pay £100's a month and I mean up to about £400/month FFS 
One guy says his wife wants it on from about now until the end of March and it's on 24/7 even when they go away for 2 weeks over Xmas, then the stupid bitch sits watching the news wearing short sleeves and complaining about global warming 

I'm the same, though pay less than you. Mind, I don't feel the cold - as least so far as it gets "cold" in England - I mean it's mostly warm and damp. 

Though when I go into the office I turn down the heating as it's far too hot for me, and everyone else complains it's freezing cold. 

[Marmalade]

Now here's a thought - How about people put a jumper on instead of just reaching for the central heating as soon as the temperature drops below 20 degrees 

It never ceases to amaze me that most of the fuckwits at work seem to permanently have their heating on, oh and then complain how much their bill is 
My combined gas and electricity is about £40/month and i've just checked my tariff which looks like about £15 of this is standing charge, people at work pay £100's a month and I mean up to about £400/month FFS 
One guy says his wife wants it on from about now until the end of March and it's on 24/7 even when they go away for 2 weeks over Xmas, then the stupid bitch sits watching the news wearing short sleeves and complaining about global warming 

Wants to keep the house warm for shagging? Drivers note: turn heating up full for feet nice n toasty then open the windows to stay awake. 

One of the Insulate protesting fuckwits has an unusual idea. Mr Joshua Smith, a brickie, owns a multi million property empire that is poorly insulated but doesn’t want to dip into his six-figure portfolio. His answer is to wear a parka jacket, warm himself by expelling a lot of hot air, and ask taxpayers to help. (Cnut cnut…) 
  

[spiralnotebook]

The offer by British Gas to be tied to them for 2 years for a £6 saving is starting to look like the bargain of the century 

[Dickled]

Came across this useful calculator.....

External Link/Members Only

[Blackpool Rock]

The offer by British Gas to be tied to them for 2 years for a £6 saving is starting to look like the bargain of the century 

Just had a woman on the breakfast TV from citizens advice answering questions from callers, one woman phoned in to say she switched or was switched from a provider who went bust to another one who has now also gone bust 

Another energy provider said his company aren't actively looking for any new customers so jumping ship may be hard or your deal will basically be shit.

[PunterNumber69]

External Link/Members Only is a good one too.

You can also check your meter numbers too.

[lillythesavage]

Just had a woman on the breakfast TV from citizens advice answering questions from callers, one woman phoned in to say she switched or was switched from a provider who went bust to another one who has now also gone bust 

Another energy provider said his company aren't actively looking for any new customers so jumping ship may be hard or your deal will basically be shit.

None of them are seeking new customers, they have no idea where the market is going and want the energy they have paid for to last as long as possible.

Those that are taking on the ones from bust suppliers have surely been given big incentives to do so, they would not have done it by choice. Any tariff will be at the maximum allowed I would have thought.

These companies going bust within days of a market fluctuation obviously were not viable and should not have been in the business, but as we pay up front and give them free access to our bank accounts any one could give it go.

Remember the days when we were trusted customers and got a bill for what we used , paid it or got cut off? Now they help themselves to our bank accounts and go bust at will as soon as they might lose a few quid. You can bet your bottom dollar they took every due payment right up to the moment they went bust, money that will never get returned. Your new company will start again, I doubt the will take on credit balances.

[PunterNumber69]

None of them are seeking new customers, they have no idea where the market is going and want the energy they have paid for to last as long as possible.

Those that are taking on the ones from bust suppliers have surely been given big incentives to do so, they would not have done it by choice. Any tariff will be at the maximum allowed I would have thought.

These companies going bust within days of a market fluctuation obviously were not viable and should not have been in the business, but as we pay up front and give them free access to our bank accounts any one could give it go.

Remember the days when we were trusted customers and got a bill for what we used , paid it or got cut off? Now they help themselves to our bank accounts and go bust at will as soon as they might lose a few quid. You can bet your bottom dollar they took every due payment right up to the moment they went bust, money that will never get returned. Your new company will start again, I doubt the will take on credit balances.

All down to the hedging strategies they were using.

Some buy years' worth of energy upfront. Others might buy 3 to 6 months in advance. Sometimes the market price works for them and sometimes it doesn't and sometimes it's too late to change your strategy. It sounds like some of the companies needed to be using more sophisticated approaches to balance long term vs short term buys.

[lillythesavage]

All down to the hedging strategies they were using.

Some buy years' worth of energy upfront. Others might buy 3 to 6 months in advance. Sometimes the market price works for them and sometimes it doesn't and sometimes it's too late to change your strategy. It sounds like some of the companies needed to be using more sophisticated approaches to balance long term vs short term buys.

It would seem those that went bust days after a price rise had no advanced stock at all, they would have had 3 to 6 months to weather the market. Obviously bucket shops were allowed to enter the market to make it look competitive.
It never has been competitive though, if it was a cap on tariffs would not be required and even if there was one none should be charging it.

[anyfucker]

It would seem those that went bust days after a price rise had no advanced stock at all, they would have had 3 to 6 months to weather the market. Obviously bucket shops were allowed to enter the market to make it look competitive.
It never has been competitive though, if it was a cap on tariffs would not be required and even if there was one none should be charging it.

None of them had "stock" they buy in the wholesale market and sell to end consumers.
If prices don't change quickly then all is OK, if prices are falling then they make out like bandits, if prices rise quickly they go bust.
Any major user of energy will have similar issues, e.g. airlines can hedge i.e. fix the price of jet fuel for a period ahead.

[PunterNumber69]

None of them had "stock" they buy in the wholesale market and sell to end consumers.
If prices don't change quickly then all is OK, if prices are falling then they make out like bandits, if prices rise quickly they go bust.
Any major user of energy will have similar issues, e.g. airlines can hedge i.e. fix the price of jet fuel for a period ahead.

The larger utilities certainly have stock as they buy liquidified gas from the Middle East and get it shipped in and they have long term contracts with the companies generating electricity. Gone are the days when energy companies owned and operated their own generation plants.

[lillythesavage]

None of them had "stock" they buy in the wholesale market and sell to end consumers.
If prices don't change quickly then all is OK, if prices are falling then they make out like bandits, if prices rise quickly they go bust.
Any major user of energy will have similar issues, e.g. airlines can hedge i.e. fix the price of jet fuel for a period ahead.

These small companies sprung up when there was screams about price fixing by the big six, stinks of the regulator allowing bucket shops into the business to make it look like competition, been found out now and we will be left with the big six, and hopefully Octopus, fingers crossed.

Was all so simple when you had one area supplier, Fred or Brenda came and read the meter and you paid for your usage, is there anything left where we do not pay upfront?
Customer service went with it, easy to be right when you hold the upper hand and the cash, not so easy if you are wrong and want to get paid.

[sir wanksalot]

Just had a woman on the breakfast TV from citizens advice answering questions from callers, one woman phoned in to say she switched or was switched from a provider who went bust to another one who has now also gone bust 

Another energy provider said his company aren't actively looking for any new customers so jumping ship may be hard or your deal will basically be shit.

Same happened to me pal.

I used an energy comparison site to find a deal with Avro (I think they were called). They went bust so was moved onto Scottish Power. After 1 year with them tried another comparison and went with Green. They've gone bust now too

[anyfucker]

I'm only playing devil's advocate

Is it really a bad idea to find a way to avoid reliance on other countries supplying us?

to prooduce all our energy needs would be pretty much impossible.
Our oil & gas fields have mostly been depleted as was coal.
Wind and solar are not guaranteed.
Nuclear - we'd have to import uranium and build a fleet or power stations - with our planning it would never happen.
Thorium offers a long term solution but was abandoned as it's difficult to produce material for nuclear weapons - yes the route of uranium was pushed by the military.
There is research going on but it will be years before the first commercial size reactor is up and running.

[lillythesavage]

to prooduce all our energy needs would be pretty much impossible.
Our oil & gas fields have mostly been depleted as was coal.
Wind and solar are not guaranteed.
Nuclear - we'd have to import uranium and build a fleet or power stations - with our planning it would never happen.
Thorium offers a long term solution but was abandoned as it's difficult to produce material for nuclear weapons - yes the route of uranium was pushed by the military.
There is research going on but it will be years before the first commercial size reactor is up and running.

Years of poor planning and indecision, are they not building a nuclear plant in the South West?  China would have built in the time we thought about it, look at the Heathrow fiasco, Crossrail and HS2

[PunterNumber69]

Years of poor planning and indecision, are they not building a nuclear plant in the South West?  China would have built in the time we thought about it, look at the Heathrow fiasco, Crossrail and HS2

Indecision is definitely a big part of it.

We spend an awful lot of time and money not making decisions.

[radioman33]

Energy companies have been going bust over the last 2 years,not because of today’s reasons it’s down to not paying the government RO or renewable obligations fees.Nottingham council introduced Robin Hood Energy now (bust) Owed 12 million.The big 6 are a cartel,one goes up,the others follow.

[PunterNumber69]

Energy companies have been going bust over the last 2 years,not because of today’s reasons it’s down to not paying the government RO or renewable obligations fees.Nottingham council introduced Robin Hood Energy now (bust) Owed 12 million.The big 6 are a cartel,one goes up,the others follow.

I think the smaller energy companies are exempt from the renewable energy obligations.

[lillythesavage]

I think the smaller energy companies are exempt from the renewable energy obligations.

seeing as most of them played the renewable energy only card, I doubt it, but we will be left with the big six cartel again, coincidence?  Or were the little twats taking too much business ?

[lillythesavage]

Indecision is definitely a big part of it.

We spend an awful lot of time and money not making decisions.

Too many people having a say, we need someone who will not give in to the lobbyists and a grows a big pair of balls, gets our youth into work through in work training for a decent wage at the end of it, says no to cheap foreign labour, build our nation again.

At the moment we go from one drama to another and ever bigger debt. Why on earth are we still paying furlough?

[radioman33]

I think the smaller energy companies are exempt from the renewable energy obligations.

If you google Robin Hood Energy it will answer your question.Its about FIT fees.They aren’t exempt.

[standardpostage]

Not yet.
I'm with Octopus.
But, you never know 

[Boundless]

Yep, was with Utility point, just renewed on a good deal a coupl of months ago.
I did wonder how it could be so cheap - now I know! 

[lillythesavage]

Not yet.
I'm with Octopus.
But, you never know 

Octopus seem to be safe and the only one outside the big six that is. For now.

[petermisc]

Octopus seem to be safe and the only one outside the big six that is. For now.

I am hoping they are.  But the news that the regulator has ordered them to take on customers from one of the bust outfits is not good.  With the current price cap, every new customer is going to be losing them money.

The last Martin Lewis Money Show was something of an eye opener.  No point in switching now, and most comparison sites are effectively dead.  And if you think things are bad now, just wait until the current rise in wholesale energy prices feeds into the next rise in the price cap, which is linked to those prices.

[petermisc]

to prooduce all our energy needs would be pretty much impossible.
Our oil & gas fields have mostly been depleted as was coal.
Wind and solar are not guaranteed.

And when the wind has been blowing, it has been blowing in the wrong place!  Apparently, not only have we been paying OTT prices to generate electricity from gas, but on top of that paying a premium to the wind generators not to generate.  Because the National Grid doesn't have the capacity to distribute the power from the wind turbines to where it is needed.

Unfortunately in the rush to go green, the government have been reluctant to invest in the infrastructure changes needed.  The National Grid was built to distribute power from large coal-fired power stations, mostly sited near the big centres of population or industry.  You can't just expect to feed in power from off-shore wind-farms in totally different places and expect it to cope. 

Unfortunately leaving things to the free market just results in cut-priced vendors who cannot afford to make long-term strategic investments.

[anyfucker]

Not yet.
I'm with Octopus.
But, you never know 

should be OK for now at least
Octopus Energy, which has been taking on customers from collapsed rival suppliers, has secured up to $600m (£438m) from an investment fund set up by the former US vice-president Al Gore.
Generation Investment Management (GIM), a $36bn fund manager that finances businesses focused on sustainability and tackling climate change, will take a stake of up to 13% in a deal that values Octopus at $4.6bn.
External Link/Members Only

[lillythesavage]

And when the wind has been blowing, it has been blowing in the wrong place!  Apparently, not only have we been paying OTT prices to generate electricity from gas, but on top of that paying a premium to the wind generators not to generate.  Because the National Grid doesn't have the capacity to distribute the power from the wind turbines to where it is needed.

Unfortunately in the rush to go green, the government have been reluctant to invest in the infrastructure changes needed.  The National Grid was built to distribute power from large coal-fired power stations, mostly sited near the big centres of population or industry.  You can't just expect to feed in power from off-shore wind-farms in totally different places and expect it to cope. 

Unfortunately leaving things to the free market just results in cut-priced vendors who cannot afford to make long-term strategic investments.

You cannot blame the government for what you call the " free market"  it is up to the free market to invest and improve their business.

How green are these turbines anyway, they use a lot of energy, building them, transporting them and putting them up and then give little back if you are correct, might as well burn the coal and filter the smoke and find a way to use the heat. 

[petermisc]

You cannot blame the government for what you call the " free market"  it is up to the free market to invest and improve their business.

No, but I can blame the government for handing our energy supply over to the "free market".  The basic principle of any private company is to make as much money as they can for their shareholders.  They are not interested in ensuring security of supply, unless there is profit to be made in it.

How green are these turbines anyway, they use a lot of energy, building them, transporting them and putting them up and then give little back if you are correct, might as well burn the coal and filter the smoke and find a way to use the heat. 

Any means of generating electricity is going to use energy to build.  The big question is whether they create more energy than they take to build, and I think there is little doubt that wind turbines do so.

The big problem is that the government has separated energy generation and distribution.  Once upon a time, the National Grid were responsible for both generating the power, and getting it to where it was needed.  So they mainly built power stations close to where the power was needed.  If they did build a power station in a remote location, then they also had to pay the costs of upgrading the grid to accommodate it.

Now the private power generators are only responsible for generating the power.  They can put up a power station (wind farm, solar farm, or whatever) wherever is best/cheapest for them, without having to worry about how the power is going to get to the consumer.  They still get paid if their turbines can't be used, because the power can't be got to where it is needed.

[lillythesavage]

No, but I can blame the government for handing our energy supply over to the "free market".  The basic principle of any private company is to make as much money as they can for their shareholders.  They are not interested in ensuring security of supply, unless there is profit to be made in it.
Any means of generating electricity is going to use energy to build.  The big question is whether they create more energy than they take to build, and I think there is little doubt that wind turbines do so.

The big problem is that the government has separated energy generation and distribution.  Once upon a time, the National Grid were responsible for both generating the power, and getting it to where it was needed.  So they mainly built power stations close to where the power was needed.  If they did build a power station in a remote location, then they also had to pay the costs of upgrading the grid to accommodate it.

Now the private power generators are only responsible for generating the power.  They can put up a power station (wind farm, solar farm, or whatever) wherever is best/cheapest for them, without having to worry about how the power is going to get to the consumer.  They still get paid if their turbines can't be used, because the power can't be got to where it is needed.

The simple answer is do not pay them until the power is usable and they have paid to connect it to the grid  If I build a house I have to pay to be connected to it.

The shareholder and profit is behind most of the failures in employment at the moment, they do not invest in people, pay as little as possible, do not train youngsters, treat employees as a number and hope people will keep coming through the door, ignore warnings about ageing workforces then blame the government when they run out of staff.
It is not the responsibility of government to pay to train drivers or any other trade for private business, it is their responsibility to dig themselves out of a hole of their own creation.

A lot of older drivers found the balance between wages and conditions did not outweigh retirement or easier local work in other things, that is behind a lot of the current problems, people got fed up of being treated like a working donkey. I am sure the same goes for other businesses too.

[anyfucker]

Three small energy suppliers Igloo, Symbio and Enstroga have ceased trading, Ofgem has announced.

[Blackpool Rock]

My fixed rate ended I think it was at the end of July and i've been on variable since, meant to look into switching and what all the other deals were with BG but they offered me a fixed rate which was more than variable so I didn't bother.

My prices will rise further on 1st Oct up to the new capped rate per unit not sure if it was more expensive if i'd done the deal  Is the capped rate a cap on the variable rate and can they go over that if you sign up to a fixed rate 

What I didn't know is that they set the rate every 6 months 1st Oct and 1st April however the rate that's set is based on the gas price for the previous 6 months, chances are that the price will stay high and probably go even higher in April based on the winter gas price.
So long as I put my meter reading in around 1st April then i'm not that bothered as I use next to fuck all gas through the summer.

Reading the MSE site earlier and the message was it's not worth fixing at the moment as all the deals are basically as high as the cap

[tynetunnel]

Is the capped rate a cap on the variable rate and can they go over that if you sign up to a fixed rate 

Yes. Only the variable rate is capped, a fixed rate is uncapped 

[PunterNumber69]

Yes. Only the variable rate is capped, a fixed rate is uncapped 

So everyone is going to go for the capped variable rate and the energy companies are going to be screwed if the electricity and gas prices stay high.

[tynetunnel]

So everyone is going to go for the capped variable rate and the energy companies are going to be screwed if the electricity and gas prices stay high.

Yes, effectively. As I understand it, the gas wholesale price is way beyond the cap, so energy suppliers are selling it below cost. The cap is due to increase in October and again in Spring 2022, but I doubt even that will be sufficient. This is why so many small suppliers are going tits-up. They haven’t forward purchased sufficient energy supplies so are (were) paying market rates which they were then supplying at a loss.

[radioman33]

The price cap increases today.The whole energy market is too confusing for the consumer,try googling what is the unit price of the price cap?.Has anyone any idea.

[Blackpool Rock]

The price cap increases today.The whole energy market is too confusing for the consumer,try googling what is the unit price of the price cap?.Has anyone any idea.

Agreed it's a fucking shambles 
I looked into it about 10 years ago and it was a total mindfuck though possibly due to the BG website being shit to use, seems to send you round in circles and you can't find the info you want then get stuck in a loop you don't want to be in 
The electric was OK as I believe the price per unit quoted basically equates to the number of units on your meter but the gas was totally confusion.

With gas the number of units on your gas meter doesn't match the price per unit on your bill as you need to factor in the calorific value of the gas and the price per unit is stated as KW/h

I'm pretty good at maths and working shit like this out and did finally manage to do it but fuck me trying to find out all the information on the BG website turned it into a Sherlock Holmes type investigation 

What doesn't help is that the calorific value of the gas is constantly changing so you have to try and work on average values, now I can understand that to accurately charge they need to factor this in and adjust the price / KW/h of energy used but why can't they just make it simple and state based on the average calorific gas value for the last XYZ time period then 1 unit on your meter costs £x pence, simple 

Anyway i've just has a look this morning and downloaded a few spreadsheets showing various costs which vary from region to region, can't actually find which region i'm in FFS  Was expecting to see NW or something but they make reference to Northern so that must be me or is it Norweb 
The regions stated by BG don't seem to bear any resemblance to the other information i'm finding on the internet and according to ofgem I don't have a region 

Basically the only deals I can sign up to are vastly more expensive than the variable rate (which won't change for 6 months) however I could sleep well knowing that i'm on a green tariff despite it being the same fucking gas and electric as the normal tariff 

[radioman33]

Exactly that’s why the big 6 have about 40 different tariffs to confuse you.The average cost for electric is 14p per kWh and gas is 4 p per kWh (rounded up figures ok).Then confusing part extra is introduced...standing charges,a day charge thane to pay it.Exit fees if you leave the company.Its all designed to make people confused.The poor are on Top up which is charging higher rates.The shareholders get richer.

[Blackpool Rock]

Exactly that’s why the big 6 have about 40 different tariffs to confuse you.The average cost for electric is 14p per kWh and gas is 4 p per kWh (rounded up figures ok).Then confusing part extra is introduced...standing charges,a day charge thane to pay it.Exit fees if you leave the company.Its all designed to make people confused.The poor are on Top up which is charging higher rates.The shareholders get richer.

Electric is more like 20-21p KW/h now 

[radioman33]

Electric is more like 20-21p KW/h now 

That’s correct...my prices are before the shit hit the fan.Companies like outfoxthemarket will flog you cheap lece but for how long.

[Marmalade]

Are there any switching companies still in the market?

[GingerNuts]

The price cap increases today.The whole energy market is too confusing for the consumer,try googling what is the unit price of the price cap?.Has anyone any idea.

I've tried to find the answer to that without luck. I only found prices to the nearest penny, 21p/kWh for electric and 4p/kWh for gas.

I'm guessing the prices on offer today are the actual figures, electricity 20.592p/kWh and gas 4.047p/kWh.

That’s correct...my prices are before the shit hit the fan.Companies like outfoxthemarket will flog you cheap lece but for how long.

There are no cheap deals and there's little available on comparison sites. The cheapest prices available are variable pricing at the energy cap prices.

I currently pay £70/month. The cheapest I can find now is £93/month on variable rate, the cheapest fixed price is £118/month.

The cheapest price on outfoxthemarket is £145/month!

[Markus]

I've tried to find the answer to that without luck. I only found prices to the nearest penny, 21p/kWh for electric and 4p/kWh for gas.

I'm guessing the prices on offer today are the actual figures, electricity 20.592p/kWh and gas 4.047p/kWh.


There are no cheap deals and there's little available on comparison sites. The cheapest prices available are variable pricing at the energy cap prices.

I currently pay £70/month. The cheapest I can find now is £93/month on variable rate, the cheapest fixed price is £118/month.

The cheapest price on outfoxthemarket is £145/month!

I’m on around the same rates and those are the increased standard variable rates introduced today.  The standard variable rate with my provider is cheaper than the fixed rate even with the price increase that kicked in today.  If gas prices drop again, those on the fixed plan will have to pay exit fees to be released from their contracts. This constant game every year when it comes to insurance & energy suppliers etc does my head in but it is a cost saving exercise so worth it in the end.  My car insurance has been the same for the last 3 years even though the book value of my car has decreased.  It’s a joke.

[GingerNuts]

I’m on around the same rates and those are the increased standard variable rates introduced today.  The standard variable rate with my provider is cheaper than the fixed rate even with the price increase that kicked in today.  If gas prices drop again, those on the fixed plan will have to pay exit fees to be released from their contracts. This constant game every year when it comes to insurance & energy suppliers etc does my head in but it is a cost saving exercise so worth it in the end.  My car insurance has been the same for the last 3 years even though the book value of my car has decreased.  It’s a joke.

It's always a gamble in fixing your energy price but that's especially true now. I could fix now at at approaching £120/month for one or two years but that's way over the current variable rate whereas in previous years I could fix close to the variable rate.

With car insurance you're not just insuring the value of your car. You could cause an accident resulting in a multi-million pound claim in a £500 car or a £50,000 car. With the current very high demand your car probably hasn't depreciated by as much as you might think.