Moving into your first student house can be overwhelming. It’s an exciting time of house parties, movie nights and cosy cups of tea and toast at the kitchen table after a night out. It’s a bit scary too though isn’t it? Time to be a grown up and sort things out like student gas bills and who is going to buy the loo roll, you get the gist.
Glide can provide your student home with a student bills package. Gas, electricity, student broadband deals, telephone, TV license and water are all available on a shared bills basis. We work out your bill and take one direct debit payment once a month.
Doing it our way allows easy budgeting as your energy bill won’t fluctuate throughout the year. This inevitably means saving for it becomes more difficult and – believe us on this – when your bill for keeping the house warm in winter falls and you haven’t saved enough to pay it then you’ll be worried and have to cut back on your outgoings to ensure it does get paid.
You need to appreciate that gas and electricity bills that are paid individually are subject to changes in the world wholesale markets which could leave you with an unexpectedly high bill to pay.
What makes energy prices increase?
- Market forces can make the wholesale price of gas and electricity rise which leads to customers having to pay higher bills
- There is a limited supply of these natural resources and a dip in that supply can lead to price rises
- Gas and electricity are costly to access or generate and the cost of changes or improvements to the process can be passed on to the customer
- Conflicts in oil rich countries and those with immediate access to gas pipelines and fossil fuels can impact on wholesale prices and ultimately your energy bills. Wars in Iraq, the Ukraine and Syria have all lead to temporary gas and electricity price increases in the UK in recent years.
What controls are in place to protect the customer?
Ofgem is the energy industry’s regulator and whenever prices increase, the companies involved are expected to provide a comprehensive breakdown of why they have made that decision. This gives the customer protection against energy providers choosing to increase profits by keeping prices high.
Ofgem also works to make the UK energy market competitive so that customers have the power to switch their supplier to a cheaper provider. This makes energy providers work harder to keep their customers happy and ultimately loyal.
Ofgem is ultimately there to ensure that customers are provided with a good understanding of the energy industry and that there is transparency with all activity in the sector.
So, will gas bills rise any time soon?
Ofgem have acknowledged that suppliers have faced increasing costs in recent years and this may lead to price increases for the consumer. However, none of the energy companies want to be the first to increase their prices as it leads to bad publicity and encourage their customers to switch to a supplier who is charging less. Once one of the suppliers makes the unpopular move, it’s very likely that the rest will follow suit very quickly.
While Ofgem does keep a watchful eye on the industry, you need to appreciate that energy prices are not regulated in the UK so it is the suppliers who decide what they charge based on their costs and the need to make a profit. Ofgem cannot set or predict energy prices within the UK.
What does all this mean for students?
The energy market is complicated, volatile and unpredictable.
Ofgem encourages transparency, understanding and competition.
Your energy supplier can charge what they see fit based on their costs and profit.
Energy bills go up and down which means that budgeting for the month can be difficult until you know what your energy bills will be.
Student broadband deals can be used to compare energy suppliers and their prices but swapping and changing to get those good deals can be a faff.
Glide provides a student bills package based on estimated energy usage which remains the same each month. This allows you to confidently plan a budget from one month to another.
For more help and advice about budgeting for your student house bills – including paying your student gas bill – then it’s time to speak