Why stop here? We make bills for students easy.
Electricity. Gas. Broadband. Water. TV Licence.
All in one equally split monthly bill. Nice.
Changes to the Energy Industry:
We’re sure you will have seen across the media that there’s been huge changes to the price of everyone’s energy recently.
There are a few factors contributing towards the increasing cost of gas and electric, however it can sometimes be difficult to understand all the utility terminology which is being talked about.
We’ve tried to explain some of our most frequently asked questions in our article below:
We can bundle all your utilities into one monthly payment, which makes the bill-paying process as seamless as possible.
We set up and deal with the utility suppliers directly on your behalf, and then the cost of these bills are split evenly between you and your housemates. We don’t generate or supply any of the utilities in your student house. We purchase the gas, electric and water etc from our suppliers and they send it to your home.
‘Energy’ refers to your gas and electricity. The cost of this is set by your suppliers and Split The Bills don’t profit from it. If the energy suppliers raise their prices, then these increases are passed directly onto the customer.
Due to the unpredictability of the energy market right now, the cost of this is currently being reviewed by Ofgem every 3 months, whereas previously it was looked at only every 6 months. When there’s a price increase due, we’ll always communicate this to our customers and will use industry expert’s opinions to predict what it will be.
The latest price increase was announced on 26th August 2022, and it was confirmed that there will be an 80% increase for energy nationwide from 1st October 2022.
We welcome the latest Government intervention that has seen the typical household energy bill only go up by 27% as opposed to the earlier predicted 80%, with prices remaining stable for the next two years.
The Government’s commitment to issuing the £400 Energy Bill Support Grant until March 2023, will help offset rising prices dramatically, reducing impact to customer bills.
We are currently in the process of issuing communications to our customers to notify them on how this will affect them and how they will receive the full benefit of the Government Energy Support Grant.
The ‘price cap’ is the amount of money energy suppliers can charge customers for gas and electric. Ofgem decide how much they can charge consumers so that essentially, we don’t get ripped off. However, as the cost of energy is rapidly increasing for suppliers, Ofgem have had to allow suppliers to also raise their rates, or it wouldn’t be sustainable for them to source it for us.
This leads us to the main question on everyone’s minds ‘Why are our bills increasing?!’. There are many contributing factors, but put simply, the war in Ukraine is the main issue. Back in February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine with the aim of taking over their government and gaining control. Countries all over the world, including the UK, are taking a stand against this, and have decided to place several sanctions on Russia to hinder their economy and ultimately punish them whilst they’re on the attack.
One of the sanctions put on Russia is to stop sourcing our energy from there. Now, as a high number of countries have decided to do the same, it has meant that we’re all looking for alternative sources, which in turn has driven up demand and ultimately, the price. You can read more about what is causing price increases in our ‘rising cost of living’ blog here.
This situation isn’t unique to just students, as all households in the UK are in the same boat when it comes to these energy price increases. We do however recognise that students often fall into the bracket of the lowest income earners, therefore we’re calling on the Government to immediately provide students with more support.
All households across the country will receive a £400 Government grant to help with the rising cost of energy bills. For Split The Bills customers, this will automatically be split between housemates and will be either deducted or refunded from your monthly payments from Oct 2022 – March 2023. You don’t need to do anything to receive this, Split The Bills will take care of it on your behalf, and it will already be reflected in your monthly statement from October.
One final thought from us...
We’re consistently tracking the energy price cap rates, and if over the next 12 months the energy suppliers can drop their prices, we’ll amend your monthly price, and your payments will come down too.