Frequently Asked Questions

Comments

• RichyB

  October 2018

  Thanks for this @Eleanor at Bulb - I would add a bit somewhere saying 'Please remember that this is a public community forum and it is not advisable to post personal details (such as name, address, account details) here. If you need to contact Bulb regarding your account, please see our 'How to contact Bulb' help article at https://help.bulb.co.uk/hc/en-us/articles/115001240291-How-can-I-get-in-touch-with-Bulb- which lists our telephone number and opening hours'.
  
  (If you could also change the topic title from 'Frquently Asked Quetions' to 'Frequently Asked Questions', my left twitching eyelid would really appreciate it)
• Allanr

  October 2018

  @RichyB
  
  I fully endorse your first paragraph
• Eleanor at Bulb

  October 2018

  Great feedback @RichyB and @Allanr. I'm changing now
• JustSsavvy

  October 2018

  There seems to be an increasing amount of questions lately about estimation of future use and recommending increasing monthly contributions towards energy usage, and criticism and confusion how Bulb has calculates the recommendation. Maybe you could provide information which factors Bulb takes into account and how it uses this information to calculate a recommendation?
• Allanr

  October 2018 edited October 2018

  @JustSsavvy
  
  Personally I don''t have a problem in working out my own annual cost based on my previous 12 months energy usage (in kWh) and what my monthly direct debit payment should be (I keep a spreadsheet which does the necessary calculations).
  
  However I fully support your suggestion to help those customers who don't wish to go to the bother of having a spreadsheet.
  
  
• JustSsavvy

  October 2018

  Allanr said:

  @JustSsavvy
  
  Personally I don''t have a problem in working out my own annual cost based on my previous 12 months energy usage (in kWh) and what my monthly direct debit payment should be (I keep a spreadsheet which does the necessary calculations).
  
  However I fully support your suggestion to help those customers who don't wish to go to the bother of having a spreadsheet.
  
  

  There will be many that are first time users, those young excited lot that move into their first home etc. While other will need just that little extra information to help understand what is happening behind the scenes.
  
  I keep regular note of meter readings normally on a monthly basis and have info going back a good few years, like @Allanr I have no issue calculating my usage & Cost, but obviously there seems to be a need for a little extra help for some customers.
• Eleanor at Bulb

  November 2018

  JustSsavvy said:

  There seems to be an increasing amount of questions lately about estimation of future use and recommending increasing monthly contributions towards energy usage, and criticism and confusion how Bulb has calculates the recommendation. Maybe you could provide information which factors Bulb takes into account and how it uses this information to calculate a recommendation?

  
  Great question @JustSsavvy and sorry for any confusion. There are quite a few different factors that go into these calculations, depending on your personal situation. Let’s see if we can cover the most common ones here.
  
  First, let’s look at the way estimates are made and refined.
  
  Your initial estimate
  When you sign up to Bulb, we ask you a few basic questions. What’s your postcode? Do you live in a flat or a house? How many bedrooms do you have? This helps us estimate your yearly energy usage, which we then divide into 12 equal payments.
  
  There is an option to refine this quote yourself to increase the accuracy. Not everyone takes that step. We’re doing some work at Bulb now, to see how we can make that step quicker and more useful for people when they’re signing up.
  
  How we refine your estimate
  To help increase the accuracy of your payments, we refine your quote using information supplied by a trusted third party, and, ideally, by you.
  
  In the UK, the result of every gas and electricity meter reading for every property is shared with a regulated third party. They provide us, at Bulb, with two approved pieces of information:
  
  EAC: the Estimated Annual Consumption of electricity at your chosen property
  AQ: the Annual Quantity of gas used at your chosen property
  
  We use these detailed figures, and the meter readings you provide over time, to refine our initial estimate.
  
  If the more accurate (and in the case of your supplied meter readings, more up-to-date) information we’ve received means that you’re not paying enough to cover your use, we’ll ask you to increase your payments to avoid building up debt over time.
  
  Payment reviews
  We’ll send a ‘payment review’ email to members whose usage is £5 more than their monthly payments. We do this to avoid building up debt and getting a bigger bill further down the line. We provide the opportunity for members to stop the payment increase, or to change their monthly payments themselves via the Bulb Account.
  
  Increasing your payments even though you’re in credit
  This is the one that can be confusing.
  
  At Bulb your payments stay the same throughout the year.
  
  This means you build up credit over the summer and use it during the winter when you’re using more energy.
  
  Just before winter, your account should have enough credit to see you through the colder months. And your payments should be high enough to ensure you start building up credit again in the spring.
  
  As our tariff is variable, our prices can go up and down according to the true cost of energy. In September this year, the wholesale cost of energy increased. As a result, we had to increase our prices too. This means, even accounts in credit may have to increase their payments to ensure they have enough additional credit in their account to cover the colder months this time next year.
• Allanr

  November 2018 edited November 2018

  @Eleanor at Bulb
  
  Thanks for the explanation.
  
  I haven't been in the situation where I have received an email requesting my DD be increased whilst still in credit.
  
  However at long last I saw an email to another Bulb customer which leads me think there is something amiss with the algorithm being used to work out the DD increase. It is this which possibly is causing concern to some Bulb customers forcing them to consider their options to switch to another supplier.
  
  I have paraphrased the details in the email:
  
  Suggest you increase DD to £121 per month
  
  Average usage £114 per month
  
  Current Monthly Payment £100 per month
  
  Current credit £144
  
  If you continue with your current payment you will be i£16 in debit this time next year)
  
  If I use a simple calculation approach:
  
  Cost of usage in 12 months = £114 * 12 = £1368
  
  Cost over 12 months after taking into account the credit of £144 = £1224
  
  or £1224/12= £102 per month.
  
  On this basis the DD should be increased to £102 rather than £121 suggested by Bulb.
  
  I may have oversimplified the calculation due to the one month in advance requirement? But this simplification may result in more satisfied customers?
  
  
• RichyB

  November 2018

  Eleanor at Bulb said:

  
  Your initial estimate..
  There is an option to refine this quote yourself to increase the accuracy. Not everyone takes that step. We’re doing some work at Bulb now, to see how we can make that step quicker and more useful for people when they’re signing up.
  

  Personally, I'd like it straight after asking for the postcode you get the option [House], [Flat] [I know my actual annual usage in kWh or £] - why make people go through selecting the very rough building details if they already have the more accurate information to hand?

  Eleanor at Bulb said:

  
  How we refine your estimate..
  In the UK, the result of every gas and electricity meter reading for every property is shared with a regulated third party. They provide us, at Bulb, with two approved pieces of information:
  
  EAC: the Estimated Annual Consumption of electricity at your chosen property
  AQ: the Annual Quantity of gas used at your chosen property
  

  Once you've received this information, would it be possible to communicate this to customers. 'Thanks for switching - just to let you know, the regulators have provided us with historical annual usage of your property and because of this we recommend changing your payments to £xx per month based on the fact we previous calculated electrical usage on XXX kWh/py and historical this building has used XXX kWh/py and gas... You are free to ignore this recommendation if you wish (for example, if you have just moved in and have different usage from the previous occupiers) and we'll get in touch in the future if there is a problem'.
  
• Eleanor at Bulb

  November 2018

  Thanks both.

  Allanr said:

  @Eleanor at Bulb
  
  On this basis the DD should be increased to £102 rather than £121 suggested by Bulb.
  
  

  @Allanr here's the calculation we use:
  
  R = (A + (W - C)) / 12
  
  R = Recommended payment amount
  A = Annual usage
  C = Current credit
  W = Winter buffer (2 x the average monthly payment)
  
  So in the example you gave above, we start with the annual usage which is £1368 (£114 x12 ).
  
  The winter buffer is £128 (£114 x 2).
  
  We then take away the account credit from winter buffer which would leave £84.
  
  Then we add the £84 to the £1368 which leave us with £1452 as an annual payment.
  
  To get the recommended monthly payment, we divide by 12.
  
  This leaves the recommended payment amount to be £121.
  
  If the winter buffer is not added into the equation, by about April time the account is left with a debit.
  
  Too much maths for me on a Friday afternoon
  
  @RichyB we would never ignore a recommendation. I've passed it over to our communications team to have a think about.
  
  Technically, this is something we could do.
  
  But ideally, we want meter readings each month which would mean that we don't need to use estimates at all.
  
  
  
• Allanr

  November 2018

  @Eleanor at Bulb
  
  Thanks for the explanation.
  
  No winding down on a Friday afternoon still some more maths.
  
  In essence the equation R = (A + (W - C)) / 12
  
  can be simplified to
  
  R = ((B * 14) - C)/12)
  
  Where B = average monthly usage and C = Credit
  
  Using the same example B = £114 and C = 144 and the reason for 14 in the equation is that you require 2 months winter buffer.
  
  R = ((114 * 14) - 144)/12) or
  
  R = (1596 -144) /12 = £121
  
  Whilst I can see a reason for winter a buffer it does mean that if the DD was increased to the suggested amount of £121 then this time next year the account would be in credit by £252.
  
  I assumed having a DD based on Annual usage divided by 12 would mean that during the summer the account would go into credit and then during the winter months the credit would be eaten into but still be sufficient to pay the monthly statement.so at the end of the winter period there would be a neutral balance (i.e no debit or credit).
  
  Obviously someone who switches to Bulb during the winter will in probability go into a debit situation and in these situation it would be reasonable to request an increase in the DD
  
  I wonder if consideration should be given to a rethink of the buffer perhaps to 0.5 the monthly usage?
• Phillip_PAL

  November 2018

  I see a problem with this formula, in that it will be suggesting a revised amount each month given that your usage and thus credit often fluctuates throughout the year. It will likely be suggesting higher payments as winter progresses and lower payments in summer as you build credit back.
  
  I would prefer a constant payment throughout the year, personally I refer back to my past statement / balance to see if I am above / below that point and check the estimated annual amount and take the suggestion under advisement which I now understand why it is suggesting higher than I expect.
  
  Regardless of that fluctuating problem I also think two months extra buffer is too much, I thought you only required one months bill in advance at signup so the 14 should perhaps be reduced to 13? This may make the suggestions more palatable.
• Allanr

  November 2018

  Phillip_PAL
  
  Eleanor in her earlier response mentioned Bulb would only send a suggested DD increase email if the average monthly usage is more than £5 greater than the current DD payment. This to some extent should minimise revised monthly amounts,
  
  I concur with your suggestion I think the cause of the concerns expressed by customers on a regular basis on this forum is that the buffer of two months is set too high.
  
  Having a winter buffer isn't something I noticed with my previous suppliers (2 of the big six) they just divided my estimated annual costs by 12 to arrive at my direct debit amount. Their philosophy was that some months I would be in credit and other months in debit, I seem to recollect if your debit was over a certain limit you would be asked to pay off this amount, this never happened to me.
  
  
  
  
• JustSsavvy

  November 2018

  @Eleanor at Bulb
  
  not too sure about that formula, it seems to inadvertently include additional factors that it shouldn't. If we review the winter buffer payment it includes 2 months of the Average Monthly Charged, and that estimated average will include the Daily Standard Charge and all units charged in 1 year, however, Daily Standing Charges are only charged annually at 365 days but the 2 month winter buffer would add (est.) 60 days for each fuel. Customers do not spent 100% of their fuel (duel or single) on heating their homes, it is estimated that customers will spend 53% of the fuel to heat their homes. Source 1 and Source 2
  
  There should be a revision of your formula to adjust for the usage of fuel to heat the home: R = (A + (((A-S)*0.53) / 12) * 2 - C) / 12
  
  If we take your example and assuming that the customer is duel fuel, we would get as follows:
  
  Total Daily Standing Charge (S): £179.29 ( 0.2456 * 365 *2)
  
  Estimated Annual Charged (A): £1368 (£114 * 12)
  
  Total Fuel Charged (tU): £1188.71 (£1368.00 - £179.29)
  
  Total Fuel to Heat Home (hU): £630.02 (£1188.71 * 53%)
  
  Winter Buffer (W): £105.00 (630.02 / 12 * 2)
  
  Credit (C): £144.00
  
  Applying the above info to the adjusted formula a customer would be contributing less but proportionate to the increase of assumed usage towards heating a customers home.
  
  R = (1368 + (((1368-179.29)*0.53) / 12) * 2 - 144) / 12
  
  R = (1368 + ((1188.71*0.53) / 12) * 2 - 144) / 12
  
  R = (1368 + (630.02 / 12) * 2 - 144) / 12
  
  R = (1368 + (105.00 - 144) / 12
  
  R = (1368 + (-39) / 12
  
  R = 1329 / 12
  
  R = 110.75
  
  A customer would now b paying an additional £10.75, compared to the £21.00 recommended by your formula, while a modest difference, it is significant over a year increase. e.g
  
  your recommendation would be (121 * 12) £1452 a year while the adjusted formula would be (110.75 * 12) £1329 that is a £123.00 of difference, with customers paying less compared to your formula, but paying a more proportionate amount towards assumed energy increases over the winter period based on the estimated annual consumption of fuel.
  
  Obviously my adjusted formula takes a few assumption, however, I would hope this sparks a conversation to review the factors and which of those factors are assumed, with an approach to have a more prorogation balanced recommendation.
• Eleanor at Bulb

  November 2018 edited November 2018

  Thanks for running us through the maths @JustSsavvy.
  
  You're right that heating is a big part of an energy bill and so the majority of your annual costs are accumulated during the winter.
  
  But we base the 2 months winter buffer on the average profile curve of a member. This means the buffer is an average of the total usage throughout the year, not just heating usage during winter.
  
  I'm going to pass on your comments to our energy specialists who deal with these calculations. It will certainly get some discussion going. Thank you!
• Phillip_PAL

  November 2018

  I've today received the 'we need to increase your payments' email and the DD increased automatically.
  
  Although I don't recall being in receipt of a recommendation email previously I could be mistaken!
  
  The overall email I found to be well structured and informative. However I have noticed a further flaw in the figures enclosed which are inflating the recommended payment figure which is not quite using the formula as expected R = (A + (W - C)) / 12.
  
  (Note - I fully support the revised calculation supplied by @JustSsavvy above, but ignore that issue for now...)
  
  The issue I have is specifically where W = Winter buffer (2 x the average monthly payment). It appears @Eleanor at Bulb that Bulb are not using average payment but twice the payment that bulb suggests you pay (which icludes the extra payments to reach the increased buffer), thereby overshooting more than the two months average usage required to reach.
  
  Here is example using my email etc. On my account and tariff page is shown Estimated Annual Cost £1642.62. This is reasonable based on usage with new rates and nicely agrees with the email. However on the payments and statements page it shows Average monthly usage £157.80. But this is incorrect as 1642.62 / 12 = £136.89. I have suspected this to be too high before.
  
  Now to the email:
  
  Based on your recent meter reading, your energy costs more than expected. To cover this, we need to increase your payments from £115 to £156 a month.
  
  We'll do this automatically on 26 th November, 2018.
  
  How we've calculated this
  Using the information we have about your home, we think your energy will cost £1643 over the next 12 months. And you need to end up with two month's credit (£312) at this point next year to cover the cold winter months. You already have £92 of credit, so your payments should be £156 a month to keep your balance healthy.
  
  Notice that the winter buffer highlighted is £312 (= 156 * 2) which is the suggested increased payment. It should be £274 (137 * 2).
  
  Applying your formula R = (A + (W - C)) / 12. Using estimated average of 137 for W of 274 is thus:
  
  (1643 + (274 - 92)) / 12 = (1643 + 182) / 12 = 1825 / 12 = £152.
  
  There thus appears to be some pre calculation of the average monthly payment which includes the increase required to attain the winter buffer at the end. The supplied calculation above only matches if the revised DD figure of £156 Is used.
  
  For my example this only overshoots by £48 on top of (in my opinion the excessive 2 months buffer) but I wonder if those with less credit and requiring further increase to attain the required level does this hidden calculation inflate the increase required yet further rather than the true monthly average usage estimated?
  
  Personally I have taken action by revising my payment slightly to a more modest £5 increase to £120 super easily via the website and will review monthly as winter progresses. As I have also recently switched my FIT payments from my solar panels to Bulb this will shortly be allocated directly to my bulb account. This along with the expectation I will be using slightly less units overall this next 12 months should keep the account ticking along ticketyboo.
• Phillip_PAL

  November 2018

  Doh! I have just read my missive above and noticed that
  
  W = Winter buffer (2 x the average monthly payment)
  
  Does in fact say 'monthly payment' and not 'monthly usage' which is how I was blindly reading it.
  
  Does this invalidate my issue? Sort of.
  
  Instead can I suggest W is altered to be based on monthly usage?
• Allanr

  November 2018 edited November 2018

  @Phillip_PAL
  
  If you think the information in your previous posting is incorrect, you can edit the post by clicking on the cog-wheel against the post and selecting Edit.
  
• Eleanor at Bulb

  November 2018

  Hi @Phillip_PAL
  
  I'm glad the Community are keeping us on our toes.
  
  Yes, the Winter Buffer is 2 x the average monthly payment.
  
  @JustSsavvy's comments have been forwarded to our team of energy specialists to consider.
  
  It's good to hear that you find the emails informative. Communicating clearly with our members is very important. If you ever think there's information missing, or we can add something that would be useful to know, please get in touch.
  
  Great to hear that you've also brought your FIT payments over to Bulb too. We'd love to hear about your experience of using FIT with Bulb. Are we the first supplier that you've received FIT payments from?
• Phillip_PAL

  November 2018

  Eleanor at Bulb said:

  Hi @Phillip_PAL
  ...
  Great to hear that you've also brought your FIT payments over to Bulb too. We'd love to hear about your experience of using FIT with Bulb. Are we the first supplier that you've received FIT payments from?

  I had the solar panels fitted end of July last year which was before Bulb had FIT capability. I delayed my move to Bulb from Scottish Power until I had the FIT registered with them first.
  
  The FIT process all seems neatly integrated together into the main mybulb page but I am yet to provide my first subsequent reading due in December but all good so far. The option to have the payment feed into the general utility bill makes so much sense!
  
  SP was rather clunky to submit a FIT reading disconnected and then updates via snail mail after the quarterly amount had been paid eventually a few weeks later in to my bank account.
  
• Eleanor at Bulb

  November 2018

  Great to hear @Phillip_PAL
  
  As part of your sign up process, you can choose to be paid into your bank account, your Bulb account or pay someone else entirely.
  
  We'll pay your FIT payments to you once a quarter. We'll ask for your meter readings at the end of every quarter. So for you, the next will be in December. Once you've given us your meter reads we'll work out how much we owe you and pay you within two weeks.
  
  Let us know your experience when you do give us your first reading. As we're fairly new to FiT, so all your feedback is useful to make the product right for our members.
  
  
  
• JustSsavvy

  November 2018 edited November 2018

  @Eleanor at Bulb
  
  How is the Annual Usual calculate? I am assume it is an estimated annul projection. If the Annual usages is an estimated annual projection then that calculation would take into account winter usage, and therefor the winter buffer is not doing as it is suppose to do? As i think about the winter buffer more and more and the elements that are considered in the winter buffer it would appear the winter buffer is not designed to cover possible increase in usage over winter.
  
  As more research is concluded, fuel usage is decreasing as fuel prices increase. The idea that the winter buffer is to cover additional usage over the winter period seems an odd conclusion, to derive from with the research conclusion.
• garry840

  November 2018 edited November 2018

  I got hit with a similar bill for next month amount.
  Apparently I should have been paying a fixed amount each month, and the extra from the summer months that I did not use, should have balanced the winter months out, so I would not get hit with a large bill.
  As Eleanor stated in the above post and thats what I expected, I didn't even check until I saw the email about increasing my monthly.
  
  Increasing your payments even though you’re in credit
  This is the one that can be confusing.
  
  At Bulb your payments stay the same throughout the year.
  
  This means you build up credit over the summer and use it during the winter when you’re using more energy.
  
  Just before winter, your account should have enough credit to see you through the colder months. And your payments should be high enough to ensure you start building up credit again in the spring.
• MalcolmL

  November 2018

  I feel that I am being penalised for joining "late" in the year (start of October) and not having the advantage of the summer months to accumulate credit and, that Bulb seem to use their unique concept of "winter buffer" to offset their business model risk by transferring it to their customer. An increase from £70 to £111 (58%) is making me wonder if I have made the right move.
• Allanr

  November 2018

  @Eleanor at Bulb
  
  Both on this forum and also on Trustpilot customers are complaining about the hike in DD monthly payments.
  
  I guess this must be having a detrimental effect on the churn rate of Bulb customers? It is also putting Bulb in a bad light.
  
  In all seriousness I think the methodology used by Bulb to assess DD increases is flawed even though I can understand some of the reasons (i.e.. increase in energy use during winter months and unit price increase) for a partial increase in the DD.
  
  Wouldn't it be far better to retain your customer base by only asking customers to increase their DD if they do not have a credit sufficient to pay in advance for the following months energy use?
  
  Where customers do not have enough credit to pay for the one month advance requirement then it is totally reasonable to ask them to increase their DD to a figure which meets this one month in advance requirement during the winter months and possibly without factoring in the two month winter buffer. Alternately you can always request they top up their balance.but leave their DD the same.
• MalcolmL

  November 2018

  It would also have helped if this "one month in advance" idea, as well as the "winter buffer" had a higher profile when people are switching over - I admit it might be my own personal failure, but I was not aware of any of this at the time of switching. I also find it hard to accept that the information supplied by "a regulated third party" can cause an increase of 58% in a monthly payment, which when added to the "winter buffer" requirement increases my annual charge by over 60% - with no warning and no idea who this third party is , nor what their data is.
• Hooloovoo

  November 2018 edited November 2018

  MalcolmL said:

  It would also have helped if this "one month in advance" idea, as well as the "winter buffer" had a higher profile when people are switching over - I admit it might be my own personal failure, but I was not aware of any of this at the time of switching.

  There are two issues here:
  
  1. The "one month is advance" is explicitly mentioned when you switch. They tell you that they will take first payment on the day they take over the supply.
  2. The "winter buffer" might well not be described clearly, but then I feel that is because it's all been standard common practise now between all suppliers ever since the concept of the "regular monthly payment" started out. You pay more than you need in the summer to build up a credit (a "winter buffer") ready to be used up over the more expensive winter months, which keeps your payment the same (subject to large unexpected usage changes) throughout the year. Since many people are already on this type of tariff with their existing supplier, it seems reasonable to assume that most would already be familiar with the concept when they switch to another supplier. Did you switch to Bulb from a quarterly-in-arrears tariff?
  
• garry840

  November 2018

  I agree with what Hooloovoo is saying but that has not happened for me, my DDebits changed each month.
  Was told they would be 85PM but they varied over the summer.
  Not what I was told in the signup and also stated by Eleanor in a previous post.
• DanP at Bulb

  November 2018

  @garry840 We did let you know that we thought your payments have changed and the monthly amount has only been changed 2 times. This was because your monthly payments were not covering your usage.
• Eleanor at Bulb

  November 2018

  @MalcolmL
  
  
  @malcolmL
  
  We apply the same formula to everyone because we want all accounts to be in the right place this time next year.
  
  If you've just joined and don’t have enough credit in your Bulb account, this may mean your payments need to be slightly higher for first few months.
  
  If your account has a healthy credit now, your payments should still be high enough to build credit up again for next winter. I’ve written a bit more about this here.
  
  If you’d prefer, you can keep the payments as they are, or make a top payment in winter. Just head to the “payments and statements” tab in your Bulb Account.
  
  We’re open about asking our members to pay for their energy in advance. This allows us to buy energy upfront and pass the savings on to you.
  
  If you’ve not been with us for very long, your meter readings do not provide us with enough details to know what your annual projections are. The “third party”, Elexon, provide us with the EAC (estimated annual consumption) and AQ (annual quantity) once your switch has happened. These estimates are based on previous data from your meter. We use these figures to calculate how much energy you’re likely to use in a year. We can then work out how much that’s likely to cost, based on the current price of our variable tariff.
  
  If we think that your current payments are not quite enough to cover your usage, we send you an email to suggest you increase them. If a member does not increase the payments, we’ll let you know that the payment is increasing in the next 10 days. This gives a member time to stop the increase. We won’t remind you again for another 3 months.
  
  The payment review is suggested. So, if you’d like to make a change to your monthly payments, you can do so in your Bulb account.
  
  @allanr
  
  Since the latest payment review, we’ve made a few changes:
  
  We’ve updated the copy in our emails to make our explanation of the payment review process even clearer.
  
  We’ve also stopped sending a payment review to those who have more than two months credit in their account because our members have told us this is confusing.
  
  Ideally, when a member signs up to Bulb, they will submit their annual consumption figures given by their previous supplier. @caroline W at Bulb has been doing some research into how we can encourage more members to submit these when signing up.
  
• victor

  November 2018

  I think it all boils down to Bulb needing a bigger cash float than the big 6.
• RichyB

  January 16

  Hi @Eleanor at Bulb ,
  
  In https://community.bulb.co.uk/discussion/8662/comparing-tariffs , there was a question about Tariffs and whilst I did direct the user to the 'Our Tariff' page at https://bulb.co.uk/tariff/ , I did note that that page does NOT seem to mention the 'Prepayment Varifair' tariff or the 'Smart meter only' tariff. Could this be fixed? (perhaps also removing the Dual-Fuel option and show gas/electricity both by default as there is no longer a dual-fuel discount which was previously applicable)?
• Eleanor at Bulb

  January 16 edited January 16

  Funny you should mention that @RichyB as one of our Energy Specialists pointed it out this morning.
  
  We should get this changed, especially as we've announced that we have replaced our dual fuel discount with a lower standing charge.
  
  It'll need a fair amount of our software developers time. I've raised a ticket so it's on the list. Cheers for pointing that out.
• tdbegley

  August 30

  @Eleanor at Bulb A question I assume gets asked often and is answered on most suppliers FAQs is:
  
  1. Does the IHD show standing charges in the displayed monitory calculation?
  
  EDF for example point out in their FAQ, "Your standing charge (what's a standing charge?) shows on your smart meter in-home display each day whether you're using energy or not. The daily standing charge for the previous day is added at midnight for an Aclara meter."