Bulk LPG prices?

[Morrisman]

I've just had my LPG tank topped up by Flogas. 700 litres, that's for the last 12 months. Letter arrived today saying my contract ends soon, with the blurb below. It sounds to me like a veiled threat. How can they just add a £75 'surcharge' per delivery?
I probably won't need a refill for 12 months or so, so maybe I should wait and just see what prices do?

I'm currently paying about £100 a year standing charge for the tank too.

On the thread about heating oil there are various graphs and stuff about prices. Is there any such thing for lpg? Every link I click about prices diverts off to companies trying to sell me a whole new tank and contract etc.

 

[Neilj]

Flogas added a £50 delivery charge around the start of last year to cover (so they say) fuel costs but I think they've stopped it now. I got a delivery last September and didn't get charged for delivery.
68p is a rip off, I'm with Flogas and currently paying 47p, it was 44p last year when I signed up to the usual 2 year deal and they bumped it up as much as they could (3p price rise cap in year 2).
Go out to all the usual suppliers and get quotes back, try LPG Save as well. They will no doubt offer you a Flogas contract (the guy that runs LPG Save is an ex-Flogas bloke) but usually on more favourable terms than Flogas direct.

 

[Morrisman]

Flogas added a £50 delivery charge around the start of last year to cover (so they say) fuel costs but I think they've stopped it now. I got a delivery last September and didn't get charged for delivery.
68p is a rip off, I'm with Flogas and currently paying 47p, it was 44p last year when I signed up to the usual 2 year deal and they bumped it up as much as they could (3p price rise cap in year 2).
Go out to all the usual suppliers and get quotes back, try LPG Save as well. They will no doubt offer you a Flogas contract (the guy that runs LPG Save is an ex-Flogas bloke) but usually on more favourable terms than Flogas direct.

I paid 40p a litre this week last year, as it was locked for 2 years after I had the tank installed. Luckily.

This year it was free range price, 64 a litre, no delivery charge. It could well go down again by next March.

I could just take the chance and do nothing, then wait and see what happens and look at competitors prices nearer the time.

 

[Bullet2012]

Any help ?

Chart of fuel prices in United Kingdom - myLPG.eu

Check prices for LPG, unleaded and diesel for United Kingdom. Statistics, chart of price fluctuation.

www.mylpg.eu

 

[hotponyshoes]

Stop moaning..
I have to pay 99p a litre from the forecourt pumps!
Gone up from 85p a year ago..

Although I don't have any other charges on top of that...

 

[Morrisman]

Any help ?

Chart of fuel prices in United Kingdom - myLPG.eu

Check prices for LPG, unleaded and diesel for United Kingdom. Statistics, chart of price fluctuation.

www.mylpg.eu

I think that's for motoring fuels, rather than home use. Thanks though.

Stop moaning..
I have to pay 99p a litre from the forecourt pumps!
Gone up from 85p a year ago..

Although I don't have any other charges on top of that...

I did consider trying to tap into the bottom of the bulk tank when I had one above ground, and converting my car to LPG. I think the tank inspector would have noticed the extra plumbing through.

 

[Neilj]

I could just take the chance and do nothing, then wait and see what happens and look at competitors prices nearer the time.

That's probably what I would do if I were you. LPG has nothing to do with gas prices as it's a crude oil byproduct, so don't think that because gas is currently sky high that LPG is likely to be as well. There's very little info out there on LPG prices like there is for heating oil, it's just a case of get quotes off the likes of Flogas, Calor, Avanti, LPG Save and any local independants as well. Then once you've got your best quote, go back to the rest of them and see if they'll beat it. If they do, go back to all the others and see if they'll beat that! Be brutal, it works. Also, try and get a full 2 year fixed price out of them, they will all do it if pushed. Lastly, never, ever, sign up to a deal that is variable rate after 12 months, you will be regret it.

 

[minimutly]

I think that's for motoring fuels, rather than home use. Thanks though.



I did consider trying to tap into the bottom of the bulk tank when I had one above ground, and converting my car to LPG. I think the tank inspector would have noticed the extra plumbing through.

You could have ordered a tank with a wet outlet. Problem is then, I think they charge you road tax on all gas, and you subtract the non metered amount (of tax). How often do they inspect the tanks??

 

[Morrisman]

You could have ordered a tank with a wet outlet. Problem is then, I think they charge you road tax on all gas, and you subtract the non metered amount (of tax). How often do they inspect the tanks??

An Avanti guy rolled up last week to inspect mine.... until I told him their tank had been removed 2 years ago.

 

[Blobber]

With domestic LPG arent you tied to the supplier that provided the tank?

 

[not done it yet]

Have you read exactly what they said? Doesn’t seem like any threat, at all. If I were you I would be looking at the new contract option - as that probably doesn’t have a delivery surcharge included. Also that price per litre may well be that high to take into account the regular deliveries?

 

[Neilj]

@Morrisman the delivery charge threat is just to try and shock you into a new contract at a ridiculous price of 68p. Once you're out of your 2 year minimum term they can basically charge what they want and they're just trying it on. Ignore them and get a few quotes. I forgot to add Carver Gas into the list before, try this link for a list of suppliers in your area:
https://www.liquid*removed for legal reasons*.org/domestic/supplier-search
This is the trade association for LPG, the nearest thing to a regulator for the industry.

 

[arian]

@Morrisman the delivery charge threat is just to try and shock you into a new contract at a ridiculous price of 68p. Once you're out of your 2 year minimum term they can basically charge what they want and they're just trying it on. Ignore them and get a few quotes. I forgot to add Carver Gas into the list before, try this link for a list of suppliers in your area:
https://www.liquid*removed for legal reasons*.org/domestic/supplier-search
This is the trade association for LPG, the nearest thing to a regulator for the industry.

That bit just seems to be *removed for legal reasons*

 

[Neilj]

That bit just seems to be *removed for legal reasons*

Weird, don't know why it's doing that? Here's a screenshot instead:

 

[arian]

Weird indeed. I didn't realise my post was changed from gaśuk

 

[Morrisman]

Have you read exactly what they said? Doesn’t seem like any threat, at all. If I were you I would be looking at the new contract option - as that probably doesn’t have a delivery surcharge included. Also that price per litre may well be that high to take into account the regular deliveries?

I don't need a contract for quite a while yet, so there's no real need to sign into a long term thing at their current price when it may go down quite a bit. I'm probably looking at 12 months before I need topping up again now.
I still had 37% in the tank when they filled it on Monday.

I guess it's a judgement call to make in the next few weeks.

 

[Morrisman]

With domestic LPG arent you tied to the supplier that provided the tank?

Only for the length of the initial contract then you can transfer it to another company. They charged £3000 to install it, so they aren't losing money if I transfer.

 

[Blobber]

Only for the length of the initial contract then you can transfer it to another company. They charged £3000 to install it, so they aren't losing money if I transfer.

Wow 3K thats a lot of logs!

 

[Neilj]

I don't need a contract for quite a while yet, so there's no real need to sign into a long term thing at their current price when it may go down quite a bit. I'm probably looking at 12 months before I need topping up again now.
I still had 37% in the tank when they filled it on Monday.

I guess it's a judgement call to make in the next few weeks.

I've got similar usage, about a tank full a year (1200 litres fill), so that's what I would be doing as well. I would say prices will drop in the next few months rather than go up, but then again who thought the chaos of the last year was going to happen! I signed my 44p deal in Feb 2022 and about 5 days after that I got a letter from Flogas saying they were putting it up to 60p plus the £50 delivery charge. Luckily the letter had been posted prior to the contract signing and was referring to my old contract that was no longer fixed price.

 

[Morrisman]

Wow 3K thats a lot of logs!

If I had a Rayburn or similar, that would run central heating, hot water etc, I may well have gone with solid fuel, but to convert the house to use it would have cost more than 3k anyway.