#Bill boss villains update#
#Bill boss villains tv#

The villains have to be intelligent beings with malicious intent.

The villains have to be fictional - sorry, Hitler!.

When ranking villains we decided on a handful of ground rules. Inside these villainous pages you’ll find our selection for the 100 greatest villains of all time.

#Bill boss villains tv#

They can linger in our own hearts and minds long after the TV has been turned off or the book has been closed.īut which villains are the best of the worst? Who sits atop the peak of evil as the most iconic, most memorable, and most just-plain-bad dude or lady ever written? IGN’s experts in all things evil got together to provide some answers. Their evil plans and malevolent perspective can even lure the most noble heroes into the shadows trying to stop them. We would love to work together with British Gas to find a better way.The best villains can terrify us, frustrate us, and challenge our ideas about right and wrong. “We are in an energy crisis and everyone should be focused on bringing bills down – so it seems crazy to propose a ‘fix’ that costs six times more than the problem, which is why Octopus urge the regulator and industry to find a better-value solution. “Economists have looked at Octopus’s idea of an Atol-style insurance-type approach and it doesn’t solve any of the problems in the market.”Īn Octopus spokesperson said: “Satisfying credit balances (and other obligations) of failed suppliers adds about £5 a year to bills – but British Gas’s proposals to tackle this could add £30 to bills every year, and increase supplier profits. Customers tell us when they pay upfront for their energy, they are trusting their supplier to look after their hard-earned money. O’Shea said: ‘‘As a responsible supplier, we have already ringfenced our customers’ money. Oxera said: “A flat fee funding structure would not force suppliers choosing a high-risk business model to bear the cost of the higher risk.” Its report concluded that “compulsory co-insurance models” like Atol “would not be appropriate for dealing with the specific market failures of the UK energy supply market”. The Atol scheme sees travel businesses pay a £2.50-per-customer fee into a fund, which is used to refund and repatriate travellers, including when companies go bust.Ĭentrica has now commissioned economics consultancy Oxera to study Octopus’s suggestion and has submitted the findings to Ofgem.

#Bill boss villains update#

It has concluded a consultation on the issue and is expected to publish an update in the coming weeks.Ĭentrica backs the proposals, but Octopus is putting forward an alternative it claims would be cheaper – an insurance protection policy for credit balances, comparable to the kind provided to holidaymakers through Atol or used to protect bank deposits through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Ofgem has proposed rules that would require energy suppliers to place customer funds in a separate account, ensuring any overpaid credit would be preserved in the event of a collapse. Ofgem, the energy regulator, is now attempting to reform the market to prevent a repeat of those failures, but suppliers are split on how best to protect consumers from the cost of further collapses. Attempts to auction off Bulb have drawn just a single bid, from Octopus. The collapse of Bulb, which has been put into government-run administration, could also cost taxpayers £3bn.

Citizens Advice estimated that the failures would cost each household £164 a year in bills.

Nearly 30 energy suppliers have collapsed over the past year as a rise in wholesale costs, combined with the industry price cap, squeezed them out of business.Ĭustomers typically overpay for their energy use in the summer months and then that credit is used over the winter, to keep direct debits consistent throughout the year.Īdministrators were unable to recover hundreds of millions of pounds in deposits after suppliers went bust last year, which has in turn pushed up standing charges for customers to compensate for the lost funds. It suggests customer funds should be ringfenced in a separate account, but Octopus has claimed that option would cost consumers up to £30 extra a year, arguing that “crude ringfencing is financially illiterate”.