cost of utilities

I am sure hoping that someone can help me out or point me in the right direction. I have been looking into cost of utilities and hidden expenses can any one tell me what average bills are gas, electric, telephone, car insurance are there any other costs to expect that we don't have here in America. Are there any additional goverment taxes to pay yearly other than income and property taxes.
                                                      Thanks
                                                       Cad

I am sure hoping that someone can help me out or point me in the right direction. I have been looking into cost of utilities and hidden expenses can any one tell me what average bills are gas, electric, telephone, car insurance are there any other costs to expect that we don't have here in America. Are there any additional goverment taxes to pay yearly other than income and property taxes.
                                                      Thanks
                                                       Cad

Council tax (property tax) is payable whether you buy or rent.  Big surprise for us -- added about 1100 pounds a year to our rent.  You have to pay car tax each year, I think mine was about 166 pounds for the year.  If one of you has a company car, you have to pay tax on that benefit, as it's considered a kind of income.

I am still not sure what average utility costs are.  I've got our electricity at 35 pounds a month; telephone is about 20 per month (long distance to the States with One.Tel is about 15 pounds a month extra); natural gas I think will end up being about 30-40 pounds a month once I get a payment plan sorted; I've been told water is about 20 pounds a month (still have to get that sorted); petrol for me is about 40 pounds a month, but I only drive for the school run and just a bit around to do shopping, errands, etc.  Bret has a petrol card from work, and I think he said he fills up about once a week, 45 pounds a time!  He does drive quite a bit for work, though.  My car insurance is 80 pounds a month, but I think that's because of my car (a more sporty car); contents insurance for our home and belongings (we rent) is 35 pounds a month.

Of course, all the above depends on where you live, what kind of lifestyle you have (one car, two car, no car), etc.  We've been here 4 months and I'm still getting the details sorted out, and working out a budget.  One thing that has thrown me for a bit of a loop is that utilities are usually billed quarterly rather than monthly.  You can set up monthly Direct Debit with most companies, I believe, which helps with budgeting and sometime knocks a few pounds off the bill.  

HTH,
Stephanie

Iare there any other costs to expect that we don't have here in America.

Dont forget the television licence.. thats something you wont have in america!  I pay mine by direct debit at £10 per month.

A couple of other things that may or may not apply to you when you get here:  we pay £35 per month for cable tv, and £25 per month for broadband internet.  Just to give you an idea of cost.

Are there any additional goverment taxes to pay yearly other than income and property taxes.
                                                      Thanks
                                                       Cad

Cad you wont really have property taxes to pay as such... you will pay a one-off stamp duty when you buy your house, but after that you will just pay council tax, as stephanie mentioned.

any update to the information in this thread? I am just trying to estimate costs of Utilities etc for a move possibly by the end of the year. Are the prices listed on here still a good approximate? I know some things have gone up, like gas. Any updates would be greatly appreciated. thanks!

there are my utilities for a small 3-bedroom mid-terrace in peterborough area. monthly....

Gas & Electric £46
Water £26
BT Line Rental- £10
Long Distance- £5 (with another carrier for cheaper rates)
TV Tax- £10
Broadband- £16
Sky- £35
Council Tax- £110
Mortgage- £760
House & Contents Insurance- £24
Mandatory Life Insurance- £8

i have a company car & company fuel benefit so I can't help you on either of these.  i used www.uswitch.com to find out the best/cheapest/most reliable utitlies in my area.

great! thanks so much for your help! that will give me a good round about idea! 

We live up north, so you have to bear that in mind, but ours are roughly:

gas -- £90 quarterly
electric -- £90 quarterly
water -- £25 monthly
council tax -- approx. £1100 yearly
tv license -- £110 yearly
phone -- £20 monthly (£10 for BT line rental and about £10 in onetel calls)
travel -- £35/month for me (bus), about £45/month for DH (metro)
rent -- £600 monthly for a two-bed semi
contents insurance -- £18/month (I think)
Sky -- £30 monthly
broadband -- £10 monthly (I think)

tv license -- £110 yearly

It's now £126.50 per year.

In broad terms, my expenses are:

Electricity approx. £110 - £120 per quarter averaged over the year, and I'm on electric for everything -- Heat, water heating, and cooking.

Water/Sewerage £260 per year.

Telephone £42 per quarter line rental and service packages via BT.  I use an independent carrier for all my calls:  3p per call within the U.K., 3p connection plus 1p. per minute to the U.S.

Council tax £616 this year (that's with the 25% single-person discount -- full rate is £822, band A).

Vehicle excise license (car tax disc)  £165 per year.

Vehicle insurance approx. £200 per year.

About cable, the UK has something called Freeview, which is kind of like Basic Cable in the US, except you buy the box, you don't rent it, so there are no monthly fees; once you've bought the box you don't have to pay anything.  You get plenty of stations. My husband and I haven't found the need to spend money on extra cable stations.

About cable, the UK has something called Freeview, which is kind of like Basic Cable in the US

Instead of being a cable service though, it is a broadcast signal received by a regular rooftop antenna.  (Similar digital broadcasts are rolling out in the States too, although to a coimpletely different technical standard.)

In a few years the existing analog broadcast services will be closed down and digital will be the only terrestrial broadcasts available.


http://www.freeview.co.uk/

http://www.dtg.org.uk


Also mentioned in the Technical Issues thread (brief mention in the TV post, then some more comments from reply #23 onward, plus the proposed analog shutdown schedule).

It's now £126.50 per year.

Yeah, DH pointed that out to me the other day.  Guess who pays the bills in my house?!   

I just cannot figure out why I am paying so much in utilities!   My last gas bill was 220 pounds for the last 75 days....the utility bills are killing me here!

I paid £27 for 38 days. I have central heating in a teeny place and heavy blankets.

What do you have and what are your heating habits? You can call British Gas (if you use them) and get tips on how to save money.

I have just had a gas bill for £335 .    .  That's for 110 days, and 5 people in a 4 bedroomed detached house that's occupied all day but even so  .

When I looked at http://www.energyhelpline.com/energy/rg_home.aspx?uif=903946 comparison site I found I could probably save by switching suppliers. 

You can use that site to get a reasonable estimate.  (You may have to invent a postcode) I tried using the 'i don't know how much i use' option and just answered the questions it asked and it came out with an answer that was within £20 a year of our actual consumption.