Fuel poverty
Along with food and water, electricity and gas are the basics
that we need to live our lives. Without them, we cannot heat our
homes, switch on the lights or use appliances such as fridges and
cookers.
Unfortunately - because of the effects of the UK’s current
economic situation on personal finances, the rising costs of
energy, and poor energy efficiency - many of us are struggling
to pay our bills and may find ourselves falling into fuel
poverty.
This section explains more about what fuel poverty is,
tips on how to cope and where to get information and
advice.
You can read through this information sheet, or go directly to
the sections you want to read by clicking on these links:
What is fuel poverty?
When a household needs to spend more than 10% of its
income on fuel – or energy as it is often called – it is considered
to be in fuel poverty.
The number of households experiencing fuel poverty is rising at
the moment for several reasons:
- The cost of energy keeps increasing, which means we need
to spend more of our income on paying these bills
- Many of us live in draughty homes, from which lots of heat
escapes, and rely on heating systems that are old and inefficient.
And because we do not have much money to spare, it is difficult to
make our homes more energy efficient, which would reduce our
bills
- The general cost of living is rising and this is also putting
pressure on our finances so we have less money to go around.
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Coping with rising energy bills
Make sure you’re getting the best deal on gas and
electricity
- If you live in England, Scotland or Wales, there are lots of
different companies supplying energy so you can choose to buy your
gas and electricity from those that offer you the best
deal. The Consumer Focus
(link opens in new window) website has information to help you
identify these
- The way you pay for your gas and electricity also has an impact
the amount it costs
- Buying both gas and electricity from the same supplier can cost
less
- Paying by monthly direct debit rather than quarterly bill
usually saves you money
- Some suppliers offer benefits such as money off future bills
for switching to paperless bills
- Gas and electricity can be more expensive if you use
a pre-payment meter
- Some energy companies offer you the chance to fix your energy
prices over a certain period of time. This means your bills will
not go up if the price of electricity or gas goes up – but remember
that they will still go up if you use more energy.
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Read your meters
- Bills are often estimated, so reading your meter and passing
the reading on to your supplier will make sure you only pay for
what you have used. The Money Matters to Me website, produced by
the National Institute of Adult Continuing Learning, can give you
help understanding
how to read meters (link opens in new window).
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Take steps to cut your energy use
You only pay for the electricity and gas that you actually use,
so a good way for us to cope with rising prices is to try to use
energy efficiently.
- Cut your bills by turning the thermostat on your heating down
by one degree as long as the temperature is already above 21°C,
heating your home for one less hour a day and making sure that the
temperature of your hot water is no more than 60°C
- Stop heat escaping by sealing skirting boards, using draft
excluders in front of doors and letterboxes and drawing your
curtains after dark. Double-glazing reduces the heat loss through
windows by 50%
- Save electricity by turning appliances off rather than leaving
them to standby, unplug chargers and switch lights off when not in
use
- Do not over fill kettles and always put lids on saucepans
when cooking
- Only run washing machines, driers and dishwashers with a full
load and use lower temperature settings. Driers use lots of
electricity, so drying washing on a line will help cut bills
- Switch to low energy light bulbs. They cost a bit more but last
12 times longer and help cut your electricity bills
- Insulating your loft and cavity walls, installing an energy
efficient boiler and switching to low energy appliances will all
help cut costs too.
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Grants and schemes to help you
There are various grants and schemes available to help you cover
the cost of fuel bills and make your home energy efficient.
- Winter Fuel Payments – this is a payment made
to people who have reached pension
credit age
- Cold Weather Payments – if you are on a low
income, you may be eligible for these if the weather in your area
falls to 0° centigrade or below for seven days in a row
- Warm Home Discount - If your electricity
supplier belongs to this scheme and you're getting the guarantee
part of Pension Credit, you will get an
annual discount of £130 on your electricity bill.
- Some energy suppliers offer cheaper deals to customers on low
incomes together with free or subsidised energy efficiency
measures
- If you are on a low income and a range of income and disability
related benefits, you may be able to get a grant to help with the
costs of improving the energy efficiency of your home. For
example by updating heating systems or insulating. See Grants to help with energy efficiency
- The Energy Savings Trust (link
opens in a new window) has a information to help you search for
grants and offers to make improvements to energy efficiency.
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What happens if I cannot pay my bills?
If you are struggling to pay your energy bills, you
may worry that you energy supply will be cut off. This is always a
last resort for the energy companies so it is vital to talk to them
straight away and try to work out a solution.
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Useful information
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Last updated: 6 November 2012
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