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"Battling bills - what help is there?
With average gas and electricity costs now totalling more than £1,000 a year, many families may be worried about paying their fuel bills this winter. This guide outlines what help is available.
KEY NUMBERS
Home Heat helpline
0800 33 66 99
Energywatch helpline
08459 06 07 08
Eaga benefit entitlement check
0191 247 3800
As well as the general help listed here, suppliers often offer grants, special tariffs and other measures on a case-by-case basis.
If you are having trouble paying your bill you should check with your supplier to find out what help is available from them.
GOVERNMENT PAYMENTS
WINTER FUEL PAYMENT
What is it?
A tax-free annual benefit, it is usually paid from November.
Who is eligible?
Those aged 60 or over by 24 September 2006 and who normally live in the United Kingdom.
How much?
How much you get varies according to personal circumstances. For example, a person living alone, or who is the only person in their household who qualifies, would receive £200 - or £300 if they are aged 80 and over.
How to apply?
If you have not had the payment before and are not getting a state pension or another benefit (apart from housing benefit, council tax benefit or child benefit) the payment will not be automatic, you need to apply.
You can get a claim form by calling 08459 151 515.
Or see this page on the Direct.Gov website.
COLD WEATHER PAYMENT
What is it?
The payment is made when the average temperature is recorded as, or forecast to be, 0C (32F) or below over seven consecutive days.
Who is eligible?
You are entitled if you receive the following:
pension credit
income support or income-based jobseeker's allowance and there is a child aged under five in your family
pensioner premium, higher pensioner premium or enhanced pensioner premium
a disability premium or severe disability premium
a disabled child premium or a child tax credit that includes an individual element for a child or qualifying young person who is disabled or severely disabled
How much?
A one-off payment of £8.50.
How to apply?
The payment is made automatically.
GOVERNMENT SCHEMES
WARM FRONT ENGLAND
What is it?
A grant scheme in England providing heating and insulation in privately owned or rented homes.
Depending on an applicant's needs, it will pay for things such as loft insulation, draught proofing, gas room heaters with thermostat controls gas and electric or oil central heating.
Energy advice and two low-energy light bulbs are also available.
Who is eligible?
You may get a grant if you get one or more of the following benefits:
working tax credit (with an income of less than £15,050 and which must include a disability element)
child tax credit (with an income of less than £15,050)
attendance allowance
disability living allowance
income support (must include a disability premium)
housing benefit (must include a disability premium)
council tax benefit (must include a disability premium)
war disablement pension (must include a mobility supplement or a constant attendance allowance)
industrial injuries disablement benefit (must include constant attendance allowance)
you have a child under 16, or are pregnant, and get income support or council tax benefit or housing benefit or income-based jobseeker's allowance or pension credit
you are aged 60 or over and get pension credit, or council tax benefit, or housing benefit or income-based jobseeker's allowance
How much?
Grants range up to £2,700 - or up to £4,000 if your home needs oil central heating.
How to apply?
You will need to complete an application form before an adviser visits you to assess and recommend work for your property. Call 0800 316 6011.
WARM DEAL SCOTLAND
What is it?
Offers grants for a range of energy-saving measures, including cavity wall insulation, draught proofing, four energy-saving light bulbs, plus energy efficiency advice.
Who is eligible?
You may get a grant if you get one or more of the following benefits:
attendance allowance
child tax credit (with an income of less than £15,050)
council tax benefit
disability living allowance
disabled person's tax credit
housing benefit
income-based jobseeker's allowance
income support
industrial injuries disablement benefit (must include constant attendance allowance)
pension credit
war disablement pension (must include mobility supplement or constant attendance allowance)
working tax credit (with an income of less than £15,050)
How much?
A maximum of £500.
How to apply?
Telephone 0800 316 6009
CENTRAL HEATING PROGRAMME SCOTLAND
What is it?
Funded by the Scottish Executive, it is a non means-tested scheme, providing free central heating and insulation packages for those whose system is broken and beyond repair, or who do not have one at all.
Who is eligible?
Residents in Scotland aged 60 and over who are home owners or rent in the private sector. They must have been resident at the address of application for at least a year and it must be their main home and not subject to a demolition order.
The address must be self-contained and have no central heating, or the existing central heating system must be completely broken and beyond repair.
How much?
Up to £3,500.
How to apply?
Telephone 0800 316 1653.
CENTRAL HEATING PROGRAMME SCOTLAND FOR OVER 80s
What is it?
Replaces heating systems, plus other measures such as a free smoke alarm, assistance with care and help moving and replacing furniture while heating is fitted.
Who is eligible?
Anyone over 80 who has a partial or inefficient system, generally more than 20 years old.
How much?
Up to £3,500.
How to apply?
Telephone 0800 316 1653.
HOME ENERGY EFFICIENCY SCHEME IN WALES
What is it?
Provides grants for energy efficiency measures - such as loft insulation, low energy light bulbs and gas room heaters - and energy advice.
Who is eligible?
Those in receipt of the following benefits and have a child under 16, or are pregnant:
income support
working tax credit (with an income of less than £15,050)
council tax benefit
child tax credit (with an income of less than £15,050)
housing benefit
income-based jobseeker's allowance
How much?
Up to £1,500.
How to apply?
Telephone 0800 316 2815.
HEES plus in Wales
What is it?
Aimed at owner-occupiers or private tenants in Wales, it provides grants for energy efficiency measures and gives tailored energy efficiency advice.
Who is eligible?
People aged 60 or over, or one-parent families with a child under 16, and in receipt of one or more of the following:
income support
housing benefit
council tax benefit
state pension credit
income-based job seeker's allowance
OR
Householders who are disabled or chronically sick, and in receipt of one or more of the following:
working tax credit
housing benefit
income support
council tax benefit, plus the disability element
disability living allowance
attendance allowance
industrial injuries disablement benefit, plus constant attendance allowance
war disablement pension plus constant attendance allowance
attendance allowance
mobility supplement
OR
Householders with children under 16 living in the property, who are claiming child benefit with the child receiving disability living allowance.
How much?
Up to £2,700
How to apply?
Telephone 0800 316 2815.
NORTHERN IRELAND WARM HOMES SCHEME
What is it?
Funded by the Department for Social Development, it is aimed at owner-occupiers and people who rent their homes from private landlords in Northern Ireland. It is not available for public sector properties.
The fund gives a grant for a package of energy efficiency and heating measures.
Who is eligible?
Householders of any age (the applicant or their spouse) who have a child under the age of 16 and who are in receipt of one or more of the following benefits:
housing benefit
rate rebate
income support
income-based job seeker's allowance
child tax credit
expectant mothers in receipt of a Maternity certificate (MAT B1) and one of the above benefits
OR
Householders under 60 (the applicant or their spouse) who are in receipt of one or more of the following disability-related benefits:
disability living allowance
housing benefit (with disability premium)
rate rebate (with disability premium
)
income support (with disability premium)
working tax credit (with disability premium) and NHS tax exemption certificate
war disablement pension (with mobility supplement or constant attendance allowance)
industrial injuries disablement benefit (with constant attendance allowance)
How much?
Up to £750.
How to apply?
Telephone 0800 181 667.
WARM HOMES PLUS - NORTHERN IRELAND
What is it?
In addition to the warm homes scheme, includes measures such as installing new central heating systems.
Who is eligible?
Householders who are 60 years and over and are in receipt of one or more of the following benefits:
rate rebate
housing benefit
pension credit
income-based job seeker's allowance
attendance allowance
disability living allowance
working tax credit (with disability premium) and NHS tax exemption certificate
industrial injuries disablement benefit (with constant attendance allowance)
war disablement pension (with mobility supplement or constant attendance allowance)
How much?
Up to £3,700.
How to apply?
Telephone 0800 181 667.
ENERGY SUPPLIER FUNDS
POWERGEN HARDSHIP FUND
Aims to assist Powergen customers who are low income households facing financial difficulty and who may not be eligible for financial help from government schemes.
Can offer the following assistance:
payments in full or part to cover the cost of installing cavity wall insulation and/or loft insulation
payments in full or part to cover the cost of repairing or installing heating measures which in some cases could include repair of unsafe gas heating systems
payments in full or part could be made to cover the cost of household appliances
Telephone 0800 051 1480.
EDF ENERGY TRUST FUND
A charity that gives grants to people who have electricity, gas, telephone, and in some cases, other essential household bill debts.
Funded by EDF, its gives grants, and financial and energy efficiency advice.
You must be a domestic customer of London Energy, Seeboard Energy, Sweb Energy or EDF Energy.
There are two types of grants. They are for:
individuals to cover the payment of gas and electricity debts and other essential household bills or costs
voluntary organisations working in the field of money advice, debt counselling or energy efficiency advice
Telephone 01733 421050.
BRITISH GAS ENERGY TRUST
The British Gas Energy Trust, which incorporates the Scottish Gas Energy Trust, gives grants to help individuals and families in need to meet arrears of energy charges and other household bills and costs.
You must be a domestic customer of British Gas or Scottish Gas.
Can help with:
arrears of domestic gas/electricity charges
other essential domestic bills and costs. You can apply for such help even if you do not apply for help with your gas/electricity charges
Telephone 01733 421021.
A winter fuel rebate is also available of up to £90 to British Gas's most vulnerable customers.
Telephone 0845 601 2006.
SCOTTISH POWER ENERGY PEOPLE TRUST
Organisations and groups can apply for funding to support projects or schemes covering:
crisis funding, such as women and children needing emergency accommodation and vulnerable young people setting up their first home
benefits health checks or income maximisation. For example, helping households that are not claiming all the benefits to which they are entitled
energy efficiency measures
research
If you are having trouble paying your bill you should check with your supplier to find out what help is available. Many offer grants, and/or special tariffs and other measures.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/6043288.stm
Published: 2006/10/24 00:25:38 GMT
© BBC MMVIII"
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Government faces heat on fuel poverty
The government was today urged to offer more help to the millions of families in fuel poverty due to rising energy prices.
The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs select committee said ministers had failed to meet statutory obligations to end fuel poverty and called on them to set up an action plan to help people struggling with energy bills as a matter of urgency.
It warned the resources available for tackling fuel poverty were "inadequate and getting worse". Anyone spending at least 10% of their income on heating and lighting their home is deemed to be living in fuel poverty. In a series of recommendations, the select committee called for the winter fuel payment to be no longer given to people paying higher-rate tax. Instead it wants the money to fund energy efficiency programmes aimed at helping the fuel poor and vulnerable households.
It also called on the government to consolidate its range of energy efficiency programmes into one comprehensive scheme to upgrade all homes in England, with the improvements delivered by local authorities.
Committee chairman Michael Jack, said: "We need action and clarity – not further consultation – to tackle the three elements that drive fuel poverty: prices, income and energy efficiency levels.
"The government must act swiftly to bring forward practical measures before next winter, using technologies that are already well understood, to help the millions of households that remain in fuel poverty."
The committee said the Warm Front programme, the government's main scheme to help vulnerable households cut their energy bills, should have its budget increased and that it should be extended to include all hard-to-treat properties.
It recommended a central budget be created into which energy companies pay their carbon emissions reduction target contributions, so the cash could be pooled with money from other programmes to fund home upgrades.
Energy regulator Ofgem should be ordered to ensure energy companies tell customers about social tariffs and who is eligible for them, to help increase competition for certain customers, such as those who use pre-payment meters, it said.
Jonathan Stearn, energy expert for Consumer Focus, said it was "outrageous" that there were still more than 5 million vulnerable households struggling to afford to heat and power their homes.
He added: "The government's energy efficiency schemes are simply not up to scratch. Immediate investment is needed in a radical and co-ordinated action plan if we are to lift millions of the poorest pensioners, families and disabled people out of fuel poverty and cut carbon emissions."
Michelle Mitchell, charity director for Age Concern and Help the Aged, said: "The report sounds a loud wake-up call for the government, whose strategy to tackle fuel poverty is miles away from reaching its targets.
"Ministers should immediately set out to implement the committee's recommendations, reviewing the Warm Front Scheme and producing a new 'road map' to bring home a more ambitious energy efficiency plan.
"Focusing the winter fuel payment on fuel-poor households could give an edge to the government's strategy to tackle fuel poverty, as long as the system required to implement it is simple and workable."
Campaigners say the number of householders in fuel poverty has been one of Labour's greatest failures. In March last year, its own advisers, the Fuel Poverty Advisory Group, said the government appeared to have given up trying to hit its legally binding target to reduce fuel poverty. The group criticised ministers for cutting the grants programme aimed at those in fuel poverty by a quarter during the comprehensive spending review.
This, it said, was despite the Treasury receiving significantly higher VAT receipts on the back of gas and electricity prices which have doubled in recent years.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/jun/10/fuel-poverty-energy
Thousands 'facing fuel poverty'
Rising unemployment and higher energy prices are likely to push hundreds of thousands more homes into fuel poverty, a key government advisory body says.
The Fuel Poverty Advisory Group (FPAG) says about 4m households in England are already in fuel poverty, spending more than 10% of their income on energy.
And it has urged ministers to set out a detailed plan for meeting their own target of ending the problem by 2016.
The government says it has spent £20bn on cutting fuel poverty since 2000.
Vulnerable
One of the key causes of fuel poverty is high energy prices. Average domestic fuel bills have increased by 125% over the past five years.
The report warns that the long-term trend on prices is likely to be upwards, not least due to the huge industry investment needed to meet green energy targets.
Unemployment is becoming a key factor too, the report added. The jobless rate is expected to hit three million in the next year and about 38% of those out of work are fuel poor.
The FPAG has called for the government to set out a detailed plan showing how it will eradicate fuel poverty over the next seven years.
The report has been welcomed by one of the main consumer watchdogs, Consumer Focus.
Its energy expert Jonathan Stearn said: "We are urging the government to heed the warning of its own advisory group, that energy prices could rocket in the next few years.
"If the government is serious in its aim to end fuel poverty, it needs to do much more to help the most vulnerable households."
The numbers in fuel poverty fell dramatically during the early part of this decade, with the government establishing several schemes that provide help for vulnerable households.
Energy and Climate Change Minister David Kidney said: "The government has spent more than £20bn since 2000 on policies and programmes which can help tackle fuel poverty.
"But we know the challenge needs further action, and recognise that rising energy costs have reversed the downward trend on the number of households in fuel poverty."
The report calls for urgent action to stem the rise of the fuel poor, with compulsory social tariffs for the least well off. Companies currently provide social tariffs on a voluntary basis.
The FPAG also urges the government to ensure those who pay for their energy using pre-payment meters (PPMs) do not pay over the odds compared with other payment methods.
In the worst cases, customers on PPM's are paying up to £255 a year more for their energy, the report said.
Energy regulator Ofgem plans to ban unfair price differentials between PPM's and other payment methods.
But in a statement it added: "Primary responsibility for tackling fuel poverty rests with the government, which must look at improving the housing stock and raising income levels for the fuel poor."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8146954.stm
'Social tariff' to insulate poor against cost of green power
The government will soften the blow to hard-up families worried about rising bills to pay for greener power generation with promises of a compulsory "social tariff" as part of an energy white paper to be published on Wednesday.
British Gas, npower and others have been told they will no longer be able to choose whether they keep price increases lower for worse-off customers and will instead have to act according to planned new legislation, industry sources say.
The government last night declined to comment directly on its plans, but Ed Miliband told the Commons last week that the social tariff system needed reform. "At present, the system tends to be piecemeal – who gets into it and who does not is often an arbitrary process. We shall have more to say about it in the future."
Ministers are to unveil the plan in a series of long-awaited initiatives to put Britain onto a low-carbon trajectory and tackle climate change and energy security.
The social tariff, long-demanded by fuel poverty campaigners, is controversial as power companies say it will have to be funded by more affluent families paying more. The Treasury is worried about this being interpreted as another "stealth tax". The Department of Energy and Climate Change declined to comment.
Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, today denied that the cost of moving to a deeper reliance on wind and nuclear power will cost households an extra £230 per annum. But he admitted bills will rise. "I think there are upward pressures on energy prices whichever route we go down. We can go down the high-carbon routes, stick with where we are, and for us that means the North Sea oil and gas is declining, we'll import more and more, and we'll be very exposed to swings in oil prices and also importing … from some pretty dangerous places, or – and I think this is the right way to go – we can plan for the low-carbon future and that does mean some costs to transition," he told the BBC's Andrew Marr show.
"Now my job is to counter those effects as much as I possibly can, helping people with energy efficiency and having tough regulation," he added.
The government's Renewables Advisory Board has also warned that £100bn of new infrastructure is needed to allow all wind farms and other alternative power systems to feed into the national grid.
Some experts predicted domestic bills would rise by £200-£230 a year while the CBI says in a paper tomorrowthat wholesale energy prices must rise by 30% by 2020.
The CBI report is more controversial because it says government plans to produce 32% of Britain's electricity from renewable sources by 2020 are unrealistic. The CBI wants to scale down these estimates to 25% while beefing up the nuclear contribution. Industry sources say civil servants have considered scaling back wind power targets, a claim denied by government sources: "Why would we do this when we're already committed to 15% of all our power coming from renewables by 2020 under European Union targets which can only be met by continuing with current wind targets?"
Some industry experts still think ministers perceive they can put less emphasis on wind in favour of boosting renewable heat systems and energy efficiency.
The white paper, a renewable energy strategy and a low-carbon industrial strategy will all put greater emphasis on decentralised energy systems such as low-carbon community projects. The government used to be lukewarm on feed-in tariffs, in which homeowners with their own wind turbines or solar panels get guaranteed above-market price payments for power they put into the grid, despite the enormous success of this in Germany.
On Wednesday, Miliband will trumpet "clean energy cashback schemes" as a key way forward. G8 countries last week pledged to cut carbon emissions by 80% by 2050.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jul/12/fuel-social-tariff-ene...
Green energy plans will not help fuel poverty, claims charity
The charity National Energy Action (NEA) criticised the government for watering down its promise to introduce "social" energy tariffs in its low carbon white paper, saying only a fraction of poor people would benefit.
The NEA, which campaigns on fuel poverty issues, said it was also concerned that funding for the existing Warm Front scheme to help poorer households would be halved next year.
Its chief, Jenny Saunders, said: "NEA has been pressing hard for a social mandate on energy tariffs and we are pleased that the government has included this in its low carbon transition plan. But we are concerned at … the potential narrowing of assistance to pensioner households when millions of low income families are also in fuel poverty and need access to lower tariffs and protection from rising prices.
"And while the white paper recognises the importance of Warm Front in assisting vulnerable households, NEA is concerned the reduction of funding for the next year has not been addressed, which will lead to 50% fewer households being assisted."
There are an estimated 5 million people in Britain living in so-called "fuel poverty" – defined as people who spend more than 10% of their income on fuel and light.
The Tories said ministers had not been honest about the social costs of their low carbon transition, though the party broadly supports the policies. "[Energy secretary] Ed Miliband has deliberately disguised this and has not been honest that it could cost some people more than others," the shadow energy and climate change secretary, Greg Clark, said.
He also said that because of Labour's almost total inaction in the area of renewable energy over the past decade, the costs of a dash to sustainable energy would now be higher than they had to be, and it would probably mainly benefit foreign firms, who would rush in to fill the void as the domestic renewable energy industry struggled to catch up with demand.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change rejected the claims. "The government is providing immediate help for households to make energy savings and reduce bills, and since 2000 has spent £20bn on helping people in fuel poverty", a spokesman said. "We're determined to minimise the impacts on the poorest in society – which is why we're reforming the system of social tariffs to allow the most vulnerable to receive compulsory support from the energy companies and increasing the amount spent."
A key part of the government's plans is the so-called "clean energy cashback" which is a more user friendly name than the "feed-in tariff" label used in most the national grid. They have been used to great success in other countries and are the model the British government wants to follow.
But renewables companies, which have been considering the numbers since the proposed tariff levels were published on Wednesday, were disappointed. The government claims its tariffs are designed to give investment returns of between 5% and 8%, lower than those offered by many other countries' tariffs. But Solar Century, one of Britain's leading solar energy groups, claims the return is more like 4% on photovoltaics – leaving a long payback time and hardly providing an incentive for households or businesses to invest.
Executive chairman Jeremy Leggett said: "The government has accepted solar PV can make a significant contribution to our future energy needs. It's unfortunate that the consultation numbers, if confirmed later this year, will do little to boost demand for non-domestic solar PV."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jul/16/green-energy-plans-critic...
Fuel scheme 'failing the poorest'
A scheme aimed at improving households' fuel efficiency and cutting fuel poverty is "failing the poorest and most vulnerable", MPs have said.
Nearly a fifth of the funding for the multi-million pound Warm Front scheme was going to households that were already energy efficient.
And £15m was spent on measures that did little to pull households out of fuel poverty, the committee of MPs said.
The government is aiming to end fuel poverty in England by 2016.
'Focus'
Fuel poverty is defined as a household that spends more than 10% of its income on energy bills.
But the Public Accounts Committee report concludes that only a third of the genuinely fuel-poor qualified for help under the Warm Front scheme.
"It is unclear whether the primary aim of the scheme is to improve the energy efficiency of homes or to reduce fuel poverty," said committee chairman Edward Leigh.
"If the latter, then the scheme is certainly still missing the mark a lot of the time."
The report found that 635,000 households benefitted from the scheme between June 2005 and March 2008 at a cost of £852m. By 2010-11, the cost to the taxpayer was expected to rise to £1.8bn, the report said.
The scheme updates the insulation of homes and installs more fuel-efficient appliances.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8165827.stm
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