Cheaper electricity for low income earners in the UK
I think the poor little guy on the left just saw his Winter electricity bill. Does your bill leave you feeling like he looks? The good news is that you may be able to reduce the tariff you pay if you are on a low income and if you spend more than 10% of your total household income on fuel costs.
Some providers may be better than others in offering reductions but the biggest problem with this scheme seems to be that far too few people are aware of its existence. There is no onus on fuel companies to tell you that you may be eligible for cheaper electricity, if you are living on benefits they benefits agency will not advise you that your fuel costs could be reduced, in fact, unless you have already heard about the 'social' tariff somewhere else,this could very easily be the first time you ever heard of it.
That's one reason why I'm classing this as a political lens ... shouldn't there be a duty on someone to inform low paid workers and those on benefits that they can reduce their outgoings? And what about all those little old ladies who have well fed cats but are afraid to turn on their central heating? Who sees to it that they are treated fairly?
Since government co-ordinates figures on taxes, unemployment and retirees, I see no reason why government shouldn't be responsible for informing all those on low or fixed incomes on this matter.
They have the demographics already, unless they've lost them with all that other information which keeps going missing in the post / train / etc.
TREAT PEOPLE FAIRLY
And here's the other reason why it's political ...
... apart from sytemic failures
Not only do I think there should be a moral (and legal) responsibility on the part of government towards those in fuel poverty, I also think that the fuel companies themselves should have an obligation.How can all those overpaid directors sit on their fat bonuses knowing that some old gent is freezing to death this Winter because he can't afford to heat his home?
How come these folks don't understand that if your home is too cold and your fuel is too expensive then your home will become damp with condensation and eventually a nasty mould growth will start to appear on your walls, your furniture, the clothing in your cupboards, even on carpets.
Apart from the potentially lethal consequences for physical health, the mental health of anyone living in such conditions will also suffer. In fact, certain types of mould growth are known to be associated with serious psychiatric effects - just as penicillin was like a magical cure when discovered, there are other growths which are highly toxic.
Not only do our extortionately high fuel prices cause us the immediate problems of choosing whether to eat or heat, if you live in a public sector or housing association property, there's a very good chance that the type of heating you have is very expensive to run and your house will be insulated only to the minimum acceptable standards.
Surely public authority housing ought to set the standard for all other landlords to follow? But it doesn't, everything is done to the cheapest estimate, although it has always baffled me how that equates to so much expenditure. Of course, it's well known that 'cheapest' to the local authourity is far more than you or I would pay if we asked the same cowboys for a quote, the prices are always bumped up if it's an insurance job or one the council is paying for.
So, anyone living in public housing has the worst of all worlds when it comes to standards and options. This doesn't help the fuel poor.
TREAT PEOPLE FAIRLY
Then there are the fuel suppliers themselves ...
... a bunch of crooks?
You may have guessed from my slight propensity to rant on this subject that I live in a local authority house. The type of heating I have is the so-called 'Total Control' storage heaters.I have always thought that there should be some way of challenging that name under the Trade Descriptions Act, there is very little control over these heaters, although there is always the off switch.
Some years ago, during a hard Winter, I noticed a staggering increase in my electricity cost in one particularly cold week and I called to report that I suspected there was something wrong with my meter or some fault in the system. It was the first time I knew that when the temperature dropped, the electricity company would put extra boosts through to the heaters.
Well, that's nice, but it's me who has to pay for it. The electrician calculated what the cost would be if the company put through all the extra boosts they were entitled to and, yes, it roughly equated to my costs for that week.
I phoned the electricity company to complain. I wanted to explain to them that, at that time, the amount it cost in electricity, given all the extra boosts they put through, was more than I had to live on for the entire week.
But it's the cheapest form of electricity, bleated the woman at the other end. She totally failed to grasp the fact that hundreds of thousands of elderly people could not afford to turn their heaters on because they didn't have that kind of money to put in their meters in the first place.
But it's the cheapest way to heat your house, she bleated again.
Not if you run out of money before next payday it isn't but I guess a few days of hypothermia before your next income comes through might get you into a hospital bed (if you're lucky) and then you won't have to worry about your fuel bills for a while.
Of course, I seriously doubt whether any of the execs at any of the fuel suppliers actually use the kind of heating folks on low incomes are restricted to.
And I consider that wrong too. Ethics, morals, you don't think they have any place in business? If I had my way, the chief executive of the local council would have his pay halved and be made to live in one of the local authority houses in order that he should fully understand what he expects tenants to put up with.
We might see some changes then - the authorities might actually begin to comprehend that cheapest is not best, that years of botched jobs and cheapest estimates in homes are contributing to a culture of 'why should I care' lack of any respect for any authority.
TREAT PEOPLE FAIRLY
On the subject of tricky suppliers ...
... be warned, this happens
You have to watch them, you know, really watch them. Beware of dirty tricks!If you have been using a prepayment meter for any length of time then watch out for what the companies will try to do. This is a common practice and I bet a load of people have paid up without question or complaint.
Around a year or so ago, my meter was 'upgraded' from a token meter to a key meter. You might think the changeover would be simple. I had been using a prepayment meter for over ten years and hadn't had a problem with it but no, no, no, nothing is simple with this supplier.
Not only was I suddenly presented with a bill for some hundreds of pounds, they put that on my meter as a debt without ever consulting me and when I queried what was going on, I was told that there was a discrepancy in my meter and that unless I could produce all receipts for my usage (going back more than ten years WTF) I must pay.
Well, I couldn't see how there could be a debt on my meter as every token which had gone in there had been paid for ... but then I discovered the truth of the matter.
The electricity company had neglected to increase the charge on, not only my meter, but most token meters and the money they were claiming I owed was in fact the money which they had neglected to charge.
Now then, if a supplier offers me a commodity at X pence per unit and he then finds that he has undercharged me and the price should really be X+2 pence per unit, that supplier is not ... emphatically NOT ... entitled to recover the difference from me, especially without informing me!
He may negotiate with me if he thinks it will benefit him but, where he neglected to inform me of price increases, he doesn't have a leg to stand on, particularly as I could legitimately claim that failure to inform left me unable to compare price with other suppliers and choose an alternative, cheaper, option.
Of course, it took several telephone calls and a demand to know if they were accusing me of some kind of theft ... oh, yes, and a threat (no idle one I can assure you) that I would set a lawyer on them for besmirching my name and so on, to finally discover the source of the alleged 'debt'.
The upshot was that not only did the supplier have to wipe the debt from my meter, they also had to send me a cheque for the money they had, illegally, taken from me in excess charges on that meter.
What's wrong with that picture? For a start, they were dishonest and we really don't have to look further than there.
TREAT PEOPLE FAIRLY
Changing to Social Tariff
... be prepared for this to happen to you
You might wonder why I mentioned the supplier and their attempt to cover their failings by retrospectively charging more for their service, here's what you need to know about this practice.
When you change to the Social Tariff (under whatever name your particular supplier provides it) the 'system' will generate a bill at the same time as you are given your new key - this has the information embedded to alter the tariff charged on your meter, so you need to put it in immediately on receipt and then return your old key to the supplier.
It's the bill which is generated that may cause you problems, it certainly has done for me.
I changed tariff in December 2008 and I received a bill from the supplier, quite unexpectedly, of £127.45
Something of a surprise, but then I noticed that it was based on an estimated reading. No problem, I thought, and phoned the company.
The nice young man on the other end of the phone duly noted down all the readings on my meter - it takes a while to cycle through them - and confirmed that I owed nothing. Having given all the correct readings and in view of the fact he had told me the bill would be cancelled, I thought that would be the end of it.
Oh, I should know better by now ...
On the 15th January, I got another bill, same amount and telling me that if I phone the number given I could give the proper readings and have the bill adjusted accordingly ... well, that was what I did two weeks previously. I phoned for a second time and, for some strange reason, could not apparently get it across to the person at the other end of the phone that, not only did I not owe any of this money, I thought this had already been sorted out.
After some time of utter frustration, I demanded to speak to his superviser. Holly - the superviser - tried to tell me that the debt dated from the time when my token meter was changed to a key meter. Yes, that's the story above.
So, not only did I have to revisit that episode, pointing out to Holly that they (the company) had refunded the money illegally acquired from my account by sending me a cheque but furthermore, it states quite unequivocally on the bill in my hand that this was based on an estimated reading and I had to explain again how that had come about, being due to the change in tariff.
Eventually, Holly agreed that she would have that bill wiped off my account immediately.
TREAT PEOPLE FAIRLY
When you change to the Social Tariff (under whatever name your particular supplier provides it) the 'system' will generate a bill at the same time as you are given your new key - this has the information embedded to alter the tariff charged on your meter, so you need to put it in immediately on receipt and then return your old key to the supplier.
It's the bill which is generated that may cause you problems, it certainly has done for me.
I changed tariff in December 2008 and I received a bill from the supplier, quite unexpectedly, of £127.45
Something of a surprise, but then I noticed that it was based on an estimated reading. No problem, I thought, and phoned the company.
The nice young man on the other end of the phone duly noted down all the readings on my meter - it takes a while to cycle through them - and confirmed that I owed nothing. Having given all the correct readings and in view of the fact he had told me the bill would be cancelled, I thought that would be the end of it.
Oh, I should know better by now ...
On the 15th January, I got another bill, same amount and telling me that if I phone the number given I could give the proper readings and have the bill adjusted accordingly ... well, that was what I did two weeks previously. I phoned for a second time and, for some strange reason, could not apparently get it across to the person at the other end of the phone that, not only did I not owe any of this money, I thought this had already been sorted out.
After some time of utter frustration, I demanded to speak to his superviser. Holly - the superviser - tried to tell me that the debt dated from the time when my token meter was changed to a key meter. Yes, that's the story above.
So, not only did I have to revisit that episode, pointing out to Holly that they (the company) had refunded the money illegally acquired from my account by sending me a cheque but furthermore, it states quite unequivocally on the bill in my hand that this was based on an estimated reading and I had to explain again how that had come about, being due to the change in tariff.
Eventually, Holly agreed that she would have that bill wiped off my account immediately.
TREAT PEOPLE FAIRLY
Not the end of it ...
Well, I assured Holly that if I received another demand for money I didn't owe them I would take matters further.
Did Holly take that as a challenge?
Guess what I got? It arrived on 28th January 2009 (although it was dated 20th January) and it takes the form of a final demand for 'overdue payment'. It also threatens me with legal action etc and gives me 48 hours to make payment (well, that deadline must have passed before I got the letter).
So, I phoned and spoke to Mark, a nice young man who could see from the notes on my account that I had indeed phoned before regarding this matter and he would see to it that my account was sorted out immediately
So, Holly, if you didn't think I would take matters further, you are wrong! This page is just the beginning.
Of course, now I am left wondering which will arrive first, the letter I asked Mark to send confirming that I owe nothing or the letter I fully expect to receive from a debt collection agency acting on the supplier's behalf.
Got your fingers crossed Holly?
I will be updating this thread.
Update - 6th February ... congratulations Mark, I got a letter showing that I don't owe anything to the electricity company. Of course, it has cost me in telephone calls, 3 of them where only one should have been needed, and they weren't short calls either. Oh well, at least anyone else trying to get on the cheap tariff will know what to expect.
And if your meter was changed over from a token meter to a key meter, resulting in a bill to you, it probably isn't to late to claim back any money you've paid to the company which they claimed was a debt built up on your meter. If you can't get a solicitor / lawyer to take you seriously then contact your local MP and point out that the electricity companies are engaged in corrupt practices and ask for it to be investigated.
After all, the electricity companies were the ones who raised our prices by around 100% in a period of c 18 months because of the "high oil prices". Oil is now back to less than one third of the cost they based those increases on ... where is the corresponding reduction in our bills?
TREAT PEOPLE FAIRLY
Did Holly take that as a challenge?
Guess what I got? It arrived on 28th January 2009 (although it was dated 20th January) and it takes the form of a final demand for 'overdue payment'. It also threatens me with legal action etc and gives me 48 hours to make payment (well, that deadline must have passed before I got the letter).
So, I phoned and spoke to Mark, a nice young man who could see from the notes on my account that I had indeed phoned before regarding this matter and he would see to it that my account was sorted out immediately
So, Holly, if you didn't think I would take matters further, you are wrong! This page is just the beginning.
Of course, now I am left wondering which will arrive first, the letter I asked Mark to send confirming that I owe nothing or the letter I fully expect to receive from a debt collection agency acting on the supplier's behalf.
Got your fingers crossed Holly?
I will be updating this thread.
Update - 6th February ... congratulations Mark, I got a letter showing that I don't owe anything to the electricity company. Of course, it has cost me in telephone calls, 3 of them where only one should have been needed, and they weren't short calls either. Oh well, at least anyone else trying to get on the cheap tariff will know what to expect.
And if your meter was changed over from a token meter to a key meter, resulting in a bill to you, it probably isn't to late to claim back any money you've paid to the company which they claimed was a debt built up on your meter. If you can't get a solicitor / lawyer to take you seriously then contact your local MP and point out that the electricity companies are engaged in corrupt practices and ask for it to be investigated.
After all, the electricity companies were the ones who raised our prices by around 100% in a period of c 18 months because of the "high oil prices". Oil is now back to less than one third of the cost they based those increases on ... where is the corresponding reduction in our bills?
TREAT PEOPLE FAIRLY
Sting in the Tale
In June I suddenly received a new key for my meter. Being of a curious nature, I decided to phone and ask why and was surprised to be told that this key is the one which has the lower tariff on it.So, for the last six months I had been shovelling money into the meter at the top rate of charging, I didn't feel too happy about that until the lady on the other end of the phone informed me I was about to get a cheque in respect of what I had overpaid.
If, like me, your meter was changed from a token meter to a key meter, you'll know it's more difficult to keep track of what you bought. It used to be easy, simply add up the tokens and multiply by 5, there you have your spend. Little slips of paper can easily be lost and if you don't write down the figures straight away then you do lose track.
The refund, which covered 6 months, was for £410 ... nice refund, it does mean though that I have spent over £2000 in six months on electricity. Approximately £4000 per year!
If you, like me, are on a low income in the UK, you really need to be contacting your electricity supplier and asking them about the Social Tariff, it will save you 20% of your electricity bills if you qualify.
Of course, I've spent that refund already, there are always things you can spend that kind of money on :)
Government has apparently promised it will eradicate fuel poverty by 2016. Do you believe what government says?
Some useful links
If your electricity costs more than 10% of your total household income, contact your supplier and ask about the Social Tariff. Just be prepared for what will inevitably follow.
If you know of any other useful sources of information on fuel cost savings please leave a message in the guestbook below giving me the link and I'll add it here.
http://www.energychoices.co.uk/social-tariffs.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/working_lunch/7288241.stm
If you know of any other useful sources of information on fuel cost savings please leave a message in the guestbook below giving me the link and I'll add it here.
http://www.energychoices.co.uk/social-tariffs.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/working_lunch/7288241.stm
Can you help others?
If you have a personal experience to share or a useful link to add please leave your message here.
I'll add any links in the module above once I've checked them out - for folks outside the UK, you may well have a similar scheme run by fuel suppliers, if so and you make a lens about it, I would love to link to it here.
It might be interesting to compare schemes in different countries.
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- jennysue19 jennysue19 Nov 24, 2009 @ 5:02 am
- Very useful. My husband left me and dumped me with some huge gas and electricity bills that I thought he had been paying. So I am now on key meters for both gas and electricity, but I don't know what tariff I am on. I am living on benefits at the moment and my energy costs are definitely more than 10% of my income. I will check with my energy supplier if there is a social tariff I can move to, as it is getting to the point where I heat or eat.
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- Stazjia Stazjia Aug 14, 2009 @ 7:25 am
- We've had our own problems with utility companies where they just can't absorb information they are given.
Brilliant lens, Katherine, and valuable information for anybody who needs it. In fact, I'll check whether we fall into a category where we can get help.
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- Sojourn Sojourn Jul 25, 2009 @ 1:35 pm
- Wow, Katherine - an amazingly well written account of unfortunate events! We have our own issues in the states but I can't imagine having to go to the extent you did to stay on top of your utility bill. It's unconscionable! I'm glad it's slowly starting to get sorted out but I feel badly for those who don't have your diligence or knowledge. You're right - someone needs to be tasked with keeping people more informed. You've certainly made a good start! Lensrolled to my electric bill lens. :)
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- 0ctavias0fferings 0ctavias0fferings Jul 13, 2009 @ 4:52 am | in reply to Spook
- I so agree with you Spook. When you look at the way MPs etc fiddle their expenses, spending ridiculous amounts of money on luxuries most folks could never even contemplate owning, while the majority out here in the real world are struggling day to day to meet committments or even just to put food on the table and a fire in the hearth, even that 20% rebate looks paltry.
Oh dear, don't set me off or there will be another half dozen lenses ranting about the incompetence of government LOL
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- Spook Spook Jul 13, 2009 @ 4:31 am
- What a sad tale so well told. There are a couple of charities trying to address this problem for the elderly and fuel poverty stricken here in Ireland. The thing to remember in this day and age is that nothing really counts any more except for their own personal pleasures and the level of incompetence is mind blowing as you no doubt have noticed.
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The picture I've uploaded is about 20 years out of date as the little darling you see there is all grown up now.
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