trying to change my dads deal

milliemonster

My mum died earlier this year so now my dad who is 68 years old lives on his own, fortunately he does own his own home but his only income is his state pension which he gets £550 a month, out of that he has to pay full council tax at £128 a month (he can't get a rebate cos he has got some savings), his gas and electric which come to £80 a month, run his car (an old ford focus where the tax is going to go up to £250 soon) and other household expenses, he doesn't have any debt thank goodness.

I have been trying to look at changing his gas/elec he is with southern electric at the moment for both and his tariff is 'Domestic Standard NSC - moneysavers' when I have tried the comparison sites this tariff doesn't come up, his last bill ( Oct - Jan) was the following, but my mum was still alive then:

Elec 182 units @ 12.65p each
1246 units discounted@ 9p each

Gas 1143 kWh @ 3.110p each
6101.15 kWh @ 2.210p each

now I want to get him on a capped rate but nothing comes close to these prices it seems (although its difficult to work it out), Scottich power came out the cheapest but would increase his costs by about £30 a month (he already pays by DD)

can anyone offer any advice?

I am also wondering if he would qualify for the winter fuel payments? he's really worried about winter already, yes I know he has a few savings (not a lot) but I get really angry that him and my mum were always careful with money all their lives and tried to save what they could so now he can't get any benefits whereas if they had sqaundered it all (like I seem to be doing!!) they would get every benefit under the sun! and he would now be living a bit more comfortably, why should he have to spend his savings on paying fuel bills?

notbritishgas

To answer the easy ones first.
Council Tax. he should now be able to claim the 25% reduction as a sole occupier, savings do not affect that benefit.
Winter fuel allowance. They should already have been receiving the winter allowance and now your father alone is entitled to it. This year I think as a one off it has been increased to £250.
As for changing supplier, the tariff he is on does not look too bad, but you can only compare what is available, if necessary obtain other companies tariffs and work out the costs manually. Be aware though that the price increases have just started (EDF) so make sure you compare like for like.

PS Just thought, I think the savings limit to get council tax benefit is £16000.

1carminestocky

(Slightly off topic) Don't forget to get your local water company to install a meter, there should be a big saving on the price he's paying (apparently £18-£20 per month usage is the norm per pensioner). My widowed father saves over £200 per year!