Disability and gas bill :(

mouseymousey99

I wonder if you could apply for a loan under the social fund to pay this. Obviously you would have to pay the loan back, but, you pay without the interest, so that would be a bit easier. It would also be a huge weight off your mind.
As has been said worth looking into Warmfront too. They will survey your home and see where you could be making savings - loft insulation/low energy bulbs/cavity wall filler etc etc Before the next bill arrives.
best wishes

[Deleted User]

shopaholic2 wrote: »

Hi, I have been in tears today as i got my gas bill and its £745:eek:. This is for several reasons,.....
1, My daughter has ulcerative colitis, was diagnosed in Feb, but is and was permanently cold, so i had the heating on alot thru the winter,(she became ill in november), and I still have to have it on.
2, I applied to british gas trust for help, but they turned me down.
3, I am disable, i recieve high rate mobility and mid rate care.
4, We joined NACC, but they don't help with bills.

I am so worried they will cut me off. I cannot afford monthly direct debit cos it would be huge, so i can't see any way out of this.
Can anyone offer any help or advice?
I emailed British gas when the first bill came and explained all this to them and they just said "sorry,you have to pay".
I suffer from anxiety so find it hard to tallk on the phone thats why i emailed them.
Please, can anyone help?
x

Was this from an actual reading or was it an estimate?,if its an estimate the reading will have an e next to it,if this is the case check the meter and if the reading is lower than the estimate phone them with the actual reading to get a reduced bill.

krisskross

savemoney wrote: »

I was referring to winter fuel payments. OAP gets payments to help with heating I assume because they suffer more from the cold. I know some oaps who use this money to buy camera's and tv, and thus dont actually need help

I think the WFP is made to pensioners because it is a lot cheaper than paying a liveable on pension and it looks good. Most of us are at home during the day so do need heating for many hours. As we pay our fuel bills throughout the year by direct debit then I couldn't possibly say that the WFP is spent on fuel, it just goes into the bank to be used on anything we happen to need. And yes it could be a camera or a TV, why not? By the same token I thought that DLA was meant to help with the extra costs associated with disability. Surely this would include extra heating

ETA: I read my meters every month and input the figures on line, this generates an online statement showing how much I have paid and how much fuel I have used. Never get any nasty shocks that way. I feel dreadfully sorry for the OP, that amount of money would pay both gas and electric for a year for me.

mealone

krisskross wrote: »

I think the WFP is made to pensioners because it is a lot cheaper than paying a liveable on pension and it looks good. Most of us are at home during the day so do need heating for many hours. As we pay our fuel bills throughout the year by direct debit then I couldn't possibly say that the WFP is spent on fuel, it just goes into the bank to be used on anything we happen to need. And yes it could be a camera or a TV, why not? By the same token I thought that DLA was meant to help with the extra costs associated with disability. Surely this would include extra heating

ETA: I read my meters every month and input the figures on line, this generates an online statement showing how much I have paid and how much fuel I have used. Never get any nasty shocks that way. I feel dreadfully sorry for the OP, that amount of money would pay both gas and electric for a year for me.

The pension credit garentee is much more than other benefits because the gray vote matters, not for any other reason, those of us who are serverely disabled are at home more than OAPs and we need at least the same help if not more.

DLA, my mobility componant pays for my car and half the care componant pays for my care, leaving very little to pay for my other disability needs.]

krisskross

mealone wrote: »

The pension credit garentee is much more than other benefits because the gray vote matters, not for any other reason, those of us who are serverely disabled are at home more than OAPs and we need at least the same help if not more.

DLA, my mobility componant pays for my car and half the care componant pays for my care, leaving very little to pay for my other disability needs.]

We don't get pension credit and my SRP after 40 years work is £230 a month, simply because I didn't realise what a huge impact paying the married women's stamp would have. So if you would be happy with my £230 a month plus £125 a year fuel payment (it is £250 a year between 2 of us)...........that is what the Government gives me.

mealone

krisskross wrote: »

We don't get pension credit and my SRP after 40 years work is £230 a month, simply because I didn't realise what a huge impact paying the married women's stamp would have. So if you would be happy with my £230 a month plus £125 a year fuel payment (it is £250 a year between 2 of us)...........that is what the Government gives me.

I have always payed full stamp, even when I married so I will have a full state pension, you chose to reliey on your husbands contributions, what if you had been to ill to work? No IB because you payed a married womans stamp, you saved money then and now you reaping the rewards, I always advised people to continue paying full stamp which is a small price to pay to be equal. I dont know if you can opt out today, its over 20 years since I got married and HR asked me if I wanted to pay the married womans contributions but any woman getting married think before you make a choice about your stamp.

Your and your husbands pension + £250 WFA is much more than disabled people get to live on which is at a maximum £105 a week, with most people on under £90 a week or £60 a week on the new ESA and we all have the same bills to pay but pensioners get much more money to pay them with.

shopaholic2

Thanks for all your replies, it was an actual reading, not an estimate (sadly).
I will be restricting usage from now on, which is crazy in this day and age, and its awful when your child is crying with cold though!

I will contcat british gas again, see if they can help me, and if i have to have a prepayment meter then so be it.

Thanks all
x

savemoney

Best thing to do and is mentioned hundreds of times on this web site is


do not trust your energy supply with low direct debits its a well known ploy to encourage new customers, all you do is end up in long term in debt

Take regularly readings every month and submit them to your supply, do no rely on estimated readings

Cut down where possible, apply for grants if you are on a modest income around 16k and install low energy bulbs where possible. Turn things off when you can.

I was shocked when I found out that even my 4 year old washing machine uses 10w without being used, I appreciate not everyone can turn it off at mains, I can fortunately but it just goes to show things like chargers dont always need to be on 24/7

Standby savers are quiet good for tv/vcr or pc. British gas are giving them away free to some customers including energy monitor.. I just got a letter today asking me if I want one

krisskross

mealone wrote: »

I have always payed full stamp, even when I married so I will have a full state pension, you chose to reliey on your husbands contributions, what if you had been to ill to work? No IB because you payed a married womans stamp, you saved money then and now you reaping the rewards, I always advised people to continue paying full stamp which is a small price to pay to be equal. I dont know if you can opt out today, its over 20 years since I got married and HR asked me if I wanted to pay the married womans contributions but any woman getting married think before you make a choice about your stamp.

Your and your husbands pension + £250 WFA is much more than disabled people get to live on which is at a maximum £105 a week, with most people on under £90 a week or £60 a week on the new ESA and we all have the same bills to pay but pensioners get much more money to pay them with.

I do appreciate what you say about the married woman's stamp but if your HR department had not spelled it out for you would you have known? I changed in 1961 so by the time I was aware in the 1980's it was far too late to improve my pension prospects by changing back. It has not been possible to opt out of paying the full stamp for a couple of decades now.

I thought we were talking about disabled people getting DLA not just newly sick people on the lowest rate of ESA. I assume those people would get help with their housing costs and council tax. My husband and I get no help with those costs.

I am actually a bit sad that you appear to begrudge us our pensions, especially my £230 a month. When I retired i was paying over £130 a month NI as well as £700 a month income tax and that was 7 years ago. So the married womans' stamp wasn't exactly peanuts was it? We worked for nearly 90 years between us. I never claimed any sort of benefits except for child benefit, although we never got anything for our first child. Industrial related illness caused my husband to take early retirement at 60 but until then he had never claimed any benefits either.

You can have my £125 a year WFA if you feel that mealymouthed about it.

sfmedusa

Can I also recommend the Warm Front people come and check out (and upgrade, if necessary) your loft insulation, cavity wall insulation and the insulation around your windows and doors? If your house is privately rented or owned and you're on DLA then it's free.

Because I'm menopausal I have times when I'm far too hot, but I'm cold the rest of the time. I have a selection of fleece throws and blankets which I use for adding layers and warmth without weight- IKEA sell person sized fleece throws which are almost indestructible for a couple of pounds each. I've got half a dozen of them pressed into service in different rooms.

If you don't have a slanket I'd suggest one of those too. A simple concept- a blanket with sleeves, which fits over you whilst you're sitting down with the split down the back, so reducing the amount of body surface which has to be open to the air. When Im having a nesh phase I need something for keeping warm and one fo these was bought for me- it's really handy.