Energy Tariff/Capping for Disabled Customers? You help would be REALLY appreciated!

I-Owe-You

I wonder if anyone can kindly help - i have searched the forum, but only found info from 2008 which I fear maybe outdated.

I am profoundly deaf & have other medical/mobility problems. I am due to re-housed within the next 4 weeks because of my health, & am wishing to starting a fresh with my utilities in hope to get the best value of money. I am trying to do some research prior to the move.

...to cut a long story short I require having various items of electrical equipment switched on constantly. ie my paging alerting system, domestic loop, flashing doorbell to name just a few....(theres plenty more!) I feel due to this my energy bill is a lot higher than perhaps the average persons would be in normal circumstances.

I was told by (a perhaps a misinformed?) friend of a friend that some energy companies provide a capping/special tariff service available for disabled/vulnerable customers - but I cannot find anything on the energy websites. I wondered if anyone was aware of this, or had any experience or information they could share?

I have posted this on both the disability and energy boards in hope somebody maybe able to help me. I would really appreciate it as contacting these companies via email and waiting days to just receive a generic response is really disheartening! I have queried this with my case worker at social services, but was just met with shrugged shoulders and an "I don't know" response.

I would be so grateful for any advice!

With best wishes.

spiro

Firstly if you need a 'constant' supply you should always contact your supplier and ensure you are on the 'Priority Services Register'. They will pass this information to other industry parties to ensure that in the event of supply issues you get priority.

In terms of tariffs, all a 'capped' tariff is, is one were the price per unit will not rise for a fixed period but you pay a premium over the current price. It does NOT mean you bill is 'capped' as this still depends on consumption.

Regarding 'social tariffs', suppliers do offer these but you have to meet specific conditions (i.e. age, benefits) BUT these tariffs are not always cheaper than their online DD tariffs. So if you are happy to pay by DD and manage the account online then that sort of tariff is likely (not 100% guaranteed) to be cheaper that the social tariff.

I-Owe-You

Thank you so much for your kind response. I apologise for my naivety... I will look into the online DD deals as you suggested, as I've no problem paying by DD. Thank you again!