Heating oil help when on benefits?

brittone05

Unsure of where to place this.

Our home is run on heating oil for the central heating etc.

Between the extremely cold weather and the fact my husband has health problems so can't have periods where I have no heat in the house due to his chest and recuring pneumonia/pleuracy over the last 4 years.

I am really worried as we simply cannot raise the money to put heating oil in and it is due to run out any day now. The minimum order is 500 litres which is approx £300.

Is there any help available for people in receipt of benefits with things like this?

i rang the local Jobcentre but they were not helpful at all - just said crisis loans and such wouldn't be accepted for heating oil.

Thanks in advance xx

[Deleted User]

there are cold weather payments (sticky top of page)other than that probably nothing i`m afraid

BigAunty

What benefits are you on? Do you fulfill the criteria for a budgeting loan?

https://www.gov.uk/budgeting-loans/overview

Dunroamin

You may find it easier to heat just the room that you're using by another form of heating if you can't afford to top up the oil - my husband suffers from COPD and that's what we do when money's short

tygr

Oil companies usually allow you to pay by instalments if you've ordered from them before. I've just bought 100 litres and paid £100 and will be paying the rest in monthly instalments. I know you still have to pay it but at least it spreads the cost.

satarical

brittone05 wrote: »

Unsure of where to place this.

Our home is run on heating oil for the central heating etc.

Between the extremely cold weather and the fact my husband has health problems so can't have periods where I have no heat in the house due to his chest and recuring pneumonia/pleuracy over the last 4 years.

I am really worried as we simply cannot raise the money to put heating oil in and it is due to run out any day now. The minimum order is 500 litres which is approx £300.

Is there any help available for people in receipt of benefits with things like this?

i rang the local Jobcentre but they were not helpful at all - just said crisis loans and such wouldn't be accepted for heating oil.

Thanks in advance xx

Surely the easiest way out of this problem is proper budgeting and monthly DD.

You must have an idea how much oil you use in a year - work out the annual cost and divide by 12. Come to an arrangement with an oil company so that you have a regular delivery all year round.

Most people i know that have oil, stock up for the winter by buying in the summer. How big is your tank? A friend has a 3500 ltr one that he tops up in August.
http://www.crownoil.co.uk/fuel.php

gingergee

When I was on esa a few years back I got a crisis loan for heating oil. They wanted to know the company I would use and how much it would be. They rang the company to confirm I had contacted them for a quote then authorised the loan. Another option is using diesel or getting a smaller amount from some where that supplies fuel. I now save what I would pay in gas if we had it to cover the oil and buy it in summer as its cheaper. I tend to fill when it gets to just below half so I never run out. I have a condition that means I struggle to regulate body temp so I need to keep warm when cold and vice versa. Hope this helps x x

ChasingButterflies

Hi,

My mum in the past couple of days has just run out of heating oil and doesn't have the funds to meet the 500l minimum delivery... When she called the supplier she uses they did offer to let her collect 2 x 25l containers of oil from the depot.

Not a long term solution I know, but should give you a little breathing space to look into any other options.

Dunroamin

tygr wrote: »

Oil companies usually allow you to pay by instalments if you've ordered from them before. I've just bought 100 litres and paid £100 and will be paying the rest in monthly instalments. I know you still have to pay it but at least it spreads the cost.

Do you mean you've just bought 1,000 litres?

brittone05

Thanks everyone. I cannot get a budgeting loan as I had one last year in June - July time to purchase an oven when mine gave up the ghost.

I do budget to allow for oil but because we have had 3 weeks of it being minus almost every day and night, the heating has been on a lot more hence it running out quickly. I usually have it on a timer but it has just gone unusually quickly right now.

I rang a few companies to see if we could get an advance delivery but no joy

welshmoneylover

brittone05 wrote: »

Thanks everyone. I cannot get a budgeting loan as I had one last year in June - July time to purchase an oven when mine gave up the ghost.

I do budget to allow for oil but because we have had 3 weeks of it being minus almost every day and night, the heating has been on a lot more hence it running out quickly. I usually have it on a timer but it has just gone unusually quickly right now.

I rang a few companies to see if we could get an advance delivery but no joy

What about borrowing off family? Are you in a position to work?