Aged parent in dire straits with energy costs 1 January at 8:30PM edited 2 January at 10:58AM in Energy 38 replies 4.1K views

Rimkh2

My 93 year old father lives on his own in a small 2 bed terraced house. He is currently on a dual fuel contract with edf, paying £200.00 per month. His account is over £600.00 in credit. He lives solely on a state pension of £160.00 per week. Edf have recently called him and told him from 1st January this will increase to £400.00 per month. That is £4800.00 per year for a single pensioner in a small house. He will be unable to keep paying within a few months. Help!!

MikeJXE

Do you check his usage and calculate what he is using and does it match with his bills ? He should be reading his meter every month or even week. Also check the meter number corresponds with the number on the bill. 

Muttleythefrog

Agree with above advice... please check readings and their bills... and also that the meters are correct for the account. It does sound very high and EDF might be using too high a DD amount for actual usage.

whizzywoo

Rimkh2 said:

My 93 year old father lives on his own in a small 2 bed terraced house. He is currently on a dual fuel contract with edf, paying £200.00 per month. His account is over £600.00 in credit. He lives solely on a state pension of £160.00 per week. Edf have recently called him and told him from 1st January this will increase to £400.00 per month. That is £4800.00 per year for a single pensioner in a small house. He will be unable to keep paying within a few months. Help!!

• Sounds as if your Father would qualify for Pension Credit.  £150 per week income is well below the threshold for being eligible.   Even with several thousand pounds of savings he could still qualify. 
  
  He's 93 years old.  Does he have any problems with looking after himself?  Things like getting washed and dressed, getting on and off the toilet, organising and taking any regular medication?
  
  He doesn't actually need to be receiving any care to be able to claim Attendance Allowance.   If he did get it and lives on his own and no one receives Carer's Allowance for caring for him, any Pension Credit due would be even higher.  In addition to the actual Attendance Allowance. 
  
  Have a read of this.
  https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/money-legal/benefits-entitlements/pension-credit/
  
  Put his details into a Benefits calculator to find out. 
  https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/money-legal/benefits-entitlements/benefits-calculator/
  
  Information about claiming Attendance Allowance 
  https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/money-legal/benefits-entitlements/attendance-allowance/
  
  
  

Rimkh2

Thank you for your replies. I have recently visited him and tried to get to the bottom of the issue. He has a smart meter for electricity. That was reading around £14.00 for the previous weeks usage. The unit cost is about to double as he comes off his fixed deal. That will amount to around £120.00 per month. His gas is a little trickier, but I read his meter over a 24hr period. The charge for gas is expressed on the bill in kWh. The meter counts cubic metres. A little research and I found a rough conversion method. That will come in at around £200.00 per month. He only runs a small gas fire, no boiler, but is home all day. All other heating and hot water is electric. This is winter so max usage time. I estimate his max consumption should be around £350.00 at January prices. I have the impression he has been a little exploited by the telesales person. A fairer rate would be around £300.00 per month. This is still way above the Government’s advised energy cap average.

Rimkh2

My brother has been looking into the care issues. Father has two visits per week from Age Uk, at a cost of £18.00 per visit. £150.00 per month. On top of his energy costs there is not much room left to eat.

KxMx

As you've been well advised here on benefits he may be entitled to, try posting on thr energy section for specific energy guidance. 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/energy

calcotti

If AgeUK are providing support it is disappointing that they haven’t done a benefits review.

HillStreetBlues

Rimkh2 said:

 The charge for gas is expressed on the bill in kWh. The meter counts cubic metres. A little research and I found a rough conversion method.

I believe a ball park figure is £3.25 a unit plus service charge, that tally with your research?

KxMx

Unless your father has significant savings, why is he paying AgeUK for care visits?
If he doesn't have much money as you say he should qualify for care funded in part or full via Local Authority.

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/care/paying-for-care/paying-for-homecare/

Spoonie_Turtle

Rimkh2 said:

Thank you for your replies. I have recently visited him and tried to get to the bottom of the issue. He has a smart meter for electricity. That was reading around £14.00 for the previous weeks usage. The unit cost is about to double as he comes off his fixed deal. That will amount to around £120.00 per month. His gas is a little trickier, but I read his meter over a 24hr period. The charge for gas is expressed on the bill in kWh. The meter counts cubic metres. A little research and I found a rough conversion method. That will come in at around £200.00 per month. He only runs a small gas fire, no boiler, but is home all day. All other heating and hot water is electric. This is winter so max usage time. I estimate his max consumption should be around £350.00 at January prices. I have the impression he has been a little exploited by the telesales person. A fairer rate would be around £300.00 per month. This is still way above the Government’s advised energy cap average. 

If his true cost is way over the average it'll be because electric heating is the most expensive form - what exactly does he use?  It's difficult to calculate an annual cost from the most expensive / highest usage period, can you find out his actual annual usage?
Do also check that his bills are using actual smart readings, not estimates (it happens).

Why do you think a telesales person has exploited him?  If his fixed deal is half the current cap rate then presumably he'll be going into the standard variable once that finishes.