Aged parent in dire straits with energy costs

p00hsticks

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!!

Bear in mind that at present he should be getting £66/£67 a month energy rebate towards his bill, and should also have received (or be about to receive) £600 Winter Fuel Allowance, which between them should help to get him over the period of highest usage. Check that he's received both of these.

I agree with the others that if that is his only income and he does not have massive (£16,000+) savings then he should be putting in a claim for Pension Credit.

Spoonie_Turtle

p00hsticks said:

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!!

Bear in mind that at present he should be getting £66/£67 a month energy rebate towards his bill, and should also have received (or be about to receive) £600 Winter Fuel Allowance, which between them should help to get him over the period of highest usage. Check that he's received both of these.

I agree with the others that if that is his only income and he does not have massive (£16,000+) savings then he should be putting in a claim for Pension Credit.

That's a good point, the credit presumably includes 3 of those payments by now, so not as massive as it initially seems.

Rimkh2

Gas per kWh is trebling to £10.00 per unit. I will be visiting him again early next month so will go through all of these things again.

calcotti

p00hsticks said:

I agree with the others that if that is his only income and he does not have massive (£16,000+) savings then he should be putting in a claim for Pension Credit.

There is no savings limit for Pension Credit although savings over £10,000 will reduce entitlement.
May also be entitled to Council Tax Reduction,

Rimkh2

As far as the £400.00 and my comment about exploitation goes. His DD was £200.00 and he is more than £600.00 in credit on his account. That implies he is paying 25% too much. On that basis his account will likely go to £1200.00 in credit. Before privatisation everyone was billed on their actual usage and paid upon bill, 3 months in arrears. Since the introduction of DD my dad is now paid up 3 months in advance. Multiply him by several million customers, that’s a lot of money in the pot. I have an aunt who is much the same. She is £1000.00 in credit.

elsien

Does he have meter readings to show how much he’s used over the last 12 months? That might give you an idea of a more accurate direct debit going forwards, taking price rise into account.
Have you checked that his bill is accurate?

I also agree that you should post on the energy board. They can talk you through checking that everything is correct, and also maybe if he is using more electricity what he can do to cut it down. 

Spoonie_Turtle

Rimkh2 said:

As far as the £400.00 and my comment about exploitation goes. His DD was £200.00 and he is more than £600.00 in credit on his account. That implies he is paying 25% too much. On that basis his account will likely go to £1200.00 in credit. Before privatisation everyone was billed on their actual usage and paid upon bill, 3 months in arrears. Since the introduction of DD my dad is now paid up 3 months in advance. Multiply him by several million customers, that’s a lot of money in the pot. I have an aunt who is much the same. She is £1000.00 in credit.

Oh you meant exploiting in terms of the Direct Debit amount.  Well I certainly agree that people's DDs can be way too much, but unfortunately to get it down you need to be armed with all the relevant information. 

Ofgem require suppliers to try to prevent people from getting into debt whilst also not having excessive DDs - and going forward, 2022 had a mild winter aside from the cold snap last month, so energy companies may not be willing to rely solely on the year's annual data.  [I'm not saying I agree or disagree, just that that's the current situation.]  It's difficult to get it right, especially with price changes every 3 months for the foreseeable future.

MikeJXE

Rimkh2 said:

As far as the £400.00 and my comment about exploitation goes. His DD was £200.00 and he is more than £600.00 in credit on his account. That implies he is paying 25% too much. On that basis his account will likely go to £1200.00 in credit. Before privatisation everyone was billed on their actual usage and paid upon bill, 3 months in arrears. Since the introduction of DD my dad is now paid up 3 months in advance. Multiply him by several million customers, that’s a lot of money in the pot. I have an aunt who is much the same. She is £1000.00 in credit.

I totally agree with you but many on here won't.

I am also in credit by £275 and my direct debit has gone from £91 to £153

I leave OVO in February when I move and I have no doubt they will owe me a considerable sum 

Rimkh2

He has received his £600.00 winter payment. The £67.00 per month I believe, goes first to the energy supplier, then should be deducted from his bill. Does that mean they want £467.00 per month now?

Rimkh2

It is nearly impossible to account for his gas consumption as the bill only shows the number of kWh used and no meter readings. The smart meter for electricity was installed in the last year.