Minimising electricity and gas bills after entering care home

Jonx999

My mother will be going into a care home soon, leaving her house empty.  We will sell in it due course, but in the meantime does anyone know if there are there any special tariffs available in such situations to minimise the electricity and gas bills she will get while her house is empty (there should be zero gas use and minimal electricity)?  She needs all the money she can get for the care home fees!

She's currently with Scottish Power.

Jonx999

I should add that I've tried to get advice from a Scottish Power online advisor and they just recommended she get a smart meter (and were VERY persistent about it!). 

Robin9

Jonx999 said:

My mother will be going into a care home soon, leaving her house empty.  We will sell in it due course, but in the meantime does anyone know if there are there any special tariffs available in such situations to minimise the electricity and gas bills she will get while her house is empty (there should be zero gas use and minimal electricity)?  She needs all the money she can get for the care home fees!

She's currently with Scottish Power.

Check with her insurers but you may need to keep the gas ticking over 

[Deleted User]

Jonx999 said:

My mother will be going into a care home soon, leaving her house empty.  We will sell in it due course, but in the meantime does anyone know if there are there any special tariffs available in such situations to minimise the electricity and gas bills she will get while her house is empty (there should be zero gas use and minimal electricity)?  She needs all the money she can get for the care home fees!

She's currently with Scottish Power.

Look at Utilita.

badmemory

When my mother went into a care home scottish power froze her account billed immediately & then didn't even bill a closing amount when it was sold.  But that was 10 years ago.  Just what point a smart meter would be I have no idea.

Netexporter

They'd be getting readings even if no-one was there to read the meter.

Alnat1

Surely the property will still need some heating over winter to stop it from getting damp. Many household insurance policies state a minimum temperature of 12C should be maintained.

cannugec5

Netexporter said:

They'd be getting readings even if no-one was there to read the meter.

That is very valid. When our friend went into a care home the energy supplier kept producing estimated bills based on his previous actual (and very high) usage. 

I read and submitted readings on his behalf to correct that - but I had to physically go to his house to do so, obviously. A smart meter would have saved me doing that. 

Also, as others have stated an empty house needs to be protected from frost, damp etc. The insurance company need to know the house is empty and can reduce the level of cover.

Bigphil1474

Had a similar situation over the last year after my dad passed away. House was empty from end of August 22, until end of June 2023. We just turned the heating down to the lowest setting and it was on constant. He was with British Gas, and I contacted them as executor - they just sent a bill out to me every few months, which was always wrong using an estimate, I sent them readings and they updated. Fortunately he was in credit, so no bills to pay, and we got a refund when the house was sold. Sorry, don't know of any better tariffs.

On the insurance side, you might need to get empty property insurance - my dad's home insurance wouldn't cover his empty house, so we had to find a specialist. It was fairly cheap though, but they insisted on regular property checks. Can't remember the exact wording about heating, but leaving it on, and at the minimum temp. was sufficient.