33% income on basic energy, what can I do ?

satanloans

Single living in one bed flat.
PC (keeps me sane) and fridge freezer I guess take most energy.
Washing machine once a week
Lights are all LED I always switch off what is not in use.

My income, like hundreds of thousands is UC £320 per month, a self proclaimed expert said only a handful of people are living in this arrangement. Incorrect. Badly. There are over 6 million people on Universal credit. 
My electricity and gas takes over £100 per month
My gas usage is more standing charge than usage

Reason for being on UC - no fault of my own. 
Severe head injury, nerve muscle and brain damage. 3 operations, the result is permanent. Severe panic attacks. I am no required to search for work, but I do not qualify for extra income. I do not leave the house. The person who did this to me, has no money worries. 

I have a push bike I love but dont ride. I dont go out because of my anxieties. Counselling didn't help. I refuse to take addictive drugs that dont fix the problem. I do take citalopram that ease the issue but not much. I sleep way too much. 

I have dark days. I feel there is no future. 

northernstar007

have you asked on the benefits boards what you would be entitled to and claiming everything eg pip etc
i'm sure there will be people on here that will help and advice you on the energy side of it, but there is cheaper deals out there than the svr and if you can shift your cooking and washing any heavy loads to off peak and use the battery on laptop during peak that is something to look at
life will pick up and keep us posted 

MeteredOut

Agree with the above to post on the benefits board, but since this is the energy board...

Have you validated that £100 is covering your actual gas and electric usage? If you post your actual kWh usage over the past year/few bills, we might be able to determine whether these are high for a one-bed flat and whether any savings can be made by tweaking how you use your energy.

But probably more important initially, you want to check your bills are not estimates. If so, they could either be too high (in which case you might be able to get some credit back) or too low, which you want to know about now, so you don't end up with debit balance and an increase in your DD in future - it lets you take action now. 

Do you have a smart meter sending readings to your supplier?

satanloans

I have a smart meter, my electric and gas is prepaid.

it's a pc, not a laptop, connected to my tv. My eyesight is terrible so I have a big screen. I do not watch tv. 

MeteredOut

What is the split of electricity and gas usage in kWh. How is your flat heated?

EssexHebridean

northernstar007 said:

have you asked on the benefits boards what you would be entitled to and claiming everything eg pip etc
i'm sure there will be people on here that will help and advice you on the energy side of it, but there is cheaper deals out there than the svr and if you can shift your cooking and washing any heavy loads to off peak and use the battery on laptop during peak that is something to look at
life will pick up and keep us posted 

Is the OP definitely on a TOU tariff? There is nothing in their post that I can see which suggests as much? 

EssexHebridean

OP - although we can't stray into the realms of medical stuff here, it may be that you need to start talking to your GP about treating the symptoms rather than looking for something to "fix" the problems. A lot of folk also find that treating symptoms of things like anxiety make everything easier to deal with, and so make it easier for them to fix other things that are causing them issues. When life feels more manageable, the dark days get fewer and that can't be a bad thing! 

Definitely check the benefits situation - that level of monthly income is indeed unusual and it's not surprising that you are struggling to cope on it. 

Spoonie_Turtle

Hello, yes please do pop on over to the benefits board for advice about PIP and potentially the LCWRA element of UC https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/benefits-tax-credits
(Even if that's after you've had advice about energy, checking your actual usage etc. if for instance you can't deal with having concurrent threads about different things.)

markin

Don't use any electric heaters if you have Gas heating, Or are you on E7 and only have a Gas Oven?

Octopus Tracker tariff is likely to save you the most, if you have gas heating.

MeteredOut

markin said:

Don't use any electric heaters if you have Gas heating, Or are you on E7 and only have a Gas Oven?

Octopus Tracker tariff is likely to save you the most, if you have gas heating.

Can you still get onto Tracker with a pre-pay meter?

Grumpy_chap

satanloans said:

Single living in one bed flat.
PC (keeps me sane) and fridge freezer I guess take most energy.
Washing machine once a week
Lights are all LED I always switch off what is not in use.

My income, like hundreds of thousands is UC £320 per month, a self proclaimed expert said only a handful of people are living in this arrangement. Incorrect. Badly. There are over 6 million people on Universal credit. 
My electricity and gas takes over £100 per month
My gas usage is more standing charge than usage

Reason for being on UC - no fault of my own. 
Severe head injury, nerve muscle and brain damage. 3 operations, the result is permanent. Severe panic attacks. I am no required to search for work, but I do not qualify for extra income. I do not leave the house. The person who did this to me, has no money worries. 

I have a push bike I love but dont ride. I dont go out because of my anxieties. Counselling didn't help. I refuse to take addictive drugs that dont fix the problem. I do take citalopram that ease the issue but not much. I sleep way too much. 

I have dark days. I feel there is no future. 

As others have suggested, it really is worth posting on the Benefits Board and / or enquiring via a reputable support service (CAB or similar) to understand whether there are any further benefits available.  From what you have shared here, there may well be.

With regard to the energy, the highest energy demand is most likely heating (space heating plus hot water) but you have not referenced that as an energy load.

Again, as others have suggested, the first thing to do is verify that the £100 monthly matches your actual energy use.