Financial Wellbeing
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Our energy advisors can help you:
- Get a cheaper energy deal
- Check eligibility, apply for grants including the £150 Warm Home Discount
- Be added to the Priority Services Register
- Resolve disputes with your energy provider
- With energy saving tips and advice
- If you’re struggling to top up your meter or your oil we have options which can help if eligible
Switching to a new supplier
Things to consider before you switch:
- whether you have a fixed-term contract that lets your supplier charge you a fee to leave – this is called an exit fee and you can check it on your energy bill
- what the customer service rating is like for the potential new supplier
- whether your current supplier offers a cheaper tariff – it will save you the effort of switching
Warm Home Discount
- getting the guarantee credit part of Pension Credit
- on a low income
There are different ways to qualify for the Warm Home Discount Scheme depending on where you live.
You qualify if you either:
- get the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit
- are on a low income and have high energy costs
If you do not get the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit, you may still be eligible for the Warm Home Discount.
- your energy supplier is part of the scheme
- you (or your partner) get certain means-tested benefits or tax credits
- your property has a high energy cost score based on its characteristics
- your name (or your partner’s) is on the electricity bill
The qualifying means-tested benefits are:
- Housing Benefit
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
- Income Support
- The ‘Savings Credit’ part of Pension Credit
- Universal Credit
You could also qualify if your household income falls below a certain threshold and you get either:
- Child Tax Credit
- Working Tax Credit
Priority Services Register
If you find it hard to deal with your energy supply you could get extra help from your energy companies – for example, large print bills or more support during a power cut.
To get extra help, you can apply to be added to your electricity network priority services register. Your electricity network is the company that manages your electricity cables.
Your electricity network will give your details to your energy supplier so they can add you to their priority services register as well.
If you’re on these lists you’re given extra help with things like using your meter. You’re also given priority in case of an emergency, like a power cut. If you’re disabled, have a chronic illness or above a certain age, you may be eligible to be on a
Priority Services Register.
- Advance notice if your energy supply is going to be interrupted.
- Priority reconnection if your supply is interrupted (such as during a power cut).
- Alternative facilities for cooking and heating if your supply is interrupted.
- Extra help to use your meter or appliances.
- Annual gas safety checks.
- Free advice on being more energy-efficient.
- Protection from cold callers with a password protection scheme to keep you safe.
- Having your meter moved free of charge if it’s hard for you to use or read the meter.
- Regular meter readings if you can’t read your meter.
- Bills sent to a relative, carer or friend to help you check them.
- Your bills and meter readings in braille, large print, audio tape, textphone or typetalk if you’re visually impaired.
- Help during an emergency such as a power cut.
If you think you are eligible, call your energy supplier or contact us and we will be able to help you sign you up on 0808 278 7959.
You’ll normally be able to get priority services if your energy companies class you as ‘vulnerable’. You could be classed as vulnerable if you:
- are disabled or have a long-term health condition
- are recovering from an injury
- have mental health problems
- don’t speak or read English well
- have children under 5 or are pregnant
- have reached your State Pension age
If your situation isn’t listed, you might still be able to sign up for priority services for other reasons – for example, if you’re recently bereaved or you’ve returned to living independently after some time in residential care.
If you think you are eligible, call your energy supplier or contact us and we will be able to help you sign you up on 0808 278 7959.
Cold Weather Payments
You may get Cold Weather Payments if you’re getting certain benefits or Support for Mortgage Interest.
If you’re eligible, you’ll get these payments automatically. You do not need to apply, but you may need to tell Jobcentre Plus if you have a baby or if a child under 5 comes to live with you.
The payments do not affect your other benefits.
You’ll get a payment if the average temperature in your area is recorded as, or forecast to be, zero degrees celsius or below over 7 consecutive days.
You’ll get £25 for each 7 day period of very cold weather between 1 November 2023 and 31 March 2024.
If your eligible you can check if you’re due any payments here.
Winter Fuel Payment
If you were born before 25 September 1957 you could get between £250 and £600 to help you pay your heating bills.
The amount you get includes a ‘Pensioner Cost of Living Payment’. This is between £150 and £300. You’ll get this extra amount in winter 2023 to 2024. This is in addition to any other Cost of Living Payments you get with your benefit or tax credits.
Most people get the Winter Fuel Payment automatically if they’re eligible.
If you’re eligible, you should have had a letter in October or November saying how much you’ll get.
If you did not get a letter but you think you’re eligible, check if you need to make a claim contact the Winter Fuel Payments centre on: 0800 731 0160 or online here.
Winter Warmth Grant
Who can apply?
Individuals aged 60 and over with the aim of reducing excess winter deaths and numbers of older people living in cold homes across Cumbria
You must:
- be aged 60 or over
- be a Cumbrian resident
and receive:
- State pension and/or Pension Credit
Or
- struggle to maintain a basic acceptable standard of living during the winter due to the cost of heating your home and the restrictions of cold weather
How much can you apply for?
The normal grant is £200 or £300 in exceptional circumstances.
If you would like to apply to this fund please contact Copeland Age and Advice Service between October-March only:
Copeland Age & Advice Service on 01946 552166
Smart Meters
What is a smart meter?
Smart Meters are a new type of meter for gas and electricity. The Government wants fuel companies to offer all homes a smart meter by the middle of 2025. They are not mandatory, you do not have to accept a smart meter if you do not want one. However, over time old meters will no longer be available and only smart meters will be installed.
Unlike traditional meters, a smart meter sends your gas and electricity readings directly to your energy supplier so you don’t have to!
Plus, smart meters enable accurate, not estimate bills – meaning, you only pay for what you use.
A smart meter could help you with your local household budgeting. The in-home display (IHD) which you’ll receive with your smart meter, shows you in near-real time the amount of energy you use in pounds and pence. Allowing you to keep a closer eye on your energy spending habits.
This could help you find ways to reduce energy waste around your home and save money. For example, you could save around £35 a year by just remembering to turn your appliances off standby mode.
A smart meter enables accurate billing, helping to take the stress out of budgeting and putting you back in control.
Tariffs are what energy suppliers charge you for your gas and electricity. The information that smart meters provide could help you to work out if you are on the right tariff or if you should change your energy supplier. You could then change to them if you want to.
Smart meters could also help you to switch to a better energy deal, as you’ll have accurate energy usage information which can help you choose the supplier and tariff that suits you best.
No problem! With a smart prepay meter, it’s easier to see what remaining credit you’ve got left using your IHD, so you can avoid the lights turning off at the most inconvenient times. You can
continue to top up your meter at a shop as well as the added benefit of being able to top up by phone and by text.
Yes, if you pay your electricity and/or gas bills and they’re addressed to you rather than your landlord you can get a smart meter. You don’t need your landlord’s permission to get a smart
meter (although you should inform them). If you are not the bill payer, then you can ask your landlord to arrange a smart meter installation for you.
Yes. Both the in-home display (IHD) and the smart meter operate without the need to be connected to the internet. Rest assured, smart meters operate on a system, ensuring data is only visible to the energy supplier and authorised parties where consumer consent is given.
More than half the money spent on fuel bills goes towards providing heating and hot water.
Installing a room thermostat, a programmer and thermostatic radiator valves and using these controls efficiently could save you around £85 a year and cut your carbon emissions by 305kg. If you already have a full set of controls, turning down your room thermostat by just one degree can save around £65 a year and reduce your carbon footprint by 300kg.
By turning equipment off instead of leaving it on standby mode, you could save as much as £40 a year. Almost all electrical and electronic appliances can be turned off at the plug without upsetting their programming. Check the instructions for any appliance you aren’t sure about.
If you have the space, try and avoid putting a sofa in front of the radiator as this blocks the heat to the room.
Spending one minute less in the shower each day will save up to £5 a year off your energy bills, per person. With a water meter this could save a further £7 off annual water and sewerage bills. If everyone in a four-person household did this it would lead to a total saving of £50 a year.
A water efficient shower head could also save a four-person household as much as £35 a year on gas for water heating, as well as a further £45 a year on water bills if they have a water meter.
Get into the habit of only boiling as much water as you need. Keeping the kettle full can be costly.
If you still use old fashioned lightbulbs, don’t wait for them to blow. Buy energy efficient replacements and start saving now. These bulbs can save you £45 over their lifetime.
Turn your lights off when you’re not using them. If you switch a light off for just a few seconds, you will save more energy than it takes for the light to start up again, regardless of the type of light. This will save you around £14 a year on your annual energy bills.
Unless your home is very new, you will lose some heat through draughts around doors and windows, gaps around the floor, or through ther chimney. Professional draught-proofing of windows, doors and blocking cracks in floors and skirting boards can cost around £200, but can save around £30 a year on energy bills. DIY draught proofing can be much cheaper. For example, drawing curtains over windows and doors. Installing a chimney draught excluder could save around £20 a year as well.
You can save around £28 a year from your energy bill just by using your kitchen appliances more carefully:
- Cut back your dishwasher use by just one cycle per week and save £10 a year on energy.
- Cut back your washing machine use by just one cycle per week and save £10 a year on energy.
Make your home energy efficient
Here’s some tips on how to make your home more energy efficient:
- Preventing draughts can be a cheap way of making your home warmer. Draught-proofing products are available at DIY stores.
- Close curtains at dusk to keep the heat in.
- Use thermal underlay beneath carpets.
- Loft and cavity wall insulation can also make a big difference to bills and comfort.
- Replacing an old inefficient boiler.
You may be eligible for free or discounted insulation or heating measures.
Contact your energy supplier and see if you qualify for the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) or your local council or your local Citizens Advice and ask about any local schemes operating in your area.
If you rent your home, then by law landlords must ensure it is safe and habitable. If you are worried your privately rented accommodation is not safe or habitable, contact your local authority’s environmental health team who can assess the property for health and safety hazards and require your landlord to make improvements out of their own funds.
Information taken from National Energy Action visit their website to learn more.
Download National Energy Action’s Your Home Energy Checklist here.
Avoid damp and condensation
When it is cold, condensation can be a big problem in many homes.
Try the following:
- Keep temperatures in all rooms above 15°C in colder weather. This will reduce condensation forming on outside walls.
- Insulate your home.
- Keep your home ventilated. Make sure vents and air bricks are not covered or obstructed.
- Try not to dry washing in the house. If you do, use an airer and don’t dry clothes on radiators.
- Opening windows slightly will allow moisture to escape but be aware of security.
- Open window trickle vents during the day or when going out.
- Wipe down windows/mirrors/tiles/shower with an absorbent cloth.
- Open windows after bathing or washing and leave them open for a short while to release steam if it is safe to do so.
Information taken from National Energy Action visit their website to learn more.
Download National Energy Action’s Dealing with Damp and Condensation leaflet.
Struggling to read your gas and electricity meters?
Struggling to read your gas and electricity bills?
Download National Energy Action’s:
Are you on the Economy 7 tariff?
Economy 7 is the name of a time-of-use electricity tariff which provides cheaper off-peak electricity for 7 hours, usually between midnight and 7am. At other times electricity is charged at a more expensive on-peak rate. Economy 7 is usually only beneficial for, and found in, homes with storage heaters.
For more information on Economy 7 download National Energy Action’s Getting the most from Economy 7 leaflet
What to do if you owe your supplier money
If you’re in debt to your energy supplier – you should speak, seek, save. It’s important to speak to them as soon as possible. Here’s what you need to know…
Speak to your energy supplier
If you’re struggling to afford your bills, you should contact your supplier as soon as possible.
Your supplier has to help you come to a solution and negotiate a payment plan that works for both of you. When making a payment plan, they have to take into account how much you can afford to pay and how much energy you’ll use in future. On a payment plan, you’ll pay in fixed amounts towards the debt you owe over a set period of time.
If you can’t come to an agreement with your supplier about repaying your debt, you should contact us for an appointment with one of our energy advisers.
Seek advice on managing debt
Energy bill debt is classed as a priority debt so it’s important to get advice from a charity or organisation to help you manage your debt as soon as you can.
A debt charity will help you with long-term strategies to reduce your debt.
But be careful as not all debt advice is trustworthy. You should use the StepChange checklist to make sure you’re getting advice you can trust.
National providers of free debt advice include Citizens Advice, StepChange and the National Debtline
Save energy by making sure your home is energy efficient
See energy efficiency advice above.
Some energy companies offer grants for their customers. Ask your supplier if they offer any support grants.
If you’re in debt to your energy supplier, you might be able to get a grant from a charitable trust to help pay it off.
The British Gas Energy Trust has grants to help you clear your gas and energy debts, and you don’t have to be a customer. There are certain eligibility criteria such as you must be the account holder, you must not have savings over £1000 and you must be in or facing fuel poverty. Apply online or call them at 0121 348 7797.
You may also be eligible for a local energy grant. Check if you can get a local energy grant on the Energy Saving Trust website or by phoning them on 0800 444202. You might also be able to find grants or schemes run by your local council.
Debt advice can help you manage your debts and increase your chances of making a successful grant application. You can call the Citizens Advice debt helpline on 0800 240 4420 to speak to an adviser.
Tell your supplier that you want to pay off your debts in instalments as part of a payment plan. You’ll pay fixed amounts over a set period of time, meaning you’ll pay what you can afford. The payment plan will cover what you owe plus an amount for your current use.
If you can’t afford the payment plan speak to your supplier again if you think they’re charging you too much or you’re struggling to afford the repayments. You can try to negotiate a better deal. If you don’t, your supplier might make you have a prepayment meter installed.
You might be able to repay your debt directly from your benefits through the Fuel Direct Scheme.
A fixed amount will automatically be taken from your benefits to cover what you owe, plus an extra amount for your current use. If you’re currently on welfare benefits, contact your JobCentre to find out if you’re eligible to apply.
Keep your home gas safe
Follow these simple tips to stay safe:
- Have your gas appliances checked every year by a Gas Safe registered engineer.
- Check for warning signs on or around gas appliances (like soot or staining, increased condensation, floppy yellow flames, the boiler pilot light keeps going out).
- Don’t DIY or use an illegal gas worker. If they’re not on the Gas Safe Register, they’re working illegally and could be putting you at risk.
- Carbon monoxide is a highly poisonous gas that you cannot see, smell or taste. Fit an audible CO alarm marked EN50291 to alert you if it’s present.
- Know the signs on CO poisoning seek help immediately if you’re experiencing headaches, dizziness, nausea, breathlessness, collapse and loss of consciousness.
Citizens Advice Copeland offer energy advice appointments where we can check your eligibility for a £150 Warm Home Discount, help you switch energy suppliers to save more, resolve disputes with your energy provider and add you to the Priority Services Register (where applicable).