GOVERNMENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TOWARDS INCREASED ENERGY COSTS

What assistance is the government providing?

The government has announced various packages of support, some of which relate specifically to energy use and others more broadly to help with the rising cost of living.

The rebate on Council Tax bills of £150 for those living in properties rated A-D on the Council Tax banding should have already come through automatically if you pay by direct debit. If you pay by other means then you should have had contact from the council and also received this but if you haven’t and think you qualify then contact the council.

There is also a Cost of Living Payment worth £650 to those in receipt of certain benefits and that is being paid in two lump sums, with £326 being paid in July and the rest in the autumn.

Full details of that and who is eligble are available on the government’s website

There are also extra payments for those qualifying for either disability or pensioner cost of living payments. In respect of disability, that’s an extra £150 which is due to be paid in September. For the pensioner cost of living payment this is in the form of a top-up to the normal Winter Fuel Allowance of £200 and should be worth an extra £300 to most households depending on your age and your living circumstances. Again, all of the details are set out in the link above; this extra amount will be paid in November.

There will also be a £400 discount on electricity bills starting in October with equal payments spread over six months. Originally this was to be in the form of a loan but the government has now decided that it no longer needs to be repaid.

There’s further discretionary funding of £144m for councils to help those in need of support but who don’t qualify for the Council Tax rebate; that might include those on Income Support living in properties in bands E-H. Councils will need to work out how to distribute this and we will provide an update once we know more.

Is there any other government help available?

The Warm Homes Discount scheme is being raised to £150 and eligibility increased, although no details have yet emerged as to the changes. At the moment this payment is available to households in receipt of the Guaranteed Credit Element of Pension Credit and is paid as a discount on electricity bills between October and March. It’s also available to others on low incomes who receive certain means tested benefits, but in those cases an application has to be made to your energy provider and they will decide who gets the
discount. If you think you may qualify because you receive means tested benefits it’s important to contact your energy supplier and provide them with details.

Finally, the Energy Company Obligation is being extended to 2026 and the budget increasedin order to fund energy saving measures for low income households. The scheme aims to improve the energy efficiency of homes occupied by low income groups and there’s a list of qualifying benefits, but each energy company has slightly different criteria. Note that you
must have the landlord’s permission for any works if you rent your home.

There’s more information about this assistance at https://www.simpleenergyadvice.org.uk/pages/energycompany-obligation

ENERGY COSTS: OTHER SOURCES OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AND ADVICE

Financial assistance

The first source of assistance to consider is your energy supplier. They may have changed in the last year because many went out of business, with customers transferring to a new company. It’s possible that you will have been placed on a higher tariff as part of that transfer if you were previously on a fixed-rate tariff. At the time of writing these were the remaining energy companies:

British Gas
Octopus
EDF
Scottish Power
Bulb*
Pozitive Energy
Yu Energy
SmartestEnergy (Business)
Shell
E.ON Next

* Bulb’s operations are being supported by the government after it went into
administration.

We’ve already mentioned the Warm Homes Discount scheme in our previous article and that is something you should consider applying for if you are on a low income. You will need to contact your energy supplier either online or by telephone; they all have an option for customers who are struggling with their bills.

Even if you don’t qualify, it’s still worth contacting your energy supplier because they may be able to help you in other ways. Most of the companies have hardship funds and a few have charitable trusts.

Applying to the hardship fund of your energy supplier can be complicated and if you are struggling to complete the form then one of the advice agencies mentioned below may be able to help you.

Help with arrears

If you are in arrears it’s likely that you will already have been in touch with your supplier. If your supplier has changed, any arrears accumulated with the previous supplier will be transferred to the new company and you may need to agree a revised payment plan.

An obvious difficulty facing people with arrears is that if bills were unaffordable in the past then they are going to present an even bigger challenge under the higher tariffs. It’s important therefore that you don’t just limit yourself to trying to arrange a payment plan:

1. Make sure you are able to claim any government financial support that’s available.
2. Contact your energy supplier to see if you can get help via their hardship fund.
3. Contact a debt or general advice centre.
4. Look at ways in which you can reduce your energy use.

Any payment plan should be affordable and one option, if you receive certain benefits, may be the Fuel Direct Scheme where a fixed amount is deducted from your benefits (no more than 5%). If you don’t agree a payment plan there’s the risk of the supplier fitting a prepayment meter, which is usually more expensive for you.

Sources of advice

Advice can be wide-ranging but we are focusing on those organisations offering financial or debt advice in relation to energy bills; we’ll cover those providing energy efficiency advice in a future article. Please note that all of them are very busy at the moment dealing with enquiries about rising fuel costs so you may have to be patient.

Citizens Advice

has created a dedicated energy section on their website and has trained
advisors who can be reached on 0808 223 1133. Click their name above to go to their website.

Step Change

provides advice on debts in general, including energy bills. They will be able to
explore a range of options with you including debt management plans, debt relief orders etc. They can be contacted on 0800 138 1111 or by clicking their name above.

National Debt Line

is a debt charity which also covers debts in general. They can be
contacted on 0808 808 4000. Click their name above to go to their website.

Moneyhelper

is an online and independent resource. Call 0800 011 3797. Click their name above to go to their website.

Turn2Us

is a national charity providing practical help to those who are struggling financially. They have an Edinburgh based support team and can be contacted on 0131 243 (2795/2796) or by email at edinburgh@turn2us.org.uk. You can access their website by clicking on their name above.

PREPAYMENT AND SMART METERS

Prepayment meters

Being on a prepayment meter is more expensive than a standard credit meter (2% on average) and there are fewer tariffs to choose from; although at the moment, the standard price capped tariff is the cheapest. It can be a helpful way of budgeting for some people, but it comes at a cost.

It’s often the case that energy companies will have insisted on a prepayment meter if a person has arrears. In order to change to a standard credit meter those arrears will need to be repaid and, additionally, a satisfactory credit check will normally be required. If you are successful in changing a prepayment meter for a standard credit meter remember to arrange your payments via direct debit because it’s the cheapest means of paying.

Your supplier may want to move you to a prepayment meter if you have arrears but there are certain circumstances where they aren’t allowed to do that. Those are where a person is disabled or has a chronic illness and they would be harmed if their energy supply was cut off.

Citizens’ Advice has more information on the rules that energy companies must follow.
Remember that if you rent your property you must ask the landlord for permission to change from a prepayment meter to a standard credit meter.

If you have a prepayment meter you can still request a smart meter from your energy supplier and this can work on a prepayment setting. It would have the usual benefits of a smart meter (see below) and give you more options for topping up, such as online, rather than having to add credit at a local shop or Post Office.

Smart meters

There’s plenty of information available on these meters, which are being rolled out to all households, with the aim being that everyone will have been offered one by mid-2025. The Energy Savings Trust Guide has a
good section on the topic.

The meters got a bad press when the original models were installed because they often went dumb when the energy supplier changed, but that isn’t the case with the secondgeneration ones which have been fitted over the last few years (SMETS 2).

• In summary, the advantages of having them are:
• They are free.
• Readings are sent wirelessly to your energy provider so you don’t need to supply meter readings.
• Accurate regular readings mean no more estimated bills.
• They come with a home energy display showing live data on the amount of gas and electricity used. This helps you to understand your consumption and make changes.
• In the future, they will allow you to access ‘time of use’ tariffs (when available) where the cost of energy is re-calculated every 30 minutes based on variable wholesale rates. This enables you to plan when your use of appliances to avoid peak rates. However, for the moment, with wholesale energy prices so high, these tariffs are not advisable.

You can request the meters via your energy supplier and all the larger ones should be able to respond, but some of the smaller ones only fit in certain areas at a time.

If you rent your property you should obtain the landlord’s permission first and if your rent includes energy then it will be the landlord who will need to apply for the new meters.

TIPS FOR REDUCING ENERGY USE

Some basic steps

Although none of us has control over energy costs we can all take steps to control what we use. There are plenty of sources of advice on this subject, and we’ve set those out below, but here are some examples of what you can do.

• Turn down your thermostat.
• Only heat the rooms you use regularly.
• Take a shower rather than a bath.
• Wash clothes at no more than 30 degrees and on a full load.
• If possible dry clothes outside.
• Don’t overfill the kettle.
• Avoid having appliances on standby.
• Wear an extra layer of clothing in winter.

However, just a few points you need to consider. If you are elderly or suffer from a chronic illness then staying warm becomes more important and you should aim to keep your living room at no less than 20 degrees centigrade and the bedroom at 18 degrees.

Cold housing can be a significant health hazard which increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes and falls.

Drying clothes indoors can lead to condensation dampness and mould growth if there isn’t sufficient ventilation. If heating is being turned down at the same time then the risk will be higher.

DIY measures

• Fit LED lightbulbs where you can.
• Fit draughtproofing to doors and windows.
• If you have a hot water cylinder, make sure it has an insulated jacket.
• Top up loft insulation and aim to have around 250mm thickness.
• When you replace electrical appliances, make sure they have a high energy efficiency rating.

As we’ve mentioned before, if you rent your home you will need the permission of the landlord first for some of the above measures but the landlord can’t unreasonably withhold consent.

Other sources of advice on energy efficiency

Edinburgh council provides advice on a number of issues, including Energy Support.

Energy Savings Trust is a national independent body which provides a range of advice.

LANDLORD RESPONSIBILITIES FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Energy Performance Certificates (EPC)

Before explaining landlord responsibilities it’s helpful to understand more about EPCs. The EPC is a measure of how energy efficient a property is with a grading from A (very efficient) to G (inefficient). The average rating in the UK is a D with a score of 60. The certificate will include an estimate of energy costs alongside recommendations for works to improve the energy rating of the property.

Private renting

A landlord offering a property for rent must supply a current EPC and that will allow you to consider the energy rating of the properties you view. Since April 2020 landlords, with a few exceptions, have had to ensure that any properties they let achieve an EPC of E (that will rise to band C in 2025 for new lettings and 2028 for existing lettings). At the moment there is a cap on how much a landlord can be required to spend, but as a perspective tenant all you need to do is to try and rent the most efficient property you can afford.

An EPC of E though is still not very efficient and you should try and rent one with a higher rating if possible. Additionally, if the recommendations for improving efficiency on the EPC haven’t been done, it’s worth asking the landlord if they are willing to undertake them.

There’s also a more general requirement relating to the thermal efficiency of a dwelling contained within the Housing Health and Safety Rating System. That system is used by Environmental Health Officers to assess hazards in a home so if you are renting a property which you find difficult to heat it may be possible to secure improvements via that route.

In the first instance you should always contact your landlord to explain your concerns to them and see what action they are willing to take. If the landlord won’t do anything then you can contact the health officers to discuss your situation.

For more information on how the housing hazard system is enforced see Shelter’s website here

Housing Association tenants

Housing Associations and Councils are also required to provide an EPC to new tenants and achieve an EPC band of at least E. The type of housing they let tends to be more modern and energy efficient than that within the private rented sector but there may still be some cases where energy efficiency is poor.

If you have a problem with poor insulation or heating then in the first instance you should contact your Housing Association or Council. If you don’t obtain a satisfactory response there is a complaints procedure which you can go through to try and resolve things.