Fuel Poverty Action
All of us are struggling with rip-off bills. Many of us are getting ill because of cold homes and thousands every year are dying. Lots of us are spending our days in libraries, shopping centers and other public places just to keep warm. Yet the energy companies continue to rake in huge profits, the government keep cutting and our landlords continue to exploit us.
We think that the first step to fighting the injustice of the Great Fuel Robbery can often be speaking out, being given a chance to vent anger, sharing experiences and practical tips about ways you’ve found to get by. This page exists as an online forum for this to happen.
Speak out by writing your message in the box below that says ‘Enter your comment here’. You can enter your name or email address if you like, or you can remain anonymous if you’d rather. Please include in your comment whether you’d be happy for it to be read out as a written testimony at a fuel bill assembly as part of our Stop the Great Fuel Robbery weekend of assemblies and action.
Or, if you’d like to speak out in this way but would rather not have your comment displayed in public, email your message to fuelpovertyaction@gmail.com.
Discussion
17 Responses to “Speak out on your situation”
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I am 46 and disabled, a share holder in centrica national grid and british gas and a home owner, due to the dwp messing my money around I got into arrears with N power. I have already had a 5 yr battle with them and they charged me £360 to leave them to go to eon which I could not afford so I was stuck with n power and had to leave eon into my first month with them. N power say they cant fit a meter due to health and safety, BUT they CAN by breaking my door in and fitting on in a kitchen that is 5ft X 6ft and condensation runs down the walls when you cook. Now as far as I can gleam from building inspectors, thats illegal. I own my house, Im already paying £16pw to them gas out of my income support, as well as buying my coal at £39pw that runs my heating and hot water. I have explained to n power that my benefits are under review again, that Im applying for grants to help with the bills, I even offered to show secus ltd the paperwork but they ignored me. I have taken this to my MP, secus say they will refuse to talk to my MP.
I cannot ever get through to N power on the phone, and I dont have a payment card off them, and all DDs are stopped as barclays have frozen my accounts due to been over drawn. Im about to take this to the top of the pile by contacting http://www.cerre.eu/who-we-are/objectives, as well as national grid as a share holder etc. I refuse to be bullied by these people.
If they turn up when I am in and try force the doors its going to be fun as the police reinforced them in 2008 to stop a family who were harassing me, and I fully intend to film them and log them and call the police out who have me on vulnerable person alert on their numbers.
Hands up yes I have not paid the bill for months, But I have tried to explain the circumstances and no one is listening.
Posted by Jacky Bafoot | April 23, 2013, 6:52 pmPrepayment meters are a stinking rip off for everyone. Even those without extra worries.
I have extra worries.
Before I paid off my (ex husband’s) debt, I was paying £10 a day in gas. After paying for gas I had less than £10 a week to live on for electric and food for the family. I got into a lot of debt just to keep warm. Sometimes we just went without heating. We got into further electricity debt.
I offered to pay off my electricity and begged them not to put in a meter. They illegally IGNORED my letter (s) and offers of repayment. I attempted suicide. Whilst I was in hospital they broke in and fitted a prepayment electricity meter. I complained and they ignored me. The ombudsman started to investigate then “lost” the papers and 18 months later we are no further forward. I have no idea what rate I am being forced to repay. We can usually only afford one lightbulb, fridge freezer and tv on in a day.
Then the gas prepayment meter broke. They told us to walk 45 minutes to get a new card. We got there. It didnt work. They made us go again. The taxi cost £10. That card also didn’t work. Meanwhile, it was snowing, freezing, and no heating. I have a disabled child. I cannot walk miles for repeated wild goose chases. It continued to snow. It was freezing. I bought an electric heater and used a lot of electric keeping one room above 10C. My disabled child and I caught Norovirus. We had fevers and vomiting. We were told to go on another wild goose chase. After 15 days my MP lent his force to my cries and begging for warmth for which I had paid. They removed the prepayment meter as I had paid all the debts. They told me I was entitled to no compensation and if I didn’t sccept that then I could go to the incompetent ombudsman.
Fed up with that company I askes to move to another company with some actual customer service. They replied I was on a gas repayment meter and could not move. This was a month or so after removing the evil broken prepayment meter.
I hate what this company has done to my family over the years and I hate the incompetent ombudsman. I think they would also prefer if my suicide had been successfull so they wouldnt have to bother with the deep strain (sarcastic) of having to take all our money.
Posted by alyzande | March 7, 2013, 12:47 pmApologies for the typos, was up all night in pain. Yes of course you can use my comments in any debate!
Noone should be terrified of the cold like us readers leaving comments. The uk is not a 3rd world country.
Posted by alyzande | March 7, 2013, 12:57 pmI moved to a flat with a coin meter for electricity giving me 30 mins for £1! After a week of complaints the letting agency change to a modern digital version which gave me 1 hour. instead I can’t afford that!! The whole electric appliances and meters are old. Now they ‘ fixed’ it in a way that let me without hot water…. This is disgusting. I am a single father and my daughter is supposed to live in cold house that I can’t call home. The environmental agency in Ealing council ignored my case. I can’t complain to the energy provider because I am not paying to them and the landlord is preventing me to install at least a key meter… what’s next!!! It’s been an ongoing problem for over a month
Posted by Sergio | February 22, 2013, 11:38 amYou’re welcome to use my comments at your meeting:
I’m a single thirty-something living in private rented accommodation. My flat would most likely be considered ‘bad housing’. It’s converted from loft space in a Victorian, and very poorly insulated. When British Gas were offering grants for cavity insulation, I approached my landlord, but he was not interested in hearing about it.
I have no central heating. My landlord instead has provided three space heaters. The heaters are old, they don’t work very well and the flat is very poorly insulated. I bought three more space heaters of my own. At best I can achieve an ambient room temperature of 18 degrees. That’s with every space heater going at full whack. Otherwise the ambient temperature in the flat quickly dips to 9 degrees, even if it’s much warmer than this outside. I’ve done my best to cover windows, and most of these are double glazed. So I believe I’m losing all my heat through the walls.
There is no gas supplied in my flat, only electric. This includes an electric boiler for the hot water which has two switches. I can only use one switch at a time or the fuse will blow. I’m sure this means the wiring is faulty. I have to wait a long time for the tank to heat up. On a full tank, the hot water still runs out after about 15 minutes of continuous use (eg., a shower).
I’m on a prepayment key meter, as is everyone else in the building. However my flat is the only flat which runs on electric only. My winter electric costs are a jaw dropping £200 to £250 a month. This is what my neighbours pay for electric for a full year! Please note this is AFTER I try to conserve energy by only using the hot water boiler for two hours a day, and only using space heaters in one room at a time. If I used any more heat or hot water, my electric bill could easily go up to £11 a day. I top up £50 at a time; if I were ever forced to use the emergency credit on my prepayment key, it wouldn’t cover me for 24 hours.
I do what I can to keep warm the old fashioned way. I have loads of blankets. I wear several layers inside my flat. I’ve sealed off windows and put up heavy curtains. I’ve used power meters on every appliance I own to try to gauge my usage. I also keep a daily written record of how much I spend on electric.
When I moved in, I told my landlord I’d like to switch to a credit meter, but he refused to allow this.
I know it’s illegal for the landlord to dictate who supplies my utilities. But as a private tenant I can not afford to make waves as I risk being served with the S-21 eviction notice if my landlord decides I am a ‘problem tenant’. Therefore I live in accommodation which is sub par, and yet dearly expensive. I am the poster child for fuel poverty, spending more on electricity than I spend on groceries.
I do not qualify for benefits or social housing. I am not yet a senior. I don’t have any children. I slip through every crack in the law because I am a single, able bodied person renting in the private sector. I’m freezing, broke, and terrified to stand up for my right to live in habitable conditions for fear that if I complain, I will be homeless. And I can’t afford to move. Something has got to give.
Posted by Anonymous | February 12, 2013, 7:15 pmIt is a Diabolical State of Affairs that One should have to Freeze because of the Diabolically Expensive
Cost of Heating All too Often
The Situation Calls For Price Controls upon the Maximum Cost of Heating
Posted by Human | February 12, 2013, 6:24 pmI’m disabled and suffer with chronic illnesses. Ive been paying The Bedroom Tax for years to Gwynedd County council as I rent from a private landlord. My house is currently 40degrees everywhere except my bedroom, where I spend all of my time. Last week I put 30.00 pound charge on my electric key and its all gone! I have a halogen heater in my bedroom, thats currently 63 degrees, the only source of warmth as I have a bottled gas central heating system that costs 55.00 a week to run, thats for one bottle of gas used only for hot water and central heating, that I cannot afford. So 30.00 pounds is spent on electric. I’m mystified as to where all my electricity is going, yes | have a 3 bar halogen heater, in the day I use my laptop, charge my mobile and use the lights. I dont have a cooker, washing machine, dishwasher, I dont watch tv, I dont have a signal and cant afford a licence. I have a fridge and a freezer and use a toaster once a day and the microwave once a day. I watch dvds sometimes at night as I cant sleep due to pain. Usually I just read.Several times this winter its actualy been warmer outside than in my house. I have had the insulation and energy saving measures, but my house is old, no cavity wall insulation and windows are old sash windows. When I tell people how much I pay a week for electricity, they dont believe me! I dont believe it either. The cuts in welfare, cap on benefits, scrapping of the DLA leave me mortifyingly frightend as I struggle with fuel poverty now.
Posted by lorraine 21 | February 11, 2013, 1:31 pmcrazy taxes & bills on People,goverments & fuels ,I know South charges alot more ,cause they treat there selves to high wages,not Good hearing Wisemen ,Feeling the pinch & canny Heat there selves ,wrong again businesses/goverment,screwing & shaking People Roots/Nest eggs that they’ve been putting away for there Familys,been doing it for years,affecting there jobs/houses/small businesses,Thinking have to Change ,it’s ripofff uk
Posted by billy | February 6, 2013, 11:10 pmI am a pensioner. I lost my home because of government cuts to pension credit. I now live in a privately rented flat. There is no central heating or insulation and I am freezing. I cannot afford to heat this flat to a comfortable level because electricity is too expensive even with the winter allowance.
Cold thickens the blood of older people causing heart attacks and strokes. High energy prices are killing us.
Energy should be nationalised. It is too important to be run by the private sector whose main interest is profiteering on the backs of ordinary UK citizens.
Posted by cymraeg147 | February 6, 2013, 9:42 amI pay the standing charges too Claire, it’s a rip off. 38 Degrees got people together to make the fuel companies give a lower rate and it worked….but if you were on a prepayment meter it didn’t apply. Sorry to hear things are so tough for you, I hope we can change things with mass protests
Posted by Alice Wedderburn | February 5, 2013, 7:16 amI am a single parent to a teenage girl. My husband died in 2002 and I have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder following an assault. I am unable to work and receive ESA and lowest DLA. I lost my home and now live in council accommodation. This had both gas and electricity token meters. During the recent hike I now have to find 25p per day on each meter as a standing charge before I start paying for fuel. The energy companies refuse to remove the meters unless I pay £300 each and pay a deposit if £250 on each account.
This is impossible in my current financial position.
My daughter and I therefore sit in sleeping bags at night in order to keep warm as it is too expensive to have the heating on. I don’t live an extravagant lifestyle; I don’t smoke or drink alcohol. I worked for 16 years before my attack so have paid into the system. I am fed up of being attacked by this government and made to feel like a scrounger and a thief.
I worry that if fuel and food prices continue to increase as they have done over the past two years that I won’t be able to afford to live.
Posted by Claire N | February 4, 2013, 11:14 pmYou may use my comment in the debate.
Posted by Claire N | February 4, 2013, 11:15 pmI recently became self employed after 4 years on the unemployment line. I genuinely thought my life had turned around: work, a new 2-bedroom flat close to my elderly mum and daughters. Unfortunately my business is failing and I’m finding it increasingly hard to get by with all the bills. Bedroom tax looming, rent increases, general inflation and fuel bills. It all comes down to affordability and when inflation is increasing at a higher rate than income it doesn’t take a genius to work out that the poor are going to be driven further into poverty. I budget my income to ensure that I can meet everything, but have to put down a specific amount for each, and in so doing I can only afford £10 a week for electricity and £5 for gas. A ridiculous amount, I’m sure many would agree, and I’m still feeling the cold!.. I wonder, how much does our PM and MPs spend on heating their homes?
Posted by Alice Wedderburn | February 4, 2013, 3:10 pm