AIBU to think there may have to be the equivalent of food banks for energy?

[EnergyBank]

Given the recent horrific price rises in energy I know so many people are having or will have to choose between heating and eating. That phrase is a bit of a cliché but it sickens me in 2022 that people will basically have to decide whether their DC will be cold or hungry.

I was thinking (and we should not have to do this, but that's a whole other thread re politics) if it would be a good idea to have the equivalent of a food bank but for people struggling to pay energy bills, especially pre payment meters. I know legally you can change from pre payment meters but a lot of private landlords tell tenants that they can't, and if you have a debt it's harder.

I am fortunate enough to be on a fixed tarif paid by direct debit these days but I well remember the feeling of gas/elec running out, eking out the emergency fund and knowing you have to go to the shop with the last fiver in your purse to put it back on, or waiting until Friday when your wages or tax credit comes in. Worrying the freezer will defrost and knowing you and your DC will have to sit in the dark at 5pm. If you are used to putting £20 on your gas card on a Monday and it usually lasts til the weekend, the same amount now would run out much more quickly and you're handing over the money you need to spend on food etc. There is only so much jiggling of the budget you can do with a limited amount of money and fixed and rising costs.

If your gas or electric has run out and you have absolutely no cash left in your purse and your bank account is overdrawn by £7.51 (which is unauthorised and your bank will add another charge to that) what can you do? I was thinking it would be useful to have a similar equivalent to a food bank but where you could get your gas or electric topped up instead? Perhaps there are areas where this happens already but there doesn't seem to be anything local to where I live.

Hi, there is a charity that works with Thame Water who give gas and electric credit.

I think the vouchers are £70 and you can get them twice a year (maybe more not too sure).

There used to be crisis loans from the job centre but that came to an end and got replaced with local care grants from the council. I dont think they offer the same help though.

The cold weather payments haven't kicked in this winter even though its been very cold at times. The criteria it too strict.

There needs to be. We can afford our heating but are choosing not to use it, but we are able to have hot water bottles and already own vests, warm socks and spare duvets.

I can't imagine how horrible it would be to not have the choice and not have warm clothing.

There already is a scheme

I know there is the Warm Home discount scheme as I have been eligible myself in the past, but £140 is a much lesser proportion of energy bills these days.

I was also thinking of a supply of things like charged up power banks, camping lanterns in case electricity is all gone, and electric throws/blankets which cost pennies to run rather than using the gas central heating.

I suppose it's not just "preparing" with things like electric throws, it's that immediate problem of being cut off and having no options.

A bit like you can "prepare" with a stock of food, but then you go through your stock of food and need a food bank, if that makes sense? I guess it's like preparing for a rainy day which is all well and good, but not much use when you have a biblical downpour, and we need to support people in that position.

Our local council has introduced a scheme to help people in this situation.

Some food banks already provide support for paying energy bills (which is a fucking disgrace that's even necessary tbh!) but it varies greatly by area and who's eligible to apply for such help.

But yea I can see charities may need to step in to deal with this because it's gonna be a bloody debacle!

Should NEVER have been privatised in the first place (and yes I'm old enough to remember nationalised energy - it wasn't without issues but nothing like this!)

The ONLY possible positive thing that could come out of this is it may FINALLY wake people up to just how terribly the country is being run!

And the profits to the energy companies are mostly headed out of this country too as several of the energy companies are not ultimately British owned so we won't even see any benefit in terms of taxes paid!

The warm home discount scheme is VERY limited and not everyone gets it even if they're eligible.

I haven't got my ch on as yet. I'm using a fan heater as it's only me here and I am wrapped up in layers and have hot drinks/soup etc

Local councils are also stuck as they're not getting the funding from central govt that they need

I think that Foodbank use will just increase rather than the need for an energy bank. This will be a very real indicator of the fact people are spending food money on energy bills. The figures will speak for themselves. I am increasing my donations to the Foodbank in light of this.

Just bumping this in light of recent news and asking people who can afford it to donate to charities/food banks etc (and not just this but also write to MPs, take part in any protests etc!)

I am lucky enough to be on a fixed tariff for a while but I am going to see if we can still manage to increase our DD somehow so we have a cushion of credit as the bills will go up so massively as soon as it ends. It only just occurred to me to try and do this so just mentioning in case anyone else is as dim as me.

This is such a fucking infuriating situation but there are a lot of "political" threads so I'll try not to turn this into another.

Also, I can't link as I'm on the app but there is a thread in Classics from a while ago called "No more cold mumsnetters" or similar, if anyone is on the full site maybe you could link it here?

Citizens Advice give out energy vouchers for people on prepayment meters in my area. I’ve no idea if it’s nationwide.

I mean there nay have to be something, but thefrustating thing is that the way to fix this problem is for the UK government to stop lying about benefits and benefit claimants and to do something to lift people out of poverty.

The UK economy is very low growth. One ofthe reasons is because those are the bottom of the income scale are deliberately held in poverty by the Conservative government. This means they have no money to spend, so the economy is weakened.

The Conservatives are crap at economics, but they can spin a good line.

Our local food bank already does this. It's a local independent foodbank and all food/shopping is delivered to people as many live rurally and wouldn't be able to get to the town to collect it.

If it's needed, the person who delivers the shopping, picks up the gas/electric key, takes it to the nearest top up place, loads it with £15/20 that the food bank have given them, then delivers it back to the person.

@xyzandabc

Our local food bank already does this. It's a local independent foodbank and all food/shopping is delivered to people as many live rurally and wouldn't be able to get to the town to collect it.

If it's needed, the person who delivers the shopping, picks up the gas/electric key, takes it to the nearest top up place, loads it with £15/20 that the food bank have given them, then delivers it back to the person.

The trouble is - with the rise in energy prices of 50%, this type of piecemeal help just isn't going to touch the sides. The average rise is £700 per year.

I am really angry with twatty Sunak that everyone in every income bracket is getting this stupid loan, whilst those who really can not afford energy are getting very little real support.

He's only too happy to write off £billions to fraudsters but not to help the average British person in this crisis .

I was reading last night people saying they wont be able to afford to have baths now. The is shameful for Britain that in 2022 people can not afford heat, eat or even have a warm bath. I remember my mum and her friend talking about the public baths they used growing up because they did not have bathrooms. I could not help picture this sort of thing happening now. A cheap public bath\shower the poor can go to get clean and maybe charge. Or even communal ovens.

I was reading last night people saying they wont be able to afford to have baths now. I'm sick of this being deliberately done to ordinary British people .

I honestly don't know how I am going to afford this hike. I don't qualify for the discount as I work but my wages only cover my rent and council tax. I get topped up by tax credits but with three children it's tough.

Hello. Popping in to let you know that we're doing a Q&A with fuel poverty charity National Energy Action about these energy price hikes on Wednesday 23rd Feb at 12 noon. The thread is now open for questions here.