To be annoyed by Warm Home Discount criteria

[SmedSmoo]

I'm not eligible for the Warm Home Discount because of the age of the property I live in. Despite the property being all electric which is much more expensive to run.

I'm in fuel poverty - monthly bills £200 and in a lot of debt. I live in a small two bedroom flat and live frugally on UC. No heating ever, washing machine only used once monthly. There's literally nothing else I can cut back on. I’m unable to work currently due to disability.

I just don't think the age of the property should have any bearing on eligibility.

"The Government has prioritised low income households living in properties estimated to have the highest heating costs"

I'm low income and have extortionate energy costs so I'm not actually sure who they are prioritising…

Are you sure your meter is working ok? £200 a month for no heating is very high.

Surely if you are disabled you get LCWRA and pip? You rent costs will also be covered?

is it possible for you to get an exchange or move house?

Rent costs are covered luckily. But can't afford all bills plus food.

I'm awaiting assessment for LCWRA and PIP

It's been nothing but trouble trying to get things sorted out. It seems that other people in the flats are paying a similar amount so not sure.

I've applied for a smart meter so I can track usage

Do you have a fuel debt? Is the 200pcm covering paying toward that as well as current usage? Are your readings estimated? Not using heating and only running WM once a month wouldn't use that amount of electricity!

I'm all electric in a 3 bed, £250pm with heating on 20° 24/7. Something is wrong with your system or the meter. Get it checked.

Your bills don't sound right
I pay £136 for gas and electricity in a draughty Victorian 3 bed house, I'm at home most of the day and don't skimp on the heating.
Are you paying actual usage based on readings or estimates?

I'm all electric 3 bed too but if we kept our heating on at 20 24/7 we'd be paying much more than you! There are so many variables (location, insulation, unit rates, standing charges etc).

All electric always costs more than gas and electric - this is a well known fact.

Is your electric two rate - one rate overnight (cheaper unit rate) and day rate which will be higher? Do you have storage heaters? Are they old?
The idea is that you charge them up overnight on the cheap rate and discharge them during the day. If you charge them up during the day it's obviously more expensive. Were you shown how to use them? This is not meant to be patronising - I worked in fuel poverty and we came across a lot of tenants with faulty storage heaters and who had not been shown input and output control properly.

You can also apply for a discretionary grant to reduce any debt if there are extenuating circumstances. A fuel poverty charity such as citrus energy can help you.

£200 quid?

i'm in a 3 story, 4 bed house with duel fuel and we only pay £170 a month for both...

you really need to try and find a cheaper tariff!

Yes but that would be including heating as that's what the gas is mostly used for. If OP is using no heating her bills should be waay less.

You can get in control of your usage before the smart meter arrives. Take a photo of the reading of your meter now, and do the same tomorrow at the same time - all week if you can. Then you can see how many kWh you are using in a day.

For a £200 monthly bill you are being billed on average for 26kWh per day.

What is your hot water situation - are you on an immersion tank system?

Not everyone on PIP gets those, it depends on a number of factors

I'm with Octopus which is the cheapest!

Have you got an electric bill to hand? Could you post your usage and rates? Something is wrong somewhere.

Keep going with appeals and go to the ombudsman, a friend had no end of problems.
Write and keep a copy or email, keeping copies.
Try and set out the full information each time.
Good luck, it does sound like you are paying too much

Have you got an electric immersion heater? Those things eat electricity

If you are never having the heating on it does sound fairly high, maybe 20 odd kWh per day.

You need to start looking into why it is so expensive by metering what you use. You can buy plugs on amazon for this.

Two things that do tend to use a lot of power are immersion heaters, people often use then all the time and leave them switched on by accident.

Another common problem in flats is that your flat is not wired correctly, so you are paying for someone elses electric, or your own as well as someone elses.

But to diagnose this you really need to get a handle on your own usage first.

We live in a two bed flat and pay £200 a month. We have the heating on loads, even through the night and do laundry multiple times a day (have a baby!). Yours sounds too high for your usage.

Speak to your energy company, they can help and they have other grants & support available which could help you

Surely if your disabled...

Yeah because disability benefits just fall into people's laps. As if thousands of people are not struggling and being turned down for quite deserving claims. Every. Single. Week.

I realise OP has said she is awaiting assessment, but that doesn't even mean she will get these benefits (I hope you do OP) - the assumption if you are disabled you will get PIP and LCWRA is naive, at best.

Again, heating with gas is much cheaper than heating with electricity.

I was referring to those saying how little they pay when they have gas. Dual fuel isn't comparable to electricity only.