Help reducing energy bill direct debit for elderly relative

[PompeyTheGreat]

Hi all. Sorry for the downer on Christmas day, but I've just spoken to my 88 year old grandmother who is having a stressful time due to finances, on account of her energy bills. Her only income is state pension and her direct debit for electricity (her only energy source) is £500 per month. I live very far away, but will be visiting her in a couple of days and plan to speak to her in more detail and see if I can contact her provider to have her DD reduced. She has people nearby to help her with other basic day to day tasks as needed, but noone else seems able or willing to help out with this particular matter.

So that I'm as prepared as possible, I have a few questions for those in the know:

1. Will the energy provider allow me to call on her behalf (she has hearing trouble and is generally quite anxious with these types of phone calls, not very aware of rights or assertive)

1. If yes to the above, will she need to be present - to give consent (as its a short visit)

1. What information will I need to give - so O can make sure I have it all beforehand

Also, if anyone knows of any other help available, that would be much appreciated (she's in Scotland if that makes a difference).

Thanks all.

Gosh, apologies for all the typos/formatting errors.

If her only income is SP is she claiming pension credit? I assume from her age that she's on the lower rate SP.

Second, who is her supplier, can you look at the website and see if DDs can be amended, and when was the last time a reading was submitted?

You need to find out what her actual energy consumption is. There’s no point arguing with them to reduce the direct debit if she’s actually using that much and she’s just going to get more and more in debt. If she is actually using that much you need to make sure she’s claiming everything she’s entitled to - attendance allowance perhaps (have a google) as this will give her extra money she can use towards her bills. You can also look at ways to reduce costs -instead of using the heating look at things like heated throws etc.

The energy company should let you speak for her but they may ask her to give permission for them to do so - usually just a simple yes.

I used to deal with my grandmother's bills for all the same reasons. I used to phone them and they would say they needed her permission so I'd shout "the lady on the phone needs you to say it's ok to speak to me" and she would just come to the phone and say "yes it's ok for you to speak to my granddaughter". They then added my name on to their system as a trusted person so we only did that once.

Obviously you'll need her account number but I don't think anything else is required.

Thanks for the helpful responses. I'll be looking at her bills and other benefits when I see her, but pretty sure she's recovering estimates - I asked her if she's given readings and she hasn't the entire time she's been living on her own (years!).

She says she doesn't have her heating on very much, but I've noticed before that when it is on radiators in hallways etc are at full temp so will make sure those are off or at a low level.

*receiving estimates

Get our Grandma to get you as an authorised name on the account, and get a set of meter readings. If you can access an online account, try and get a bill from a year ago. Then compare how much they think she has used compared to how much direct debit they are asking for.
Submit accurate readings.

The moderators on this Facebook group are off til the 28th, but if you need to get her usage down, there are loads of suggestions.
If the estimated bills are way off, you probably need to deal with that first.

I have often phoned for my DM - I shouldn't recommend this but I do a good 80-year-old voice on the phone.

Not been questioned yet.

A meter reader should be coming round once a year to do readings, ours came round not long ago even though we now have smart meters.

Understanding her annual usage is the key, I'm assuming she doesn't have an online account to view her bills but gets them on paper?

Have a look at mygov.scot to see what help she should be getting from the government.

Does she have storage heaters, is she on an appropriate Economy 7 tariff so they're taking in power at a lower rate overnight?