Mum's massive heating bill

[ShellySarah]

My mum feels the cold really badly. She loves having the heating on and a dressing gown on top of clothes. She's been doing this for a very long time. She had heating on until May or later.

I've been warning her over and over since last year that the prices have hugely increased and she can't keep using the heating this often and pretty much year round.

She is on a low income and on pension credit.

She kept telling me to shut up. That her direct debit has never increased and the bills are fine. I've looked at the bills since she has been in hospital and it's almost £1100. They haven't adjusted her direct debit but she has run up a massive bill.

I told my mum about it but she just started incoherently saying it can't be she's looked at all the bills and that she hasn't used heating since she has been in hospital. Tried telling her that she's run up this bill over the course of several months but she isn't getting it.

What on earth can we do. She's in hospital but they haven't called it in.

You will need to contact the energy company and try to negotiate some sort of payment plan. Explain your mother is elderly and vulnerable and hasn’t understood the price increases- basically try and appeal to their better nature (sounds crazy but occasionally they do make some sort of allowances, had similar with my own Mum). You will have to try and get your Mum to cut down on her use - electric throws are super cheap to run and do keep you really warm instead of the heating on full blast. Also check she doesn’t have thyroid issues as well as these can make you feel super cold all the time (hypothyroidism).

Is it an estimated bill or based on actual readings?
If it's the former then send the supplier up to date readings.

electric throws are super cheap to run and do keep you really warm instead of the heating on full blast

believe me she'd have the heating on with the throw. She's incorrigible. She's just underweight and always has been. She now has cancer.

I think it's based on usage as there was a breakdown of the same on the bill.

Hi OP, I worked for an energy company for years.

PP is right - first thing to check is whether the readings are accurate or estimated. Even if the meter is outside, doesn’t sound to me like your mum would be reading it and meter readers often only come once a year.

The energy company has obv had a system error somewhere if your mum is in debit by that much and they haven’t reassessed her DD, so that’s potentially a complaint to be raised.

However, you won’t be able to call them and talk to them about your mum’s account without your mum being with you to complete DPA and give verbal permission for them to discuss her account with you.

It’s also worth speaking to the company’s extra care team to see of she is entitled to the warm home discount, if she doesn’t get that already.

Some energy companies also have their own charities to help customers with their energy debt.

She might be better on a prepayment meter as she can keep track of what's she's spending as she goes. I would imagine the energy provider will move her onto this as part of her repayment plan.

I don't think she'll live long enough to pay this off. We're talking months here 😔

I would complain that they allowed her to run up this debt so high without adjusting the direct debit. They have some responsibility here to a vulnerable person, financially, and with regard to age and health.

If the energy company aren't calling it in and your poor mum only has months I would do nothing tbh OP. The worst that can happen is it will need to be paid from her estate, if there is one, but if not it will cease to be owed when she dies.

Sorry to hear this.

In this case I wouldn’t do anything. If she has a house or savings then when she passes they will try to claim it back from that. You may be able to argue that she was unwell / terminally ill and wasn’t capable of understanding the costs etc. It’s worth a try. (Once my Mum passed away I was in charge of her house and had a similar situation).

Don’t worry about this now. You’ve got enough to deal with.

If she hasn't got long left I'd ignore it, let her enjoy the warmth while she can. Have you looked into Attendance Allowance for her? Although it's based on if you need help/supervision at home you don't actually need to be having help at home to claim it, just her health needs to be bad enough that she can't manage certain things. That would give her extra towards the bills.

If she doesn't have long to live I'd let her have her house as hot as she wants. My mum had the thermostat set to 26 day and night for the last six months of her night. It was awful for visitors but she got so cold, even with blankets.

Let her have the heating. If she has an estate, debt will be taken from it when she dies. If she has no estate, debt will be written off. No wonder she's cold if she's thin and dying.

Leave direct debit at current level. If company make contact query how they are identifying the issue so late. Ask for their help with a plan. It would be great if you could avoid worrying your mum about this.

She wasn't dying when she run up the bill if that makes sense. The £1100 was run up a while ago and she only became really ill in June.

I'll just leave it.

My mum was irrationally arguing with me three years before her diagnosis. I suspect this is why you couldn't get her to see sense. Also why she couldn't stand the cold for a long time before her diagnosis.

I am sorry for what you are going through. I agree with PP, let her keep it on.

If she is in hospital, have you gone turned the heating in her house off or is it still on as normal