Energy bill I cannot afford

[whatsamum2do]

My gas and electric is coming to 240ish a month! I'm in an old 3 bed terrace, I can't afford this. I've now fallen into arrears and they are threatening to fit a prepayment metre which I still wouldn't be able to afford and also my landlord doesn't want one fitted! I have 4 young kids, I don't work so I'm home a lot with the baby. I'm on my own no partner, receive no maintenance from my kids useless dad and because I don't work in benefit capped so after my rent is paid I am left with £400 for the month to pay all bills, food ect. I can't do it anymore.

I can't work because I can't find anything to fit around my kids, I have no help with childcare. Believe me I'm trying to as I know I'd be so much better off. I've now asked for help finding work from my work coach on universal credit so hopefully that helps but it won't help me right this minute.

I can't rent cheaper as this is actually cheap for my area, I don't have any Luxury's. I manage, just but I can't deal with this energy bill. It's now £600 in arrears and I don't know what to do 😔. Please help

Its not up to the landlord what meter you have. Really it isn't. Mine were changed and I changed back when I moved out. That said if you can't afford it you can't afford it.
Drying clothes inside should be ok but drying on radiators is a no no. The rapid evaporation causes condensation problems that you don't get when using an airer.

I dry indoors in winter and have no problems with damp. You obviously have to make sure you air the house out properly and heat accordingly. Our bill is 72 a month both gas and electric. We have the heating on quiet a bit in winter too. We have a large 3 bed semi. Something doesn’t seem right with your bill OP.

Firstly, ditch the dryer. dry your clothes in doors in one room, keep the door closed and crack open the windows. That should help with dampness.

Turn off everything and check the meter isn't still registering something.

Change all your lightbulbs to energy saving if you haven't already.

Turn down your thermostat. Ours is on 21 but the heating only comes on if i put it on manually anyway.

Only heat the rooms you're using - if you can, turn off the radiators themselves.

We are in a 3 bed property, I'm in all day as I work from home and our bill is only £90-110 but I only put the heating on for a couple of hours and we hang our clothes indoors.

In regards to the bill itself, do they definitely know you have you children at the property? And have they asked for a breakdown of your expenditure to see what you can afford. Keep pushing for a payment plan

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/get-help-paying-your-bills/struggling-to-pay-your-energy-bills/

@RainMinusBow yes that would be my ideal job to work in a school, unfortunately nothing available at the moment around here but I'm constantly looking. I will find something I'm sure, It's just everything I enquire about want me to do a weekend or an evening ect and I simply don't have childcare for it. None of the childminders around here work after 6, after school club finishes at 6, none are available weekends, the holiday club is for 5 and over and I've got 2 kids under that age! One nursery here that is open in the holidays and it's full with a massive waiting list! Just keep hitting a brick wall. I'll get there I'm sure. I'm desperate to work, I have no life other than my kids right now I want nothing more than to get out there

@OlivejuiceU2 Do you mind me asking of you own your house or is it rented?

We've been in two rented properties over the last six years and both have had damp issues to varying degrees. Drying clothes definitely made it worse. Problem is private tenants don't tend to want to pay out for things like blown windows etc!

If house is sound then drying isn't a issue, but if house has any damp issues at all (even minor ones) then these will be made worse.

I'm definitely going to be stricter with the heating. And I'll use the dryer less. I do have good curtains to be fair but obviously they are open in the day I'm not sure I fancy closing them all day :/

I will call my energy company back and try talking to someone else. I'm going to do what someone suggested and turn everything off and see what the smart metre is saying. I'm determined to lower it a lot.

I don't have damp issues here, but I'll be aware of that when drying clothes indoors. My contract does say not to dry clothes inside 🙄. How enforceable that is I don't know

@whatsamum2do I understand. I get no maintenance from ex either (it is 50:50 which was enforced by courts but still I can't just pay for half of a washing machine lol!)

I now have a partner and we both work ft but on low wages. I'm currently 21 weeks' pregnant with my third (fiancé's first) and have been told off on here for choosing to have another baby!

"Simple" solutions have included my partner getting a better paid job, me returning to work sooner, myself retraining. I honestly don't think some people understand how hard it can be struggling financially or that there are sometimes no easy solutions.

I'll may get shot down for this, but it's often the better-off ones passing judgement IMO!

I have the heating on 3 times a day at the moment. Hour in the morning, hour in the evening and usually the odd half hour in the day. Radiators are all off in the bedrooms. I have a gas fire that I use in the evenings but according to the smart metre that uses hardly anything! I can see why my electric is so high with my dryer, but don't really understand the gas!!

Have you checked your tariffs etc? Can you try to only heat the room you’re in. A tumble dryer every few days won’t be adding much to the bill so would assume it’s your heating. I don’t scrimp, work from home a lot and have an old five bed and pay less than £100 a month.

Thank you @RainMinusBow. Yes exactly, some people's simple solutions just are not that simple :(

@SellFridges it's a standard tariff. The problem with my house is it's all open plan downstairs. The kitchen dining room and living area all in one massive room so heating one room
Isn't really doable :/
With hindsight I should have considered this when I moved here. I have a gas fire which does give out a lot of heat, I use that more because it's a lot cheaper to run. I don't feel like I overuse the heating really :/

call your energy company and ask about the trust fund. They will assess your financial circumstances and in some cases can help towards the debt

Hi
I think you need to lol short and medium term about this.
Short term. Reduce the bill as much as possible. Put the washing outside unless raining. Even par dried washing would be cheaper to dry. Turn radiators down. What have you set the thermostat at? Anything above 18 you could probably turn it down. Put on extra clothes. When cooking leave the oven door open after etc. If you're opening the windows don't have any heating on.
Go out to groups with the children so you're not using the heating.
Don't use half loads in dishwashers or tumble drier or washing machine.

Look at turntous and look at the grants and awards sections. See if you're eligible for any.

British Gas Energy Trust - you don't have to be a customer.

There are also companies who offer grants specifically for their customers:

npower Energy Fund
Scottish Power Hardship Fund
Ovo Energy Fund
E.on Energy Fund
EDF Energy Trust
SSE (Southern Electric) Priority Assistance Fund

Make sure have applied for the Warm Home Discount Scheme with your supplier. As that's £140.

Medium term I would look at relocating to a cheaper area that has job sources. For example though coastal areas tend to have seasonal employment its usually easy enough to get child friendly shifts etc, plus accommodation is cheaper for example.

@SoloMummy thank you for that I'll look into it for sure

@Butterer @coffee thank you also I will have a look

Sorry I haven't read all the replys. So might be repeating other comments. There are 6 of us in a 3 bed and our gas is about 50 a month. ( we have a water tank so that's only the heating and cooking)
We also had trouble with the company when we moved in as they denied supplying our gas no matter how many times I called them. We paid no gas for about 3 years then got landed with a huge bill. I pay it back at 47.50 a month . It's taken a while but it's down to the last few hundred now Have you tried to call them to set up a payment plan?
Also is your house insulated? If you are on tax credits. You can get your house insulated at no cost to yourself. They did it for us a couple of years ago. And supplied / fitted a more energy efficient boiler. ( we private rent also) x

@AMomHasNoName hi, no not on tax credits, on universal credit. It's not too badly insulated here, I think the main problem is the front door as it does let in a lot of cold air so I maybe need to think about putting a curtain up or something.

It's just such a big house, the downstairs is all open plan so it takes a lot to heat. It's literally the kitchen living and dining room all together.

I spoke to the company and I've agreed a payment plan with them which I feel is too much but I'm going to apply for help to clear the arrears. They've also put me on a fixed tariff at £140 per month, still a lot for me but definitely loads better.

Have you applied for the warm home discount? Check suppliers website if it's not on there ring them or get googling, do the comparison sites and sit down to work out how quickly you can clear the debt, it's a bit hit and miss but a few years back I got into a mess with mine and managed to switch suppliers with a bit of debt left to clear.

They want you to clear the debt so they will accept installments but they like to make you think they won't as they seem to believe a lot of us are just not paying it through choice. Keep at them if they say no.

Look at the £10 a day threads as well there's loads of earning ideas on there

I couldn't apply for the warm home discount because I moved house just as they closed it. I struggle so much financially as it is, I just can't afford my bills. Not just this one, but water too, it's all a struggle.

Sounds like you're making progress.

Have you draught excluders at your external doors, they'd help.

A simple thing is to try and get a bit more wear out of your clothes between washes so cuts down your overall laundry each week. Hard with young kids of course. And put your wash on an extra spin cycle at the end to try to get as much moisture out before you put your washing in the drier.

For water there is also the watersure scheme www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/water/water-supply/problems-with-paying-your-water-bill/watersure-scheme-help-with-paying-water-bills/

It looks like you need 3 or more children in education, have to be on certain benefits and have to have a water meter - but it caps your bills so definitely worth a look.

Are you on a water meter? If not then look at having one fitted. Most water company websites have a quick comparison tool to see if it's worth it.

Have you draught excluders at your external doors, they'd help.

No but I'm doing to has there is definitely a draught coming in from my front door.

I'm on a water metre and it works out a lot more expensive, as I have 4 kids that have baths every other day, I shower most days, washing machine is going a lot ect, so sort of wish I didn't have a metre really.

Thanks @Shoobydoo123 I will
Have a look, I do have 3 in education.