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

Hi OP do you mind me asking who the supplier is?

I had the same issue with British Gas when I moved in to my home. I should have switched but never got round to it and the bills were going up and up. I switched to Bulb and they are really good and I'm not tied in or anything. I left British Gas with a debt but made an arrangement to pay it off.

I'd contact StepChange who could look at applying for a grant for the arrears. If you get this, it will clear the arrears and then change suppliers.

You mentioned water is expensive too. Do you have a water meter? I also have one and this was proving really expensive. I applied for a watersure grant which reduced my bill. You could contact your water supplier about this too.

Good luck

Maybe contact the power companies to help figure out why your bills are so high. I live in an old (drafty) detached 5 bed home with a washer and dryer plus a heated pool and my bills are about the same as yours.

Check your local water supplier OP . There's something called a water sure tariff if you have more than 3 DCs. It's a fixed amount each month. Ours was about 74 a month
and it's now 34 a month fixed rate . That may help you. X

Sorry just read that another poster has already mentioned it :D

OP - what kind of boiler do you have?

When I moved into this house, back in 2005, we were quite young and naive about boilers so I never touched the boiler timer settings done by the previous occupants as the heating times actually suited us as they must have spend similar times out at work as we did. Anyway as the months and years passed, I couldn't understand why the gas use was so high - at one point I ended up £400 in debit at the time of our review.

I finally got round to researching the boiler and discovered that the hot water setting was set to permanantly on! That was the reason for our bills being so high. I found a manual for the boiler online and worked out how to set it to just come on twice a day (and the water was still hot enough when we needed it) and it saved us loads. (I'm still so mad about how much money we literally burnt)

That boiler bit the dust early in 2018, and we've had a new one in for nearly a year, and I'm really noticing a vast difference in units used so don't underestimate how inefficient an old boiler is.

@RainMinusBow we own our house, not rented. We don’t have an issue with damp and always make sure to air rooms out (even when cold in winter) after drying. In some rooms we have the windows cracked open (locked) all year round for ventilation. Mainly bathroom, bedroom and kitchen where there is more moisture in the air.

Have you applied for the warm home discount with your energy company? You get 140 towards your bill might not be much compared to what you owe but it will help. It sounds like you should be able to apply

please contact Christians against poverty, or stepchange.
they are both v good and really try to help people like you.
they have such a lot of relevant experience. good luck.

What about applying for fuel direct deductions (inc. small amount for debt) to come off your UC?

£240 a month in a dual-fuel 3-bed to me suggests something is wrong. We didn't pay that much in our terrace even when we had single glazing, an ancient inefficient boiler, and used an electric immersion for hot water.

You can ask your energy company to check your meters, though there may be a charge if it tests as accurate. You're not the first person I've heard of recently who has a "smart meter" and is being charged extortionate bills.

Incorrect wires/pipes meaning you're paying for your neighbours is possible, as is a gas leak for that. Meter tests won't catch this.

If you're paying by direct debit, it may be calculated incorrectly, especially if there was previously a meter reading error.