20 million UK households no longer get support with energy bills from the UK Government

[Guest]

What this means in real terms is:

• Over 6.6 million Households are now living in fuel poverty.
• With ZERO plans for any Government support this winter.

[Tee]

sorry to say but people just have to cut their cloth. it’s a fact of life that cheap deals on fuel have gone and the reality is higher prices. I don’t earn much but I mange my bills through strict budgets. Thats the way of life for now, people have to take responsibility. Easier said than done I know but that’s how it is.

[Louise]

Lots of people still get benefits.

[Joanna]

Well, if people put away the money they would have used when they gave us the £67 a month last winter and carried on putting the same amount away through the summer then they would have a nice little sum come this winter to start them off, it's all about money management, if I can do it on the low income I get then anyone can.

Don't miss: Are you thinking about it before you fix?

[Suze]

Unfortunately that's right but people would have had to manage b4 the gov benefits.

[Kirsten]

Thankfully I joined this page a year or so ago and got on top of my energy use and started sending in readings every month, I'm so glad to have found it. I was absolutely clueless. Just paid what I was asked without knowing what I was using. I'm sitting at over £500 in credit now, they have told me to refuce my dd for the last few months and only reduced it today but still kept it a bit higher than they recommended because I feel I need that buffer in the winter, just in case. Better putting it away now than having to pay a fortune at Christmas time.

[Philip]

How long do people expect the government to keep handing out money? Eventually, it all has to be paid back in higher taxes etc. The reality is, they can't. However, I do think they could do more towards lowering the costs for households etc. But, at the end of the day, they can't keep giving out money. I earn about £10 a month above the threshold for help, so get nothing anyway, like the vast majority of households.

[Judith]

Millions of us are in credit. These charlatans are holding probably £50million in our money interest free.

[Naa]

My son lives in a tiny one bed flat, works 14 hours a day Scot power claim he used £1300 in April.. all other months £79.

Trying to help him fight this but getting nowhere.

[Jim]

I've got a bill for £1408 from British Gas for gas and electrice, May-June '23. I fell of my chair, Anyway, I think I know what they've done; they claim it's from a reading yet haven't been in my place, so suspect they've read a neighbours meter in error. I will speak (politely) to them on Monday but may need some help if I get stuck. They're not responding on Messenger anymore curently.

[Darren]

Whilst there's currently no plans, Sunak has gone on record saying he wouldn't rule it out,votes matter more than ever.

[Sheila]

Despite the government support of £400 between October 2022 and April 2023, many people still struggled to pay for their energy bills, or, like me, made their "lives" considerably more miserable and uncomfortable in order to not go into debt. I am not ashamed to admit that I cried with pain on some days and spent many more hours in bed than I would usually do just to get warm (keeping warm was a whole other ball game). When, as happened last October, just as we were moving into winter, the price of gas tripled overnight and, since this was going to be the first year that we were going to rely on just out pensions (My husband had retired, aged 70, in January 2022) to pay for everything, we decided that we could not risk just "carrying on as before". In hindsight, I suspect that we reduced our heating usage far more than we needed to do so we will be experimenting with a different strategy this year. However, although my energy company says that we can reduce our Direct Debit from £157 to £113, we do not intend to change it as it will, hopefully, allow us more flexibility than we gave ourselves last year. At least, this year we have time, as long as there are no emergency calls on our finances, to try to build up some savings that we can use, if necessary, to top up our energy account. However, as the cost of everything else seems to be rising, it will not be that easy for us.

[Sharon]

I think the last year has really opened everyone’s eyes to other people’s situations. I think of myself as “comfortable”, but I don’t have a social life, haven’t had a holiday for 13 years and all my money goes on bills. The fact that I’m not in an awful amount of debt is because I do not fritter any money away. If I have an occasional takeaway, I think of it as a treat.

I know people that say they struggle to afford their energy bills, but they have holidays, smoke, go to the pub, have daily Costa Coffee on their way to work etc.

I know a lot are genuinely struggling but there are also many people that should maybe change their priorities. Just cutting back on one or two nights out per month and they could easily afford the energy bills they complain about.

[Iain]

I understand what you are saying, my question is if we keep asking for the government to sort it (pay for it) this means more government borrowing so inflation continues? Where does it end?