where are we supposed to find an extra £45 per month gas and electric rise

mrpip2002uk

hi all,, my wife and i are on ESA and get £180 a week  for us as a couple  because i'm disabled and so is my wife.
we dont drink, dont smoke, and dont have holidays, etc, we were paying £140 per month for gas and electric dual fuel and just scraping by with not a penny to spare if white goods breakdown?
after the recent large rises in gas and electric costs,they say we need to up our monthly direct debits to £185 per month,were on the cheapest tariff on the market and cant find any cheaper on comparison sites,
we cant afford a £45 a month rise without cutting back on food,the government know how much the price of gas and electric as risen in the last 4-5 months,but they havnt increased ESA benefits to cover this £10 plus a week rise,are they trying to starve ESA claiments to death,
PROBABLY. we will more than likely need to turn to payday loans at some stage,and when that happens theres no way out when your in that rut !

janer1967

Hi there 

That seems a lot for your gas and electric 

I pay £72 per month 

poppy123456

That’s a huge amount of money for your energy bills. I pay just £83 per month for gas and electric combined. I live in a 2 bedroom house and during the winter months my heating is on about 16 hours a day and I don’t owe them a single penny. 

Are you sure you did the comparison checks correctly? 

idontlikeliving

That’s a lot of money for electric and gas. I’m on a prepaid and use £55/£60 a month. For both gas and electric. And this is for 2 ppl in a shared flat. No way I could afford that much either. 

idontlikeliving

Everything is going up except benefits and wages. I don’t know how the government think we will cope.  

mrpip2002uk

thanks for all your advice,its good advice.
we are in the house all day ,we really dont feel like ging out,it costs money,just bus fares for 2 and have a coffee for 2,your talking  £7-8 with nothing to show for it,if you do that at least 3 times a week its £24 for nothing?thats a lot of money with nothing to show for it when your on benefits,as for our fuel bills were always in the house,and i suffer with nerve damage in my legs and cant sleep well,so end up watching tv,so our gas and electric is constantly in use 24 hours a day.
my wife and i dont drink ,smoke,have holidays,but were not going to die from freezing to death,when its time for us to leave this planet i dont care if i owe money to scottish power?
its a **** life when you have to live on basic benefits,all of us just exist?
years ago it used to state on your benefits,this is the least amout the goverment says you need to live on,i dont know who in the government trys these experiments and decides the amount we need to live on,but i think they must just keep taking sleeping tablets every time they wake up and just sleep constantly through the trial of how much we need to exist on?
thanks again all of you

calcotti

Comparing different people’s bills doesn’t tell us much because there are too many variables. A year ago I paid £78/month, now I pay £105 fixed earlier this year but if I were to look for a new deal now I wouldn’t be able to match that. Size of house or flat, type of construction, type of heating system, how much you ‘feel the cold’, how much you are at home, whether you are sedentary or active etc will all have an impact on consumption regardless of what tariff someone is on.

However £185/month does look high but could perhaps include some arrears or that no buffer has been built up in advance of going into the heating season and I think some companies will want payments such that the customer never shows a negative balance.

mrpip2002uk

thanks woodbine,
in your reply you hinted there was more than one person in your claim,and you only get £114 per week.
mate ,i dont know how you manage at all on that small amount,i feel guilty for stating we get £180 a week .
your a good person because you still try a advise people on this site.thanks.
its about time the DWP was dismantled and some kind of independant courts, that are neutral, and realistic, and fair,to claiments, set up with normal,  down to earth people,  with common sense,on the commitee,maybe someday?
anyone can live for 1 week on £60-£70,but let them try for a year.

mrpip2002uk

thanks calcotti,you look at it from all sides and different circumstances,like i say, through illness, our meters are running 24 hours a day,obviously it doubles our bill,but i said before,we go without most things in life,but were not going without warmth and comfort, as we sit in most days.
thanks for your comments,and thanks to all the people who replied.

mrpip2002uk

thanks teddybear12,
your probably right,most of the lords clock in have a couple hours sleep and clock out again?
look on the brightside,weve stopped paying for the moats and duck houses to be cleaned,but who allowed that in the first place,some people on benefits would gladly live in those duckhouses?

mrpip2002uk

woodbine thanks,
but our boiler is only 3 years old,but thanks.

poppy123456

mrpip2002uk said:

woodbine thanks,
but our boiler is only 3 years old,but thanks.

Then it should be energy efficient. Your energy bills are even higher than I first thought. Do you claim the warm home discount? It’s £140 off your energy bill and every little helps. 

mrpip2002uk

thanks poppy123456
yes weve put in for it this year because of the big rises and weve been awarded it

Sandy_123

https://www.gov.uk/the-warm-home-discount-scheme
A link there for information on the discount scheme, you need to contact your supplier

mrpip2002uk

thank you

OverlyAnxious

I'm paying £100 a month for an all-electric studio flat...  And have just had an email to say the prices are going up soon.  Didn't think that was too bad until I saw people are paying less in houses! 

TV, laptop, LED lightbulbs etc don't cost much to run even if you have them on all day.  It's heating, hot water, tumble drier and cooking that really rinses through energy.  There may be some small tweaks you can make to those to reduce the bills without really noticing.

MarkM88

I pay I think around £60/month for gas and electricity for a one bedroom flat for myself. I agree that there are a lot of variables that impact what people pay. I would suggest looking more carefully at services that can help with looking at your energy consumption and trying to reduce the bills though, that is an awful amount of money. 

Tori_Scope

Hi @mrpip2002uk I also just wanted to point you towards Scope's Disability Energy Support service. They can speak to you about:

• managing energy debt

• switching tariffs or supplier

• changing your meter

• energy efficiency

• accessing energy benefits, grants and trusts

• contacting or complaining to your supplier

• understanding your gas or electricity bills

• understanding how to use your heating systems

Do you think they might be able to help?