ESA benifit

Supergran57
Supergran57 Online Community Member Posts: 1 Listener
in Everyday life
Hi I get ESA as I have M. S. and cannot get the cost of living money as the say I am not on low income but I have to pay half the bills and. The electric is up from £80 a month to £191 I don't now where they have got that amount and with £50 a week for rent I don't know what to do 

Comments

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 63,178 Championing
    You don't say which ESA you're claiming. If it's either New style ESA or the old Contributions based then you won't be entitled to the first payment of £326. It's only those that are claiming Income Related ESA that will be entitled to it. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/cost-of-living-payment
    You say you have to pay £50/week for rent are you renting your own home or living with parents?
    What other benefits do you claim apart from ESA?


  • Ross_Alumni
    Ross_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,611 Championing
    Hello @Supergran57

    Welcome to the community, thank you for posting your opening discussion.

    I appreciate that eligibility for the COL payments can be quite confusing and therefore it can be hard to know for sure whether you should or shouldn't be eligible. There is a page here over on the Gov.uk site that provides information about who will get the payments, hopefully it can be of use to you.

    It's a tricky time at the moment financially for so many people, and I'm sorry to hear that you are feeling the pinch too. When we got our first energy bill after the prices went up I was quite shocked myself. Have you been in touch with your energy supplier about it? I'm not sure how often you take metre readings, but if you tend to pay for what you use then it might be worth getting a fresh reading sent to reflect your most recent usage.

    Scope has a Disability Energy Support service that you can find the details for over on this page, I'm sure the lovely team would be happy to talk through any challenges you are facing.

    In terms of other financial support, are you receiving all the benefits you may be entitled to at the moment? 

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