A household is said to be in fuel poverty if it needs to spend more than 10% of its income on fuel to maintain a satisfactory heating regime (usually 21 degrees for the main living area, and 18 degrees for other occupied rooms). Source DECC
With the cost of heating oil on the increase, the number of households suffering from fuel poverty is at its highest for years.
- Are you suffering from fuel poverty?
- Do you think the government is doing enough to help struggling families?
- Should the government extend the “winter fuel allowance” to those that are pregnant or have young children?
- What measures are you taking to cope with the increasing cost of living?
Have your say below…
I’m currently on benefits and the cost of heating oil in this house is more than my income so I’ve had no heating or hot water for 2 months. I’m not eligible for any Government winter/fuel-related help and can’t insulate better because I’m renting and the building is listed so can’t double-glaze. Landlord won’t allow me to get British Gas’s free loft insulation.
Maybe we are all losing more money than we think:
Suppliers say tankers run ‘wet lines’ so the hose is full when delivery starts and you don’t lose any fuel…
…but I just read a forum where a tanker driver says that the older the tanker, the more air it will put through the meter before fuel, up to ten litres.
I wonder…this should be investigated.
I won’t be asking my driver if I can feel the weight of his hose though! I’m all alone here
I live in knaresborough and this road is still not on gas mains. My last oil delivery cost me £330 and in my rented house (Landlord refusing to service the boiler) it has lasted me 35 days with the heating on for 4 hours in total set on 15 degrees. I cannot afford to get any more for Christmas and my two children are both disabled. Merry Christmas!!!!!
Thank you so much, David Cameron, for completely killing any chance of having a warm Christmas.
I cannot wait to move out of this house and get one with gas heating. Oil is the most expensive of the services and I for one cannot afford this way of life. Perhaps I will return to France – yes it is a lot cheaper and fairer in price. Nothing but prices going upwards since that man came into power. Say no more!
21 and 18 degrees @ 60p/lit + vat are dreams from the past and as the boiler is only now run for 2 periods of 2 hrs per day hot water and little more than background heating is all that is achieved. Neither the government ,the oil producers it the retailers are doing anything other than driving the cost up in the relentless persuit of
profit ..
I think the energy companies are so out of order and all the goverment do is make sounds as if they are keeping prices in check.Fuel is the driver for the economic recovery and all the price hikes do is add a bit more Lead to the boots, And with boots this heavy there’s no chance of ANYONE picking up their stide.As for domestic fuel consumption?, Well i live alone and i will again be forced to freez as i did last winter,I never had any heating or hot water last winter and it’ll have to be the same this winter thanks to Mr Cameron,The -ankers and greedy Energy companies,I simply cannot aford heat.Roll on winter,Cant wait
I agree with you Derek its nonsense that these communities are left behind. My preferred alternative would be to support the funding required to extend the mains gas networks to rural villages within say 10 miles or so of the existing gas network. Since de-regulation the utilities have no incentive to extend the network to these smaller communities, this was an oversight on behalf of the then government which could easily be rectified either by the government negotiating with the utilitiy network owners or through the provision of a grant scheme to help the comminities extend the network themselves where feasible. The fuel miles run up by oil and gas tankers making deliveries to these locations will never end and whilst installation of mains gas may have an initial cost implication, once its in the ground the carbon emissions from daily deliveries of other fuels will slow and eventiually cease altogether. There are at least 1M domestic properties who do not have mains gas in the UK, 1M families suffering exorbitant fuel prices to heat their homes, thats scandalous.
Legislation should be applied to heating oil and LPG enforcing a domestic tariff as applied to mains gas and electricity suppliers.
Many peopl living in rural areas do not benefit from mains gas and therefore forced to use more expensive alternatives which simply compounds fuel poverty.