Fuel Poverty is a term used to describe a situation where households struggle to afford comfortable heating. They find it hard to pay for heating and energy services and maintain a healthy living environment due to low-income, high-energy costs, or poor energy efficiency.
What is Fuel Poverty?
The UK Government defines fuel poverty as a household that needs to spend more than 10% of its income on fuel to warm their home to an acceptable level.
What Contributes to Fuel Poverty?
There are a number of factors that contribute to fuel poverty, these can be:
- Household Earnings: Low income is a leading cause of fuel poverty. Households that have limited financial comfort, could find themselves struggling to pay for high energy bills.
- Energy Prices: Huge rises in energy costs, including electricty, gas, and heating fuels, drive a huge wedge into the affordability of energy for homes. Although everyone feels the impact of this, vulnerable groups like the elderly and disabled will feel it even more.
- Property’s Energy Rating: The energy efficiency of a property plays a massive role in determining heat costs. Homes that have poor quality insulation and inadequate heating systems will need a vast amount of energy to heat their property comfortably. More information on property energy rating
- Health and Vulnerability: People with health conditions or disabilities will have higher heating requirements to maintain their health and well-being. This places additional strain on their budgets. Many health conditions can also be worsened by a cold home including respiratory conditions and cardiovascular diseases. Mental health issues can also be worsened by fuel poverty.
Problems Caused by Fuel Poverty
Fuel poverty can quickly lead to a number of problems and even worsen pre-exisiting ones. Here are a few examples:
- Health Problems: Cold homes can lead to and worsen respiratory illnesses, such as asthma and bronchitis. It can also make the symptoms of arthritis and heart disease a lot worse.
- Mental Health Problems: Living in the cold and constantly worrying about money is major reason for stress, anxiety, and depression.
- Social Isolation: Those living in the cold are less likely to invite those close to them around and may even avoid leaving the house altogether. This can be severe and lead to feeling lonely and isolated from the world.
Are There Signs That Someone is Living through Fuel Poverty?
If you suspect yourself or someone close to you is suffering from living in fuel poverty, here are some tell tale signs of what these could be:
- They will avoid always using their homes heating system. Especially during winter cold spells when it should be on!
- They layer up, even inside the home, with hats, scarfs, multiple t-shirts, and even their coat.
- They dread bills and do anything to ignore them. They may even avoid conversations about them.
- Becoming easily stressed and always talking about the rising cost of energy bills.
You know you and you know the people closest to you. If something does not feel right, it may be time to act for the better. Below, you can find some methods of preventing fuel poverty.
How to Prevent Fuel Poverty
It can happen to anyone. There are ways to prevent it from happening or becoming much worse than it needs to be.
1. Improving Your Homes Energy Efficiency
A vital way of reducing fuel poverty is by having a home that is more energy efficient. Lower-income households with a poor energy rating will take more time to heat their home, therefore will spend more money on doing so.
2. Income Support
Financial assistance can remove a lot of strain and is a great way of tackling fuel poverty. Introducing targeted financial support could be the key to affording energy bills and reducing strain.
3. Apply for Government-Backed Energy Grants
There are many government-backed grants, such as the Energy Company Obligation (ECO4), Boiler Upgrade Scheme, Great British Insulation Scheme, and the Home Upgrade Grant. These grants are specifically designed to combat fuel poverty as well as improve the countries climate goals.
4. Raising Awareness
With the number of struggling households rising every winter, raising awareness is an important and useful way to curb the impact. Individuals can learn how to best reduce their energy bills, but more awareness within communities can help in spotting signs which can then be addressed.
Conclusion
Fuel poverty is a real issue faced by a lot of households across the country, all caused by financial issues and high energy prices. We can no longer have a reliance on fossil fuels therefore must introduce a combination of financial support for impacted households, a change to the energy market, and improving the energy efficiency of homes with renewable energy systems.
Comments
[…] Poor insulation, inefficient heating systems, and outdated building materials commonly found in homes with low EPC ratings contribute to higher energy bills, exacerbating fuel poverty. Improving the EPC ratings through better insulation, efficient heating, and energy-saving measures can reduce energy costs and help mitigate fuel poverty by creating warmer, more energy-efficient homes. More information on fuel poverty in the UK […]
i am 64 my house has damp issues, tried every grant as the damp is there they cant help me, i have prostate and bowel cancer, the damp effects my health, i forked out £8,000 pound to have the externel walls to be redone
Hi David.
Thank you for contacting us, we appreciate your comment.
We are really sorry to hear this. One of our advisors has tried to contact you to discuss this matter further. Please call us back at your earliest convenience.
The Energy Advice Helpline Team
I’m a state pensioner on disability benefits and am not on the list for any free energy grants or even qualified for the heating grant. It feels as if the government would be happiest if all the elderly and disabled would just die because of all the penalties they’ve imposed on us together with all the lower paid people, but not against the better paid, like themselves. We’re definitely not all in it together . I’m disgusted with the inequality of everything at present and annoyed that the day government announced the cuts on the fuel allowance, I read that they get free heating for two homes, and also that one hundred government ministers went over to America to support their elections. Such a big expense for such a trip would have helped to fill the big black hole that they are going on about instead of penalising all the pensioners and lower paid people. The well of people don’t know what it’s like to be impoverished.
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A.
Hi Mrs Maguire,
Thank you for contacting us, we really appreciate your comment.
I’m so sorry to hear about the problems you are having and I completely understand why you feel sad and frustrated by the current heating situation that so many pensioners like yourself are facing at the moment.
This is information that you are probably already aware of, however, due to recent changes in Winter Fuel Payment eligibility criteria, to qualify for the 2024/25 payment you must now:
– have been born on or before 22 September 1958
– receive pension credit, universal credit, income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance, income-related employment and support allowance or receive at least £26 in child tax credit or working tax credit for the tax year 2024-25
– have been living in England or Wales for the qualifying week which began from the third Monday in September (16th -22 September 2024).
I am including a link to AgeUK‘s excellent comprehensive ‘Benefits and Entitlements’ web page. Please click here as I feel there may be something on the list that you may be entitled to?
If you haven’t already done so, please click here to see if you might qualify for one of the Government grants, such as ECO4 or the Great British Insulation Scheme. There are many health conditions that qualify to receive these types of grants, so, please check to see if yours is amongst them and we will endeavour to help you further.
Wishing you all the best and I hope that this has helped somewhat.
The Energy Advice Helpline team
There is to much red tape surrounding claims for heating for pensioners and everybody
Hi Paul,
Thanks again for contacting us and leaving a comment.
We completely understand and feel your frustration here too! The recent introduction of specific criteria to access heating allowances has left so many people in the UK, particularly pensioners, now struggling to meet their heating costs.
Unfortunately at this present time, we have no control over these changes. However, we strongly advise that those affected check their eligibility for other benefits, particularly pension credit.
It’s estimated that there is currently 23 billion pounds worth of benefits that remain unclaimed. If you belong to a household that collectively earns less than 31k, have any children, caring responsibilities or long-term health conditions, you may be entitled to some of these. Please click here. to access various benefits calculators.
The Energy Advice Helpline Team.