Here is a happy story – like lots of people, my energy company has changed, though it seemed to take months before I had an email from my new company, welcoming me and telling me what my bill was likely to be – huge, it turns out (sound familiar?)…. 4 figures in debt – I could not believe it, especially as I had cleared my balance this time last year, and was still paying a direct debit every month. A friend told me about Warm Connections; they are based from Aberfeldy and offer home energy advice, including helping to find support with unmanageable bills. Most important – they are free. I got in touch, spoke to Anna and arranged a time for them to visit. Anna and her husband Tom work together, and when they arrived we chatted through electricity usage and habits in the home; they made some easy-win suggestions for saving electricity, checked my radiators were set right, and added some insulation to pipes. Then we got down to the nitty-gritty of the offending bill.
Long story short, using the information I gave them Anna and Tom submitted an application for a crisis support payment, and within less than two days they had heard that the application had been successful and to my amazement a four figure payment would be made direct to my energy company….imagine my relief!! This piece of news meant that the majority of my outstanding balance would very soon be paid off.
So, why was my electricity bill so high? In part it was old, inefficient heaters which my housing association have now upgraded. I am also at home a lot and so the heating is on more than average. My direct debit will still need to go up, but at least I now have a chance to make it work. Warm Connections were just what I needed. There was no sense of rush – Anna and Tom spent the time and worked through the challenges, understanding my specific needs and suggesting solutions. You know the best bit of all – I think they were just as pleased as me when the money came through. Thanks to you both.
From Warm Connections: we are very aware that helping someone out of a crisis is essential, but at Warm Connections we are also committed to helping make the changes to our houses and the way we live to break the cycle of winter fuel debt. We can all make small changes to lessen our energy bills, and there are grants and loans to help with the all-important extra insulation, draught-proofing etc which are necessary to keep the heat in our homes rather than it escaping into the outside world.