CAB Dealing with soaring electricity bills
I have been off from work since last October as I recover from an operation, and won’t be ready to get back to work for another few months. However, while my employer understands my situation, my sick pay has halved and money is tight. I have looked in to claiming Universal Credit, but, because my other half is working full time, I am told we don’t qualify. Is there any other help available?
It may be that you don’t qualify for Universal Credit as this benefit is means tested, but it is worth getting a benefit check to look at this as things like children or rent costs, or carer responsibilities can increase the amount of money the Department of Work and Pensions calculates that you need.
However, as long as you have been earning enough over the past couple of years to have built up national insurance credits, and are not being paid a large private pension, you will be able to claim and receive contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).
This also sometimes called ‘new style ESA’ and this can be claimed from when you have been off work for over 28 weeks – (when statutory sick pay ends – and is paid on top of any contractual sick pay you are still getting at that point.
Many people don’t claim for this as they don’t know about it. If you are applying late, ESA can be backdated for up to three months if you ask for it and provide a valid fit note.
New style ESA starts at £74.70 per week for the first three months after you claim.
I live in an electricity only flat and have storage heaters. I thought that I would be on a cheaper rate of electricity at night, but noticed on my bill that there was just one rate and my supplier has confirmed this. What should I do?
The majority of people in Scotland who use storage heating have a ‘white meter’ which separates the energy used in the daytime and at night.
They usually have a tariff with their provider which sees them pay significantly less for night-time use.
On a lot of tariffs the night-time rate applies in the seven hours between midnight and 7am, and many suppliers may refer to this as ‘economy-7’.
If you don’t have a white meter, there will likely be a cost to have one installed. Bear in mind that it may only be worth doing this if you are very confident that you are using a lot more electricity at night, than during the day.
Our children had been asking for us to get a pet for ages. We got them a rabbit, but it soon seemed poorly and we took it to the vet. The vet had to put the rabbit down, and so, as well as the children being left devastated, we also had the vet bill to pay. This doesn’t seem fair.
When you buy a pet from a shop or organisation, your consumer rights are the same as when you buy any item or product.
This means you should be able to get a refund or a replacement pet from the shop because your rabbit became ill and died soon after you bought it.
As you had to spend money taking the rabbit to the vet so soon after you bought it, you should ask the trader you bought it from to cover the cost of the vet’s fees.
You have fewer consumer rights if you buy a pet from a private seller. In that case, the pet just needs to “match its description”.
If the health of the pet isn’t mentioned in any advert you responded to and you haven’t asked the seller about the health of the rabbit, you may find that there isn’t much you can do to get your money back.