June Case Study
Tom lives with his wife and children in a council house. He is the sole carer for his wife, who is unable to leave her bed without support, whilst struggling with COPD himself. This puts a huge strain on the finances of the home and, with energy debt piling up to over £8000, Tom was feeling exhausted and defeated. Luckily, a social prescriber saw the challenges that Tom was facing and referred him to us for support with his energy bills.
After speaking with Tom, Jeanette, one of our outreach officers, became his new advocate. She could hear how tired he sounded and what his day-to-day was like, and was eager to make his and his family’s life more comfortable. Firstly, Jeanette filled in the National Grid Priority Service Register application: this meant that Tom would be provided emergency support in case of a power cut, which is incredibly important due the family’s dependence on an oxygen machine and nebuliser. Secondly, Jeanette supported Tom with filling out the Severn Trent Big Difference Scheme application, which would reduce their water bills by up to 70%.
Jeanette then talked Tom through the internal schemes that we had available, and collected all the information and evidence needed to apply. Over the next couple of months, Tom received a mixture of physical measures and fuel payments to help support his energy costs. The Cadent Foundation Winter Support Scheme provided Tom with a £70 fuel payment as well as an air fryer and self-heated mattress topper for his wife’s bed; an internal project, funded by Warwickshire County Council, also supplied two oil-filled radiators to help provide additional warmth to his wife’s room without needing to turn the heating up in the whole house.
But Jeanette didn’t stop there: she contacted the food bank and other external organisations, who supplied another fuel voucher, electric blanket, food parcels and debt advice from a specialist. She spoke to Tom’s energy supplier and the government to help fix problems around his meter readings and eligibility for the Warm Home Discount. When a new internal scheme opened, Jeanette contacted Tom to let him know and was able to provide an additional £495 fuel payment.
Whilst Jeanette supported Tom with energy schemes, our Benefits and Financial Welfare Manager, Bal, worked with him to make sure that he and his wife were getting the correct benefit payments. This support from Bal, led to Tom receiving additional income and backpay from a further three benefits. Tom received over £1600 in arrears and would be gaining an additional £195 a week to his income. This meant that Tom could pay more towards his energy bills every month, without having to take away from other essentials.
Lastly, Jeanette was able to make a case for a special-circumstances payment from the Warwickshire Household Support Fund; this was an involved process that relied on Warwickshire County Council’s trust in our expertise after many years of working together. The case was approved, and all of Tom’s energy debt was paid off.
With a clean slate, increased household income, and additional energy efficiency measures – Tom could focus on the more important things. His energy stress was relieved, and he was continuing to work with a debt professional to ensure that he had ongoing support to help avoid future problems.