Are you living in fuel poverty? Take the 1 in 10 test and find out

Welsh householders are being asked to take the ‘one in ten test’ – to see if they spend more than a tenth of their income on energy and are in need of special help and advice.

With around 260,000 Welsh homes estimated to be living in ‘fuel poverty’, the Home Heat Helpline (0800 33 66 99) is asking people to take a close look at their finances to see if they are spending more than £1 in every £10 of their income on electricity and gas. These people should call the Helpline for free advice on cutting bills and accessing grants to insulate your home for free.

Duncan Sedgwick, chief executive of the Energy Retail Association, which runs the Home Heat Helpline, says: “Now is a good time to take a close look at your finances and take the one in ten test. If you are on low income then you could be missing out on essential advice and financial support that could reduce energy costs as well as make bills more manageable. This is particularly important for vulnerable customers – such as pensioners, disabled people and those with young children.

“Over 20% of Welsh households may be living in fuel poverty, which is the result of a variety of factors including lower household incomes, hard to heat housing and higher energy prices. The Home Heat Helpline can offer guidance on how best tol solve these problems. “

He added: “If the one in ten test shows you are paying a lot of your income on energy, call the Home Heat Helpline now free of charge on 0800 33 66 99.

He added that people calling the Home Heat Helpline could benefit from:
• Reduced tariffs from their energy company
• Advice on reducing the amount they spend heating their home
• Access to grants for home insulation and to improve their heating system, and
• Support if they have special requirements due to a disability.

The Home Heat Helpline is funded by Britain’s leading energy suppliers and aims to help vulnerable customers who have problems heating their home. The helpline is the only service for all customers who have difficulties with heating their homes or paying for their energy bills no matter who their energy supplier is. It is staffed by expert advisors, including former health professionals who are trained to give advice on how to stay warm during cold weather. The Helpline can also take calls from intermediaries calling on behalf of vulnerable people, such as friends, family, carers, social workers or health visitors.

To help those worried about heating their homes the Helpline has produced a range of guides for consumers, charities and advice groups. These include digital guides that can be downloaded from the Home Heat Helpline website (www.homeheathelpline.org) which contain information and advice on insulating homes properly, making sure homes are as energy efficient as possible and providing information on how people can register for extra services to ensure they are warm for next winter.

Ends

Notes to Editors

For more information please contact Gwyn Thomas on 02920 555505

or Home Heat Helpline Campaign Manager Oliver Wright on 020 7747 5436, oliver.wright@energy-retail.org.uk

1. The Home Heat Helpline (0800 33 66 99) operates from Monday to Friday 9am-8pm and from 10am-2pm on Saturday. There is a free minicom number for deaf users (0800 027 2122), and the Helpline also has access to interpreters for those callers whose first language is not English. www.homeheathelpline.org

2. The Helpline is operated by The essentiagroup and is staffed by expert advisers, including former health professionals, who are trained to give advice on how to stay warm during the cold weather. They are also trained and authorised to deal with intermediaries calling on behalf of vulnerable customers, such as friends, carers, social workers or health visitors

3. The Energy Retail Association was established in October 2003 and is the only dedicated trade association for domestic energy suppliers in the UK. More information can be found at www.energy-retail.org.uk

4. The Home Heat Helpline, launched in October 2005, is a free service for all customers in Great Britain and is funded by the six major domestic energy suppliers. It is the only telephone helpline service that aims to tackle fuel poverty. Since 2003 the six major energy suppliers have spent over £1 billion on energy saving schemes that support vulnerable households. In addition, they spend a further £100 million per year on their various voluntary company initiatives that tackle fuel poverty. The industry is fully committed to playing its part in this important issue and may spend even more on this over the next three years.