@britishgashelp British Gas, disconected my boiler won't install new, newborn baby with cold

[surrey_36]

Hi to anyone that can help!

Ive got a current debt of around 550 on electricity and about 250 on gas that British gas finially talked me into paying by pre payment meter approx. 20 months ago. I was struggling to pay the debt and so they suggested this as the - well only route becuase unless i paid the debt i would be cut off completely.

 

Now my boiler has broken and is non repairable (25 years old!) - British gas disconnected it as its unsafe and british gas gave me a quote for a new boiler I could not go ahead becuase my poor recent credit history (we lost family business of 20 years about 3 years ago)

 

Anyway I am using an imersion heater for hot water (thank god have hot water!) and british gas gave me 2 x fan heaters, ever since the electricity has been costing about £15 a day to heat the house. My Mum seems to think that the pre payment meter customers are on a higher tariff.

 

I have a new born baby and bless him he has a cold and i just wish there was something i could do, but the cheapest quote ive had for a new boiler installtion is £1500.00.

 

The house is cold and its difficult to dry our clothes etc with fan heaters, the bathroom towels just dont dry and I am finding myself having to wash everything more often - its a total viscous circle - in a couple of weeks time i will be out of pocket completely form the amount im spending on electric and could have contributed to a new boiler.

 

ANYONE that can advise me please I would be grtaeufl

THANK YOU:madgrin:

[dpick]

Hi this may not be of any help but I would talk to your local CAB they may be able to point you in right direction to get help with a boiler especially with new child.

 

dpick

[Noel Hopkins]

The five big energy companies signed up for a scheme to help people pay their large bills, but they don't tell anyone that it exists.

 

Secondly Is it legal in 2011 to have a new born baby living in these conditions. You could argue that you could be done for child neglect due to no fault of your own (British gas have a duty of care by law)

 

Seek advice for CAB

[MrHandyman]

Hi Surrey

 

Sorry to hear about your situation.

 

Was your boiler disconnected during a service or repair visit?

 

The engineer will have left you some paperwork with an indication of whether the boiler is "Not to current standards", "At Risk" or "Immediately Dangerous" - can you tell me which is selected?

 

With regards to a new boiler, the best option to secure one without a hefty up front cost is on credit, however if you're credit rating is poor you will need to pay up front. There are likely some grants available, and sometimes local authorities can offer crisis loans.

 

Also, if you meet certain criteria you may be eligible for a credit of around £120 on your meter for winter. Call BG energy on 0800 048 0303 and ask about this.

 

Mr H

[danielr]

Secondly Is it legal in 2011 to have a new born baby living in these conditions. You could argue that you could be done for child neglect due to no fault of your own (British gas have a duty of care by law)

There is no neglect going on here: There is both heating, and hot water, hot water by immersion heater, and heating by electric heater. -many houses don't actually have gas supplies so this is how it's done!

 

Practically, I don't know whether you would be able to afford to do this, but the oil filled radiator heaters are a little more efficient and cheaper to run than electric fan heaters. you could consider buying one of those at least for the babies room.

 

I'd also suggest only switching the immersion heater on to heat up water for washing, and when you want to do dishes boiling a kettle to fill the bowl then add cold water to make it comfortable.

I'd also suggest filling the baby bath in this manner as it'll save you quite a lot of money to not heat around 60 litres of water in a tank for the sake of wanting 10 litres to do the dishes! I know it sounds a bit basic, and it takes a little getting used to (turning on the tap and no hot water coming out at certain times of day). but having been in situations similar to yours I can tell you that it's saving money that you don't need to spend that will really count!

[rick89]

Harsh buggers! hope you get it sorted

[branney]

Practically, I don't know whether you would be able to afford to do this, but the oil filled radiator heaters are a little more efficient and cheaper to run than electric fan heaters. you could consider buying one of those at least for the babies room.

 

I'd also suggest only switching the immersion heater on to heat up water for washing, and when you want to do dishes boiling a kettle to fill the bowl then add cold water to make it comfortable.

I'd also suggest filling the baby bath in this manner as it'll save you quite a lot of money to not heat around 60 litres of water in a tank for the sake of wanting 10 litres to do the dishes! I know it sounds a bit basic, and it takes a little getting used to (turning on the tap and no hot water coming out at certain times of day). but having been in situations similar to yours I can tell you that it's saving money that you don't need to spend that will really count!

 

i agree. also, when i lived in a flat with no gas and no double glazing, i found the halogen heaters to be worth their weight in gold. they are cheaper to buy than oil-filled heaters, costing under £10. what they do is give instant heat to the objects in front of them, rather than heating a whole room (which is ideal if you have high ceilings as normal heaters heat the air, which then rises and so a high-ceiling room will take longer to heat)

 

so what i would suggest is heat your main room as you are doing now*, and have the halogen heaters available in other rooms for when you need instant heat for a small amount of time. for instance, when changing your clothes, or when you have popped into the house and will be going straight out again (so heating the whole house would be a waste of energy).

 

* or heat the living room during the day, and the room the baby sleeps in at night (eg. your bedroom) but not 2 rooms all the time!

 

halogen heaters can be found in local hardware stores, ebay, kelkoo (kelkoo search showed me that maplin sold an 800w for £4.94 or a 1200w for £8.94). each heater has 2 or 3 bulbs of 400w each, so you can vary the power - i measured 350w each at the power outlet so i would use the 350w figure if trying to calculate how much it will cost through your pre-pay meter. i would suggest getting 2 of the smaller ones, then you can vary from 350w to 1400w, and you can have the heat coming from 2 angles - from experience if you sit close to the larger one you can feel like you are burning on one side and cold on the other!!

 

PS - i did the same thing with the kettle for dishes. there was NO need to heat the whole water tank for dishes since we had an electric shower so it seemed a waste! can i suggest adding a little cold water before the boiling water if using a plastic basin - boiling water causes many plastics to release Bisphenol compounds, which were recently banned from babies bottles!

[citizenB]

Surrey, could you please let us know of any outcome ?

[389shell]

Hi, not sure of your financial situation but I've found this if it helps

 

If you or the person you care for have any difficulty paying gas or electricity bills, there are several options.

Social tariffs

 

All energy providers must provide social tariffs to their vulnerable customers. Social tariffs aim to protect people on low incomes and those who are vulnerable due to old age or disability.

In keeping with official regulations, social tariffs can be no higher than their lowest deal on offer. Social tariffs are there to protect vulnerable people from high fuel and electricity prices. If you're struggling to meet fuel costs, you can ask if you're eligible to be moved to a social tariff.

Eligibility criteria may change from supplier to supplier. However, examples of people who may be entitled to social tariffs include households that are receiving:

• Pension Credit
  
• Income Support
  
• income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
  

You may also qualify if you receive a disability or severe disability entitlement with any child tax credits.

If you're looking after a vulnerable person or are vulnerable yourself, talk to your energy supplier to see if you can switch tariffs.

 

Also

 

If you're on certain benefits you will receive an extra cold weather payment if the temperature where you live is (or forecast to be) 0ºC or below for at least seven consecutive days between November 1 and March 31. The payment is £25 a week for the winter of 2009/10.

The benefits that will make you eligible for this payment include:

• Pension Credit
  
• Income Support
  
• income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
  
• income-based Employment and Support Allowance
  

If you're claiming because you're on Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance or income-based Employment and Support Allowance, you must also:

• be receiving a disability or pensioner premium
  
• be responsible for a child under five; or
  
• be receiving Child Tax Credit that includes one of the disability elements
  

Fuel Direct

 

This is a system that allows people on certain benefits to have money deducted from their benefit and paid directly to gas or electricity suppliers. You will be allowed to do this if you're receiving Pension Credit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance or income-based Employment and Support Allowance.

A sum of £3.25 a week can be deducted from your benefit to pay off the arrears, as well as a further amount for your current costs. In some cases, the deduction can be made without your consent but there's a maximum amount that can be deducted from your benefit.

Crisis loans

 

You may be eligible for a crisis loan to pay off arrears on fuel that was needed in an emergency, as well as an amount to cover future costs. You don't have to show that you're receiving benefit but you have to show, among other things, the following:

• you don't have enough resources to meet the immediate short-term needs of you or your family
  
• the loan is for an emergency and it's the only way to prevent serious damage or serious risk to the health and safety of you or a member of your family
  
• you're likely to be able to repay the loan
  

If you've been disconnected or are likely to be disconnected, you could argue that lack of adequate heating could pose a serious risk to your health or the health of the person you're looking after.

If you need a crisis loan to pay for a powercard or token, the amount you need for fuel arrears should be awarded separately from the amount you need for current consumption

 

from this website http://www.nhs.uk/CarersDirect/moneyandlegal/finance/Pages/Utilitybills.aspx

 

Keep us updated and good luck.

[389shell]

Also found this after poking around forums

 

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/On_a_low_income/DG_10018661

 

It takes you to a Warmfront application where they will install a full central heating system if yours is broken, so if only your boiler needs replacing then it shouldn't be a problem at all. Also on the forum the person who got the grant said that they didn't actually reach the criteria but after phoning their local authority they said they did under their 'local' criteria, so it may be worth phoning them up about it too.