Kill the Chill

Support Available

The Kill the Chill campaign aims to raise awareness of the support that is available to help people keep their homes warm and assist with fuel poverty. We are all aware now more than ever of how difficult it is to keep warm in the winter due to the high energy prices. There are a lot of things you can do in your home that can help you save money and stay warm and there are also a number of support mechanisms that are available to help people do this.

What can I do?

One of the key messages of Kill the Chill is to make sure you keep your heating on and stay warm enough in your home. It is also, however, important to make sure we don’t waste too much energy in our homes and there are a range of simple things we can do for that. Making sure we don’t leave lights or appliances on when we are not using them is a good way to save money around the home. There are also small tips of things you can do such as not filling the kettle too full, make sure there is a full load before putting on the dishwasher or washing machine and try not to leave electrical appliances on standby. This is just a small example of some of the things that you can do around the home. For more information on these kind of tips and a range of other things you can do to save energy and money visit www.tameside.gov.uk/toptips.

What is there to help me?

While there are a range of things that you might be able to do yourself around your home to save energy and money and also stay warm, there are a number of support mechanisms available to help people who need assistance in keeping warm in the winter. The problem with this is, it is never easy and there are a wide range of different things available for different people and the biggest battle is trying to find out what is out there to help you and what you might be eligible for.

The following are a few different support mechanisms that are available to help people keep warm in their homes. Further information on any of these can be found by contacting the Energy Saving Trust  on 0800 512 012.

• One of the main ways in which people are helped to keeping their homes warm is a government grant called Warm Front. This is a grant of up to £3,500 which is available for people who meet the qualifying criteria and is then used for home insulation, draft proofing and installing new heating systems. There are a range of different criteria for this grant but they mainly relate to whether you are over 60, whether you are on any of the qualifying benefits and whether you have children under 16 in the household. There is also a £300 voucher available for anyone who is over 60 and wants to get a replacement boiler. This is called the Warm Front Rebate Scheme. Please note that the Warm Front grant is not available for people who live in social housing.
• Social Tariffs are cheaper energy tariffs that each of the energy companies provide. They are obliged to provide at least one social tariff for their vulnerable customers but they do not advertise them well and they change regularly so it is always worth finding out whether you might be eligible for any social tariffs. There do tend to be eligibility criteria for these which are all different but they tend to focus on whether you are over a certain age or on any benefits or have any children under the age of 16.
• The magic boiler scheme is a scheme that aims to provide low cost new boilers to customers. This is worth looking into if you are thinking about getting a new boiler.
• The Priority Service Register is a register of people kept by the energy companies of people who need extra help and care with their fuel bills. Being on the register means that you cannot be disconnected from any of your utilities between the months of October to March. The best way to find out if you are eligible for this is to either contact the energy companies or speak to Consumer Direct.
• The Winter Fuel Payment  is a tax-free annual benefit, it is usually paid from November. From 21 September 2009, the new regulations provide for an increase in winter fuel payments for winter 2009/2010 – for people aged 60 and over, from £200 to £250; and for people aged 80 and over, from £300 to £400.
• The Cold Weather Payment  is made when the average temperature is recorded as 0C (32F) or below over seven consecutive days. It is made automatically to those who qualify. In order to be eligible for this payment you need to receive the following: pension credit or income support or income-based jobseeker's allowance and there is a child aged under five in your family.
• The utilities companies have trust fund which pay grants to their customers who are particularly low-income households facing financial difficulty and who may not be eligible for help from other government schemes.

For more information on the support mechanisms above and more please go to http://www.tameside.gov.uk/energyefficiency/adviceleaflet.