The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been urged to make changes to help benefit claimants. Campaigners have urged the Government to help those who claim Personal Independence Payment, Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and the LCWRA disability element of Universal Credit, with the price cap falling this weekend.
Birmingham Live reports that campaigners say that despite the Ofgem price cap coming down to £2,074, disabled people will still struggle because their energy consumption is much higher than other households. The new cap starting from July 1 will replace the Government's Energy Price Guarantee set at £2,500, so it will mean average bills going down by £426 a year.
The cap does not set the maximum a household will pay for their energy but limits the amount providers can charge them per unit of gas or electricity, so those who use more energy will pay more. Natalie Mathie at Uswitch.com said: "The first price cap drop in two years is confirmation that the tide is finally turning for long-suffering energy customers.
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"The average household can expect monthly direct debits to be set at £173, although typical seasonal usage may only see you spend £110 a month over the summer." But bills are likely to be far higher than average for people on disability benefits.
What are campaigners asking for?
James Taylor, Executive Director of Strategy at disability equality charity Scope, said there was a desperate need for the Government to make changes that offer discounted energy rates to people with chronic health conditions and disabilities as they will still have huge gas and electricity bills.
This is because they need their heating and specialist equipment switched on even in the summer when bills are naturally lower for most households, and are often housebound so they are using gas and electricity all day. Campaigners now want the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to work on a new plan to cut energy costs for people on disability payments.
Mr Taylor said: "We’re not out of the woods yet. Bills are still excruciatingly high for disabled people. The price cap isn’t a cap on bills, but a cap on the cost of each unit of energy used. We know that disabled people use more energy, and can't turn off their nebulisers or go without energy to charge wheelchairs and hoists.
"Life costs more if you are disabled. Our Disability Energy Support service is frequently called by disabled people in crisis with nowhere else to turn. The Government must introduce a social or discounted energy tariff for disabled people."
Why thousands are already excluded from energy bill help
The issue of disabled people battling with energy bills led to outrage last winter as thousands of people found themselves unexpectedly disqualified from getting the £150 Warm Home Discount handed out by the Government to help with bills in the colder months. The Warm Homes Discount gives a rebate on electricity bills as a one-off payment from suppliers sometime between October and March.
The Government announced a shake-up to the scheme and said it was targeting the discount at those with low incomes and high energy bills, which means some have now lost out. National Energy Action (NEA) and Scope says 500,000 households across England and Wales are now ineligible for the discount because Personal Independence Payment and Disability Living Allowance are no longer qualifying benefits.
However, the Government insists that the changes it has made will mean an extra 750,000 struggling households will receive the discount. This is mainly down to the fact that those claiming Housing Benefit can now get the payment for the first time.
A petition was launched asking the Government to go back to the previous criteria for the scheme. It said: "The Government must remove the impossible criteria and give back vital support to the most vulnerable, disabled, and sick. Many are more likely to have higher energy needs and be at home, as well as any medical equipment running costs. The new criteria are out of reach now for the majority. It must be amended and made accessible to the most in need. Fair and equal access must be restored."
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which oversees the Warm Home Discount, said: "The Government's objective is to focus the support towards those on the lowest incomes and in or at greatest risk of fuel poverty. To include non-means-tested benefits would mean that higher income households would become eligible for rebates and lower income households would lose out.
"Looking wider than the receipt of specific disability benefits, more people with disabilities and health conditions, not fewer, will receive a rebate; our analysis models an increase in the number of recipients who declare they have a long-term illness or disability by 160,000, an increase of 12 per cent compared to the current scheme. Furthermore, the proportion of rebates received by households with a disability or long-term illness will still be higher than the proportion of the fuel poor population or overall population with a disability."
You can check your eligibility for the Warm Home Discount here. You will need the name of your electricity supplier, details of any benefits you receive, and the size and age of your property. You can find this on Energy Performance of Buildings Data if your property has an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), or on property documents such as your tenancy agreement or insurance paperwork.
