People earning 45K plus to receive Energy help

People on £45K a year have worked so hard to get that. They too have families and commitments. This country should desist giving to those who “won’t “ and give more to those who “can’t “.

Sick of it all! Scared for winter with health getting worse! Need to be warm but cannot afford it like many other older people! A good way of getting rid of us & making room for all the younger people as one young man stated during the pandemic! Soon be many frozen older bodies found & news media wondering why? Bitter much? Yes I am!

working people on 45k with rent or mortgage and children absolutely need financial help. That is not at all a lot of income, no matter how frugal they are

People on a basic state pension can receive a pension credit top up to £182.60 / wk. £9495 p.a. They can apply for council tax benefit, which helps, but although this is means tested, it is not classed as a means tested benefit for extra help with energy bills. There are many single pensioners who have to "live" on this income (more of an existance really). So I can understand the reaction when some pensioners find that people on 5 times their income are to receive exactly the same amount of help as they will.

I totally agree ! The energy companies continue to make massive profits year after year . We are all supposed to “save fir rainy day” does this not apply to them . Do the energy companies not plan for fuel increases at source? It’s not just households, how will our lovely small local coffee shops / small businesses/ local pubs etc keep their premises warm day after day . They won’t be able to afford to open their doors soon and I think we will see reduced opening hours eventually we will have to be understanding if jumpers are required while eating out soon, especially if we expect prices not to rise too much

£45K living down south, paying for transport to get to work and with children at University is not a lot at all.
I’m worried about how far pensions are expected to stretch.

I think everyone is worried. We all have outgoings, and getting into a competition about who gets more help, and who needs what is playing into the government's hands.

I’ll put this up again in case it might apply to someone.

Some years ago while helping a friend to receive pension credit I discovered that that she could get her service charges paid and her ground rent on her privately rented flat.

Smileless2012

Our combined standing charge for gas and electricity is 77p a day which I think is ridiculous, is anyone's any higher?

Yes ours! 85p per day from the 15th Sept!

Net Zero was always going to cost a hell of a lot, as well as being impossible in the time-frame given. I don't think people realised that, probably not even our soon to be ousted, over-influenced by his wife, PM.

As well as other world events, I think that may be part of the reason prices have risen so much and will continue to do so without government having a coherent and workable energy policy.

That is a lot Poppyred.

You do all realise this help is totally hypothetical right now?

At the moment Liz Truss thinks we’ll be able to pay the increase from tax cuts and a reduction in vat.
If you don’t pay tax and don’t spend on goods and services how will the shortfall be made up?
The s* will be hitting the fan very soon.

Part of me wonders if this is a massive distraction from all the other things hitting the fan for the Tories. When every news bulletin, talk show and discussion board is talking about cutting costs and the detail of how to help with bills, we are not talking about sewerage in water, the absent PM, whether to call the absent PM to account for his lies, the corruption around Covid and so on and so on.

When the new PM is crowned, s/he can announce a 'magnanimous' plan, which will make it more likely that they will be voted in in the GE. If we've thought that the bills will go up to more than £6k a year, then a 'cut' to £3k will seem generous.

Isn't it weird how they can increase the unit cost of power overnight when it goes up , yet can't decrease the rate to help everyone out? They could slash the prepayment card rate immediately just as they do when it goes UP !!! and another weird thing, HMRC know exactly what you're earning when it t comes to extracting tax and increasing the tax threshold etc etc,yet say they're not able to also slash the rates for those on low incomes to help them in this living hell we're all in at the moment. There are lies damn lies and statistics! And we're told that statistically the poorer paid benefit more from the govs easement measures than the mahoosively overpaid? Isn't life......weird?

Thats something I would like to see. In the beginning the Energy companies played fair with the consumers and the cost of fuel was kept at a level everyone could afford Then things changed and every year the cost went up more than in previous years and now we have the situation we are in now. I think the energy companies should be made to take less profit so that people can keep warm during the coming winter.

Why not nationalise them, so a small profit goes back into investment, and we pay for what we use plus workers' wages, not shareholders' profits?

karmalady

working people on 45k with rent or mortgage and children absolutely need financial help. That is not at all a lot of income, no matter how frugal they are

Indeed. Everyone should be entitled to same help.

Energy price is up to everyone. To no fault of their own.

grannyscott, are you suggesting that people with higher incomes have worked harder than the low-paid? Surely this depends on what kind of work you have chosen to go into. Some areas of the caring profession still don't pay much for all that it's back-breaking work, but many people who work their socks off in those jobs feel their work is more "ethical" than, say, a hedge fund manager.

Well I live in a two wage earner household where our joint incomes are around £45k. We are struggling, and will struggle even more during the winter, where do we sign up?

Is petrol/diesel cheap now given the cost of gas and electricity?

Friends who are both oaps, fixed their energy price just before the sh*t hit the fan. They have fixed for £85/month for 2 years but are eligible for any help from the government eg £400. Our supplier went bust 4 weeks before the end of our contract.
We are now paying £255/month and are also oaps. Is that fair? But how would you sort those who need help against those who don't?

It's fair inasmuch as they would have been stuck on £85 if the prices had come down, and anyone could have fixed. It's a bit like a fixed rate mortgage - you take your chance.

I don't think that basics like this should be a gamble, though. The price should be fixed by the government and not include huge profits.

I think it's fair everyone gets a leg up.
But please, no payments to second/third homes etc. That is ridiculous.
I have my boiler switched off at the moment. I switch it on when I need hot water. I am DREADING the winter. I'm north of the border. I have to put the boiler on to stop the pipes freezing.
It really will be heat or eat for me. I did try speaking to my supplier about the amount they'd increased my DD to. The operative decided I wasn't agreeing to the new amount and tried to put me through to collections..... at that point I owed a total of £11 fgs. Ridiculous.

DD and I were talking about this a couple of days ago. She and her husband are both on above average salaries but she says she is beginning to worry about how they are going to pay the bills. They have two children, don't smoke or drink, and both drive very elderly cars. I don't remember when they last had a holiday. I'm OK at the moment but it looks as if I shall have to start using my savings. It's nice to have savings but this is not what they were intended for. I got important work that needs to be done to the house, but I shall have to postpone it until we see how things are going.

I don't know if y'all are obtuse or what. It's obvious she means people who do not work because they choose not to, and who are on the dole, what we call the welfare system here. People in this category generally don't have bank accounts and keep their money (and any side gigs under wraps). They know how to take advantage of every welfare benefit there is. I don't know about the UK, but in the US, the more welfare you collect more things up open up to you. If you earn less than this amount of money you get free phones or extra benefits on phones apply to them, etc., And if you qualify for that benefit, it automatically opens the door for another benefit, and so on and so on. Again, this is here in the US, but you can get a whole lot of free stuff once you get on welfare. I think that is what the other poster is so bitterly resenting.