Most benefits come through eligibility to one, or more of the state benefits, such as Income Support, Disability Living Allowance, Housing Benefit, or Jobseeker’s Allowance. And various fuel grants and schemes are available from the government backed initiatives which come under the umbrella title of the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme and include such names as Warm Front, Warm Deal and Warm Homes.

And help can also come from your energy company, like British Gas, which has devised a number of products and schemes to reduce the pain of rising fuel bills.

Brought together under their Essentials Advance package, British Gas works with its qualifying customers to not only help with bill payments, but also to pro-actively help them save energy.

The Essentials Advance package includes advice on energy efficiency, free insulation (which could help you save well over £250 off future bills) and a discount of £50 off your next bill, after your free insulation has been provided.

To be considered for Essentials Advance, you need to be an existing British Gas customer and receive any following:

Disability living allowance
Pension credit
Attendance allowance
Council tax benefit
Housing benefit
Income support
Income based job seeker allowance
War disablement pension (which includes either mobility supplement or constant attendance allowance)
Disablement pension ( which includes constant attendance allowance)
Child Tax credit (where relevant income is £15,592 or less)
Working Tax credit (where relevant income is £15, 592 or less).

If you think you are eligible, British Gas have a network of energy experts who will come around and visit you, talking you through the various schemes and plans that exist to help.

They can be reached via the telephone on 0800 072 7100.

They also provide help with debt support, recommend charities that also help and suggest other home energy plans.

But if you are having a problem with your British Gas bill, do call them on 0800 048 0404 and talk it through with specialist advisers.

British Gas also has established an independent charity, the British Gas Energy Trust, which offers existing customers help via grants and Further Assistance Payments.

For further information, visit: www.britishgasenergytrust.org.uk.

British Gas also has links with six other charities and regularly liaise on how to help people with their fuel bills. They also offer a ‘here to HELP’ programme which offers free, or subsidised insulation, and other key advice, via four of their charity partners, namely Help the Aged, Scope, RNIB and Money Advice Trust. More information can be obtained by telephoning 0845 605 2535.

Furthermore, the British Gas Home Energy Care Team provides help and advice for over half a million of its most vulnerable customers, including providing bills in alternative formats, gas safety checks and appliance controls that are specially adapted for older, ill, or disabled customers. Call 0845 955 5404 for more information.

And if English is not your native language, then British Gas can discuss your bill in a number of other languages, including Polish, Somali, Urdu, Turkish, Bengali and Punjabi.

All this is one very good reason to make sure British Gas is your energy provider.

This article was wrote by eCommerce Associate for British gas boilers

Technorati Tags: Battling, bills, Fuel, Help, there

As the name suggests, these cards repay a portion of your total spending on gas. The proportion is typically 4 or 5 per cent, though some cards offer higher percentages (up to 10 per cent) during the introductory period. The money will normally be credited to your account by the end of the month concerned, though you may have to wait until you have accrued a certain amount – say $20 – before you can redeem it.

Many gas rebate credit cards offer rebates only for certain brands, and some can only be used at specific locations. This is excellent for people who regularly use the same gas station to fill up, but may not be so good if you are the sort of person who likes to shop around for the cheapest fuel, or if your job regularly takes you many miles from home. Likewise, if you are running low on gas, looking for somewhere that will accept your particular credit card can be tedious. Fortunately, however, there is a growing number of cards that can be used at any outlet, with any brand of gas.

Another advantage of gas rebate credit cards is that they will often give you cashback on your other purchases as well, albeit at a lower rate. For example, you might get 5 per cent cashback on your gas purchases, and 1 per cent on any other purchases made with the card.

Gas rebate credit cards are becoming increasingly popular with drivers who want to reduce their motoring costs. This is especially true if you drive a truck or SUV with high fuel consumption, or if your job involves a lot of driving.

Most card issuers pay back the customer in the form of a credit to their account, but some offer gift certificates or other rewards. In some cases you are given a choice. The rewards on offer will have a greater monetary value than the cash rebate, so if you genuinely need the items concerned you may be better off accepting the rewards.

Finally, it’s important to shop around before you buy a gas rebate credit card and read the small print carefully. Work out your typical annual spend on gas, and then see which card’s terms will offer the most advantageous deal for you. One thing to watch for is that many cards impose an upper limit for the top rate of cashback. The Discover® Platinum Gas Card, for example, pays back 5% on your first $1,200 in gas purchases every year, but after that the rate falls to a less exciting 0.25 to 0.50 per cent.

Technorati Tags: Bill, Card, Credit, Help

And for some people, it’s only the one bar on the fire that keeps them alive. The television news often has images of the country’s older citizens smothered in blankets and desperately trying to keep the chill out.

Dick Strawbridge of BBC’s It Ain’t Easy Being Green fame recently said on TV that a room has to be at 14C to be regarded as comfortable, whereas a warm room should be at 19C. Now, 14C might come as something as a surprise, because that it not very comfortable at all for most people. Indeed, occasionally heated rooms in a house which turns the heating off during the day can touch 9C when the outside gets cold, and that’s pretty chilly. Indeed, for pensioners and children, the temperature should be at least 21C, if not 24C, in harsh external conditions.

When your body gets older, your metabolism usually slows and with that your internal heating system is not so efficient as when you were a bouncing teenage. So for many of the elderly, the recent high energy prices on top of a long spate of really cold weather, has thrown a huge spanner into the works.

And this is where The British Gas Help the Aged Partnership comes in, with the aim of helping pensioners beat the threat, ever-growing, of fuel poverty.

They have produced a free pack which has been created to help older people make full use of their incomes through the maximum take-up of available benefits and the exploitation of energy efficiency techniques.

The pack contains three main elements: Check; Claim; and, Insulate.

To get a copy of the winter pack, you can download it from here, or complete the online order form, or telephone 0800 089 0800.

To start with, check that your are receiving all the benefits to which you are entitled and that you are up-to-speed with all the latest energy efficient techniques.

There are a number of organisations out there to help you with this, including The Pension Service on 0800 99 1234, or try www.helptheaged.org.uk, or www.direct.gov.uk.

You can also contact your Citizens Advice Bureau. If you’re worried about debts and what effect it might have on your situation, get hold of the Consumer Credit Counselling Service on 0800 138 111, or the National Debtline on 0808 808 4000. 

Secondly, make sure you claim for what you are entitled. No-one is going to judge you, or criticise you, for making use of the all the benefits out there.

Thirdly, carry out the necessary insulation if you feel that your property is lacking some of the main ways of keeping the chill at bay. Just insulating your loft properly can save you in the region of £200 a year. But don’t forget cavity wall insulating, which can also make a big impact.

Also, take time to understand your heating controls, including your thermostat and timer controls, allowing you to warm up the house before you get up for example. Make sure your central hearting system has been serviced and if operating efficiently. And is your hot water tank insulated against heat loss – it should have a nice thick padded jacket to keep it hot.

Are your windows protected against draughts? If you don’t have double glazing, which can be an expensive option, you could always purchase a DIY alternative which includes a plastic film. Think about if your curtains fit properly and if they drop over the room’s radiator, make sure you can tuck them behind, so that the heat is allowed into the room.

Consider where draughts might be getting into the house. Feel under the doors and consider placing extruders around to help keep the chill out and the heat in.

For more tips on heating and grants, call 0800 952 0600 if you live in England for the Warm Front initiative and 0800 316 2815 in Wales, or go on www.energysavingtrust.org.uk.

And make sure you keep warm as well as your property. Check windows and doors at night to help keep heat in; make sure you get regular hot drinks and meals; dress properly for the conditions (put away the Bermuda shorts and get the sweaters out); moving about will help increase your circulation and help your warmth; and, just make sure you’re doing your bit by keeping your energy consumption down by switching off unnecessary appliances and also turning the lights off when not needed.

And one final thing: read a book about somewhere hot and exciting, and imagine yourself there. It might just help.

This article was wrote by eCommerce Associate for British gas boilers

Notes

Check you are getting regular hot meals and hot drinks

as they provide warmth and energy.

Check you keep moving Any activity, even vacuuming,

will improve circulation.

Check you dress appropriately – day and night.

Wrap up warmly, indoors and out, ideally with several layers

of thin clothing to trap the heat.

Check you are keeping your fuel bills down:

• switch the lights off when you leave the room

• turn off appliances rather than leaving them on standby

• don’t overfill the kettle – boil only what you need

• replace standard light bulbs with energy-saving ones

• turn down the washing machine to 30°

• consider having a shower instead of a bath as this usesless hot water and therefore saves on heating costs.

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