The heating oil households who Labour won’t help...

[dutchman]

New support eligibility criteria leave rural homeowners exposed to sky-high prices



When Daryl Whitcombe moved to North Norfolk from London last May, it was his first time living in a home warmed by heating oil.

Less than a year later, he is staring down the barrel of an enormous heating oil bill after prices skyrocketed as a result of the US-Israel war with Iran. A 500-litre order that would typically cost him around £300 is now being priced at £800.

Mr Whitcombe’s home is one of around 1.5 million in Britain that is not connected to the gas grid and so relies on heating oil.

Energy regulator Ofgem has no responsibility for heating oil, so these households are not protected by the energy price cap, leaving them immediately exposed to price spikes.

As a result, Sir Keir Starmer said on Monday that the Government would act to support “vulnerable” heating oil customers by providing £53m for households that are “most exposed” to price shocks, but critics argue the support does not go far enough.

Unwilling to bite the bullet and pay the inflated price, Mr Whitcombe, 61, has just two inches of oil left in his 3.5 ft storage tank. He has opted to ride out the price shock, dialling down his home thermostat to 15C.

He said: “Effectively, the heating oil isn’t being used – the only time the heating comes on is probably first thing in the morning because the nights get incredibly cold. I wear sweaters and puffer jackets. We just have to get through it.”

In England, funding for the government support will be distributed by local authorities through a Crisis and Resilience Fund that comes into effect from April 1.

Councils will have discretion when allocating this support, but typically only households in receipt of benefits or with low incomes will be eligible.

This means many heating oil customers, including Mr Whitcombe, will be unlikely to benefit from the offer.

He said: “We’ll slip through the cracks. It would’ve been preferable if they’d capped the price of heating oil. That would have been far more useful for everyone across the board.

“[Even if we did receive help], it’s also reliant on the council and how they administer it. Let’s say they get their act together fairly quickly, and that starts in April; it’s probably going to be too late because those two inches of oil will have gone.”

Mr Whitcombe said: “Even if only half a million households claim, that’s just £106 each. When your bill has gone from £300 to £800, £100 really doesn’t help. It seems to be something that has been entirely overlooked by the Government. But then, you don’t have oil tanks in Islington, do you?”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/well-slip-through-the-cracks-heating-oil-households-labour/