Wenceslas and gathering winter fuel (payments)
Stay warm!
You can get help with paying for heating
You could be entitled to heating benefits
It is great to hear all the old Christmas Carols at this time of year. Good King Wenceslas is one of my favourites. The real Wenceslas was considered a martyr and saint immediately after he was murdered by his brother. The stories about him suggested that he rose from his bed every night and went round churches in his bare feet with only one attendant giving alms to wretched people. It must have been chilly.
Good Kind Wenceslas donated winter fuel
In the Christmas carol the King sees a poor man gathering “winter fuel” on a snowy night, and every footprint he made in the snow was warm enough to heat up the feet of his page as the two of them go after the peasant to provide him with logs, wine, and meat. It is supposed to have happened on St Stephen’s night. December 26th. I would have put up this blog then, but I have another treat for my readers in the form of turtle doves that day… more of that later.
The great thing about the Good King W is that he went personally to sort some basic things for the poor man. Heat and food.
Help for winter fuel
Few people with dementia and carers at home depend on logs from the forest these days. With the rising price of gas and electricity, you might think we are coming to that, but there is help with winter fuel that you ought to know about and tell people about.
There are extra services available to help manage energy use if someone is on the Priority Services Register. The register is a free and voluntary system that your supplier uses to ensure the correct support is given to the most vulnerable customers. Those who qualify include people who have reached state pension age, people who are disabled or have a long-term medical condition, and people who have a hearing or sight condition. If the older person you care for has dementia that would count as a mental health condition for the purposes of the register.
How to apply for the Priority Services Register
You can apply by contacting the energy supplier or network operator. Give them your contact details and as much information as you can about the needs of the person you care for. The supplier passes the details to the network operator to add them to the register. If there is a different supplier for gas and electricity you need to contact them both.
The help they can get includes priority support in an emergency. So they could provide heating and cooking facilities if the supply is cut off. They can give advance notice of planned power cuts. If nobody can read the meter then they can provide a meter reading service or a smart meter. As a carer you can be nominated to receive communications and bills so that you can deal with them on behalf of the older person.
Suppliers can offer free gas safety checks every 12 months. You can request a safety check whether the person lives alone or with others and has reached state pension age and gets one of the means tested benefits.
Ofgem support
The Ofgem website has details of social schemes which support people who are living in fuel poverty or a fuel poverty risk group. There is more about this on finance as well as information about cold weather payments. Suppliers are obliged to promote the measures that improve the ability of low income, fuel poor and vulnerable households to heat their homes. The actions required are those that result in heat savings, such as the replacement of a broken heating system, or the upgrade or an inefficient one. The larger suppliers can help if you are struggling with a bill. Ask them.
Three hints
Remember that keeping warm is important
Check out whether you are eligible for any support schemes
The larger energy companies have trust funds if you are struggling to pay a debt
If you would like more information, you can buy my book Dementia, the One Stop Guide or Care Homes: When, Why and How to Choose a Care Home. I am available for consultancy for families or organisations. And if you have any further queries or questions, or suggestions for something you’d like to see me write on, please contact me via the Contact Page
See my new course on Dementia the One Stop Guide on Policy Hub here
