Betty's Story:

Betty lives on her own in a property she owns and had been without heating and hot water for 3 years. She has been diagnosed with multiple health conditions, and shared that she had suffered a breakdown last year due to the stress and worry she was under.

She had her original heat pump fitted in 2014 but encountered issues early on and she contacted her local council to see if they could fix it, but this only exacerbated the situation resulting in her being left with a large energy debt as the system had been left running for 2 weeks.

One of Utilita's wonderful agents believed that this was an exceptional case and brought this to the attention of his superiors, Betty's local MP, and her local council. Betty had received a quote to get the work completed which was thousands of pounds, which she was unable to afford so she had been trying to save her DLA money for the last 3 years to get this fixed.

We reached out to Betty to discuss the support we could provide through One Call, That's All. We explained that we would be able to assist her with the purchase of the heat pump and Utilita would carry out the fitting.

Betty was overwhelmed with the support she had already received from Utilita and was then being provided by OCTA. Knowing that she was going to be warm and be able to wash in hot water again brought her to tears. She also explained that she could now invite her brother over to stay. She was too embarrassed before as she could not heat the house or provide hot water.

Betty has described this as a "miracle". The work they did was "marvellous" and having the heat and hot water back on is "life changing". She no longer has to wear lots of layers and sheep skin slippers.

Gareth's Story:

Gareth lives with his partner and 3 children. Gareth and his partner had been claiming Universal Credit, after he had been made redundant from his job. Due to this, his mental health had deteriorated significantly to the point where he was no longer able to work and was feeling suicidal.

Gareth's partner also experiences mental health issues, and the children have health conditions.

As a result of his mental health, Gareth felt unable to manage his finances. He was behind with rent, energy bills, council tax and advance loans on his benefits, and was having a large amount of money deducted from his Universal Credit each week. This placed him in a very difficult position when trying to manage his other bills, such as ongoing energy costs, food and creditors, and he had bailiffs at his door.

The situation resulted in Gareth not putting on his heating as he had to choose between eating and heating for his family. As the children require certain foods for their own health, Gareth chose food over heat. This led to arrears accruing on his energy accounts. The energy debt was also compounded by the fact he had old and inefficient second-hand appliances, such as his cooker, washing machine and fridge-freezer.

Due to their financial issues, Gareth had also been using the local foodbank on a weekly basis and was only eating one or two hot meals a week himself. Following an emergency assessment by an adviser, we were able to immediately provide a food voucher to help provide the family with healthy food, and an emergency fuel top up. We have also provided 3 new winter duvets to help keep the family warm through the night.

Crucially, we were able to completely clear his energy arrears. This reduced his financial burden and allowed him to focus on just managing his ongoing consumption moving forward. This has also helped to reduce the stress and anxiety they are all feeling regarding their situation.

Although his energy arrears have been cleared, he still has considerable deductions coming from his Universal Credit each week, and high energy costs due to inefficient appliances. We are therefore in the process of providing Gareth with new energy efficient appliances, such as a gas cooker, washing machine and fridge freezer, which will help reduce his energy costs.

To address ways to deal with his rent and council tax arrears, as well as examine his ongoing budget, Gareth has been referred to one of our specialist Debt Advisers. They will examine whether the deductions could be reduced or removed, putting more money back into his budget, and provide longer term advice around his other debts.

Now, with the weight of the crisis lifted, Gareth is feeling hopeful and looking to get back into work.