No matter how hard people like me try, we’ll never be able to pay the obscene amounts energy companies are charging
- This article is part of the heat or eat diaries: a series from the frontline of Britain’s cost of living emergency
They’ve been talking about it for weeks now. Every time they do, I’m almost sick. But talking about it is still different from it actually happening. Well, not any more. This is the day. The energy price cap rise is here, and it doesn’t bear thinking about. Why? Because there is simply no way I can even begin to think about how I could pay it. It’s a non-starter. So what do people like me do? Answers on a postcard please to Liz at Ain’t-Got-A-Bleeding-Clue Lane, SW England.
In October last year, my bill went up to about £1,200 a year. As a single mum of two youngsters, getting no help from their dads, working part-time because of my disabilities, it was unaffordable. That’s when I decided I’d better get an energy meter, and pay upfront. I’ve still got a bill of £495 from my pre-meter days. I haven’t paid it yet, and I’m scared that’s going to come back on me in winter when I have to put the heating back on. You know what’s most disgusting? People like me who pay on meters are charged at a higher rate. I heard on the radio that I’ll be looking at £600 for January alone because I can’t spread out the payments through the year.
As told to Simon Hattenstone. Liz is in her 40s and lives in the south-west of England. Her name has been changed
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