The Mayor urges people struggling to keep their homes warm to seek help.
Know Your Rights
As winter bites the Mayor is urging Londoners to find out what help is available to help them to heat their homes and save energy as part of the ‘Know your rights campaign’.
Research carried out by the GLA shows that 24% of Londoners are in fuel poverty.*
Many Londoners who are eligible for assistance with heating their homes or with free loft insulation and cavity wall insulation don’t know they can get help, or where to find it.
The Mayor’s fourth ‘Know your rights’ campaign aims to encourage people to find out what support is available by calling the Home Heat Helpline, free on:
0800 33 66 99, or visiting the website: www.homeheathelpline.org.uk.
The helpline is run by trained staff who can offer advice on grants for home insulation. Those struggling to pay their fuel bills are transferred to the ‘vulnerable customers’ department of their energy company to get the help they need.
The Home Heat Helpline is open 9am-8pm Monday to Friday and 10am-2pm on Saturdays. The hard of hearing can use the minicom service on:
0800 027 2122.
The government recently launched its Check, Switch, Insulate to Sav£ website to help people save on their energy bills.
* An estimated 24 per cent of households in London are in fuel poverty. A household is said to be in fuel poverty if it spends more than ten per cent of its income on fuel to maintain comfortable warmth – 21 degrees for living area and 18 degrees for other rooms.
RE:NEW
This campaign is running alongside RE:NEW, the Mayor’s homes energy efficiency programme which is currently being deployed across London. The Mayor’s funding will retrofit 55,000 homes with energy efficiency measures by May 2012. The programme is operating in some of London’s most deprived wards and benefit checks are being offered alongside home energy surveys.
To find out if you are in an area which is getting the RE:NEW treatment go to the RE:NEW get-involved page.
Other sources of help and advice
If you are struggling with paying your bills, heating your home or in need of free debt advice, there are a number of organisations that can help.
Details of your local advice centre can be found via the direct.gov website. Calls to advice centres may be charged at local rates.
Free debt advice is available from Capitalise, a Londonwide partnership of advice centres that aims to help Londoners in debt or at risk of experiencing debt. Find out more on the Capitalise website at: www.capitalise.org.uk
Other useful links:
Get information from Citizens Advice, and find your local Citizens Advice Bureau here: www.adviceguide.org.uk
www.consumerfocus.org.uk/feature/consumer-energy-conference
