Getting help with money and energy bills

The price of things is in the news a lot these days. You hear stories about the things you have to buy day to day, and what you spend money on to live. Lots of things cost more, like heating bills, council tax , food, rent, and even my broadband bill has gone up!

But wages for lots of people who have jobs, and benefits for people who need them, haven’t gone up at the same rate. As a person with a learning disability who relies on benefits to top up my wages, I feel it’s very important that there is help for people who are facing cost of living increases.

I work at Mencap part time, but lots of other people with a learning disability don’t have a job, even though research shows that most people would want to work. That means the majority of people with a learning disability are on a low income, so they need help with the cost of rising energy bills.

Some people might say “Why don’t you change your tariff?” or “Why don’t you look for something cheaper?”, but that can be challenging if you don’t know where to start with finding them and applying for them. Phoning round companies makes me want to pull my hair out sometimes! Especially when people talk too fast and don’t explain things properly. It needs to be accessible for everyone.

Even then, there’s things that are difficult to understand – what on earth does a Kw-H mean on my gas bill?! - and so people are excluded from making choices if they’re not confident. Plus some people might be worried about signing up for the wrong thing or being scammed.

I think bills are difficult to understand, especially if you don’t have the right support or have family or friends to help. It would be much better if bills were accessible or there were easy read versions. That way, people could understand how they are spending their money better and see if there are any ways for them to make savings. It would help stop people from getting into debt too.

And that’s why I think it’s great that funding from the British Gas Energy Trust will help Mencap help people who need support to read their bills and have the right information to know what to do and get things sorted if they’re having trouble.

I lived in supported housing for 20 years before I moved to where I live now, which meant I was more independent than ever. I was lucky to have my mum help me with my bills at first, and then after a while I got used to managing things myself. But I think I would have loved to have known there was a helpline out there that would have been able to give me some support as well.

Though some bills are starting to come down a bit, it’s still important for people to get the support they need to keep on top of things, so if you feel like you need some advice on money or energy, get in touch with the advisers on the Mencap helpline!