A mum-of-three has said she will avoid putting her heating on due to her energy bill more than tripling in price.
Linda Gapp said her direct debit for gas and electric more than doubled from £90 to £200 in May, and she has now been told it will shoot up to almost £300 a month in a couple of days, LancsLive reports. The 39-year-old, who has a son with special needs and a baby daughter, said she is 'dreading' the colder winter months.
She said the family have not yet switched on the heating and have been wrapping up instead. She added that she has not approached her energy provider OVO Energy due to being 'too scared'.
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Linda, from Elswick near Blackpool. said the first price hike happened when the family received a message to say their energy provider would be changing from SSE Energy Services to OVO Energy. The family were assured they would not need to do anything and everything would be taken care of in the transition to OVO.
However, OVO Energy wrote to her last month to tell her of a further hike to £280, despite the fact that the family has not been putting the heating on. The rise has baffled Linda and her husband Daniel, and left them wondering whether they and their three children will be forced to shiver through the cold months for fear of running up further huge energy bills.
Linda said: "It’s going to be a massive step. We have already not put any heat on at the moment, so even though it’s starting to get a bit colder and we've got three children, we’re just wondering where we’re going to find that cash.
"Unfortunately, my partner was made redundant a couple of years ago and has been on Universal Credit ever since, and that hasn’t gone up. Daniel did have a well-paid job, but we had financial commitments, and Universal Credit doesn’t cover the commitments that we already had to begin with."
The couple have three children: William, who is 15, Harriet, 16, and little Hope, who is 18 months old. Linda added: "We’ve not dared put the heating on, although there’s been a couple of times when we’ve been tempted.
"If we can’t afford it now, we just wonder what it will be like if or when we do use it, so we’re just trying to keep everything to a minimum really. We haven't approached the company because we’re too scared, but they just changed the direct debit of their own accord.
"We’ve thought about changing companies, but then you end up with a great big bill when you leave because obviously there’s going to be an outstanding balance. If we can’t afford to pay it, then you just end up with a big debt, chasing that on top of all the other bills that we’ve got to pay since Dan got made redundant."
Linda, who is a full-time carer for William, who has special needs, added: "Everything has gone up, food and energy. Diane at the food bank - Fresh Food for Working Families - is a bit of a life-saver, so we get a food parcel once a month, and if we need any help she’ll give us a hand.
"But what happens when it gets really cold? At the moment we’re just putting extra layers on but we will end up having to put it on, and it just adds to the stress of worrying where we’re going to find the money. A lot of stress."
OVO Energy have been approached for comment, along with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. To find out more about the Fresh Food for Working Families food bank, click here.
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