Dear Editor, Given the irresponsible track record of energy companies, which charge extortionate prices while ensuring record profits for themselves, the fact that Britons are facing a “postcode lottery” when it comes to fuel prices is, sadly, unsurprising.
We will be launching our own poverty fuel map in November, into which the public will be able to tweet in their fuel price rises in order to plot the disturbing reality of this “postcode lottery”.
As a national charity helping people in financial need, at Elizabeth Finn Care we see first hand the devastating effect a hike in fuel prices can have on already struggling families.
Sixty per cent of the people we have helped say that before they came to us they had not been able to keep up with bill payments, and over half say they had been forced to miss one of their recommended three meals a day.
People are choosing between heating and eating, and in a modern, affluent society this is unacceptable. It is time that greater pressure was brought to bear on power giants in resect to their support for the most vulnerable.
People are not just being stung by hikes in energy bills: on top of this, food costs are soaring, petrol prices are rocketing, incomes are falling, and unemployment is rising. The odds are being stacked heavily against more and more people and those with limited incomes, or who have additional needs dues to ill-health or disability, are being bit hardest.
As millions of people anxiously hold their breath in fear of the arrival of their heating bills, they wonder whether they be able to find the money to pay them?
For too many, the answer is sadly ‘no’.
Rob Tolan
Head of policy and research
Elizabeth Finn Care
