Scotland’s leading charity for the elderly has called for an overhaul of the system that allocates Cold Weather Payments to the elderly and vulnerable.
Age Scotland said the method of measuring the temperature does not take the wind chill factor into account and leaves many vulnerable people out of pocket when they should be entitled to money to help with their heating bills.
Currently, cold weather payments are made only when the weather falls below zero on seven consecutive days.
The charity’s call for an overhaul of the system comes after a survey revealed more than half of all retired adults are already worrying about how they will pay for their winter heating costs in August.
The survey, carried out by the Home Heat Helpline, found that 53% of respondents are concerned about meeting their heating bills if last winter’s Arctic conditions are repeated this year.
It also discovered that last year’s harsh winter has made more than a third of all respondents (35%) more aware of their energy consumption at home.
However, only 8% had fitted insulation to try to reduce their energy use.
Spokeswoman Christine McGourty said, “In Britain we spend our winters dreaming about summer sun yet this year, a huge number of people are worrying about winter weather.
“The biggest surprise is that even though so many people are concerned about their energy bills, only a small handful are taking action.”
Experts are also predicting that fuel bills will continue to soar even if people cut down on the amount of power they use.
The Bank of England has warned that it expects energy prices to rise early next year in a further squeeze on homeowners and businesses.
Although energy companies have not revealed their price strategies for next year, wholesale prices are rising.
The bank has said it believes gas prices will rise by at least 5% in the first half of 2011. This will happen at the same time as VAT is raised to 20%.
The average annual gas bill is £756, according to watchdog Consumer Focus, and this could rise to around £800 next year.
The bank’s quarterly inflation report said, “There is considerable uncertainty about the scale and pace of the pass-through of changes in wholesale energy prices to the prices of gas and electricity faced by households and companies.
“But the August projections are conditioned on a benchmark assumption of around a 5% rise in domestic gas prices in the first half of 2011, with a risk of a somewhat larger rise.”
A spokeswoman for Age Scotland said, “We want to see improvements to the way in which the temperatures for cold weather payments are measured.
“We would like to see more measuring stations in geographically diverse areas and also have the wind chill factor taken into account.
“This can bring ground temperatures down to below zero, having a massive effect on home temperatures and is particularly an issue for rural dwellings, particularly those on high ground and at the coast.”
Photo used under Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user delgaudm.