Households hit with ‘overlap penalty’ for DWP Cold | U.Ok.Finance News
A call has been issued to repair the Cold Weather Payments system on account of an ‘overlap penalty’ which is pushing people into fuel poverty as an alternative of utilizing their heating.Cold Weather Payments, launched all the way in which back in 1986, see people who obtain sure advantages given an automated fee of £25 for each seven days that the temperature drops under 0C in winter.The means it really works is, if the average temperature recorded or forecast in your space is 0C or under for seven consecutive days in a row, the £25 is paid into your account. The £25 is paid out for each seven-day period between November 1 and March 31. Qualifying advantages for the fee embrace Pension Credit, Income Support, Universal Credit and Income-based Jobseekers Allowance.But in line with Thomas Longden, a senior researcher at Western Sydney University, Brenda Boardman, Emeritus Research Fellow on the University of Oxford, and Tina Fawcett, Associate Professor on the University of Oxford’s Environmental Climate Change Institute, who co-wrote an article printed by The Conversation, the system is flawed.They pointed to evaluation of good meter knowledge from 11,500 Utilita Energy clients which confirmed that 63% of households disconnected their power provide not less than as soon as a yr, which means they had been selecting to dwell with out heating over worry of the prices.They wrote: “There was no evidence to show that the cold weather payment as presently designed reduced this risk.”Furthermore, they said that the current payments are only paid once, even when there are several periods of cold weather close together.They added: “The cold climate fee is simply paid as soon as even when there are a number of intervals of cold. This “overlap penalty” severely impacts these residing in northern England and significantly Yorkshire, which is a colder area the place cold climate spells are more common.”Instead, they are calling for the system to change to allow for the payment to be made in advance: “The payment should be made in advance of cold weather, and utility companies could pay it directly to customers who have smart meters.“Credits could be applied for those using other types of meters. This is likely to reduce self-disconnections and self-rationing during very cold nights.”They also called for the amount to be significantly increased up to £10 a day if weather drops to -4C.They said: “Payments needs to be triggered by the minimal night-time temperature. The temperature measure used at current is complicated and the money will not be paid till up to 2 weeks after extraordinarily cold climate, which is problematic for these on tight budgets.“To better match the support needed during cold weather, the amount paid should be increased to £10 a day for every day that minimum temperatures are forecast to be below −4°C. This would improve energy security for people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.”
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