Story: How Julia went from financial distress to more manageable energy bills
When Julia called on Groundwork’s Green Doctors to help her tackle energy usage issues, she discovered she was being massively overcharged for her energy payments. Through a home visit, a Green Doctor supported Julia to secure a refund, lowering both her future bills and her levels of stress.
Julia, 62, from Wigan was struggling to pay far-too-expensive bills to her energy company. Not only was this situation causing significant financial hardship, but not being able to afford her energy bills severely impacted Julia’s mental health.
After a Community Link Worker referred Julia to Green Doctor for support with her energy usage, a home visit was soon arranged – to face this problem together. When the Green Doctor and Julia contacted the energy supplier, they identified that Julia was in credit of over £400 as a result of paying more than double her usage amount by direct debit! The pair then arranged for a refund to be sent, before setting up a new, more affordable payment scheme for Julia’s usage.
To shave even more money off Julia’s monthly bills, the Green Doctor applied for a water meter on her behalf. By increasing the accuracy of Julia’s usage, the meter should reduce the overall amount she is paying for water each month. As part of the Green Doctor’s completely free service, the Green Doctor also provided Julia with beneficial behaviour changing measures and advice to reduce energy in her home. One such measure – applying foil to radiators to reflect heat back into the home – will help to keep Julia’s energy costs lower going forwards.
Julia’s financial situation has finally turned more positive. She can now put some of the extra cash from her credit refund towards next month’s spending, knowing her future bills are lower, affordable, and not as nearly stress-inducing!
Julia said:
I was feeling quite inadequate and lonely. I couldn’t see how I was ever going to make things work and things were just too stressful for me. The Green Doctor was professional, empathetic to my needs, appropriate and really helpful! The support has helped me manage my stress levels. I now feel more in control.
I feel comfort in knowing that the support is there if I need it.