Heating oil customers face tough winter

Nicola Sharpe has sunglasses on and is standing in front of a green shrub.

Image source, Clare Woodling/BBCImage caption,

Nicola Sharpe said she would normally have stocked up by now but was holding off in the hope the price would fall

ByDavid Dixon, Reporting fromin Truro and Julia Gregory, Devon

Published37 minutes ago

Some people say they are finding it hard to heat their homes after increases in heating oil costs fuelled by the US-Israeli war with Iran.

Residents in the South West told the BBC they have held off buying fuel for the winter in the hope prices could come down and feared some people might go without.

It comes as the government announced new measures aimed at regulating the market and reviewing the minimum amounts some people have to buy.

Heating fuel costs have risen by up to 82% since the start of the conflict, according to the Minster for Energy Consumers Polly Billington.

'Bite the bullet'

Billington told the BBC: "We need to make sure the market is working as fairly as possible."

She said it was "striking" how rural communities with "so many people off grid" were "some of the most exposed" to the price increases.

Nicola Sharpe, from Dunsford, Devon, said this time last year she was paying about £340 for 500 litres, but the price was currently just over £600 for the same amount.

"I'm looking at ways to spread the cost when I have to bite the bullet and get it," she said.

Earlier in October, the government promised better regulation of the sector.

Ministers said they would tighten up rules, promote competition and give customers clearer compensation routes if things went wrong. Minimum order levels, set for some customers, would also be reviewed.

Pauline Trubody stands in her garden next to a dark green heating oil tank, which is next to a brown shed. She has long grey hair and is wearing a blue and white coat.

Image caption,

Pauline Trubody said she usually had the heat on during the day in the winter

Sharpe said she was not hopeful the government measures would help.

"I can't see how regulating it is going to bring costs down."

Pauline Trubody, from Porkellis, Cornwall, said she had already spent more on two deliveries of 500 litres this year compared to previous years.

The 76-year-old said: "I probably won't put it [the heating] on as much as I would have.

"There is going to be a lot of people who can't afford it and folk who are going to go cold."

Lee Fossey, from St Agnes, Cornwall, pays £30 a month into a savings scheme to spread the cost of heating oil throughout the year.

She said: "I have done everything I reasonably can to budget and prepare for winter, yet despite this, the dramatic increase in prices means I can no longer afford to fill my tank."

She said she faced the prospect of having no heating this winter or using the money for an alternative heating source.

Prices have soared since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran. In March, the government announced a support package worth £53m for low-income families who use heating oil.