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While it may be hard to believe, about 25% percent of Lancashire families are living in fuel poverty. This equates to about 350,000 residents of the county. So hundreds of thousands of individuals are part of households that are struggling to pay their heating costs during the winter and keep their electricity on year round.

According to Citizens Advice as well as National Energy Action these Lancashire households may either be not using as much heat as they need to stay warm, or they may have an arrears on their account. Thousands of these families may be threatened with a disconnection of their power if they do not catch up with the energy bills in arrears.

This is even more dangerous for the vulnerable in Lancashire. While there are no official statistics, it is thought that maybe as many as 100,000 of those living in fuel poverty are older people. So if they lose their heat then their health may even be at risk during the cold winter months.

There are many causes of these very high fuel poverty rates in Lancashire. They include poorly insulated homes and the still somewhat weak economy. Another challenge is the increasing costs of living expenses. Many households struggle to pay all their bills each month, whether it is for energy costs or the increasing costs of rent.

Solutions to fuel poverty in Lancashire

Citizens Advice Bureau has a few suggestions. While they will try to meet with as many people as possible to go over their financial situation, unfortunately it is not possible for them to meet with the tens of thousands of Lancashire families in arrears. So people need to take steps themselves.

The first one tip is that a household should call their supplier as soon as possible to let them know that they are struggling to pay their bill. Notifying them may result in some sort of payment plan for the arrears. Or the customer support team will refer the customer to other schemes available to them.

As far as meeting with a case worker, individuals can set up an appointment with the Citizens Advice centre in their Lancashire district. They can explore solutions ranging from grants to welfare payments. Or there are other not-for-profit organisations that may be able to provide advice, such as Step Change or even a local council. There are also central government funded programmes that may be able to address arrears, such as Lancashire Care and Urgent needs welfare scheme.

With the fuel poverty awareness day occurring across Lancashire, now is the time to ask for help. People should not be embarrassed that they may be behind, as hundreds of thousands of other households in the county are also in poverty as the UK is faced with challenging economic times. Do not wait to initiate this conversation with your supplier or another professional.