'I can't afford to heat my home on my pension'

Teresa Goubert said the cost of heating had become so expensive that she could not afford to heat her home this winter

Some pensioners say they are going to bed early, wearing extra layers and using hot water bottles because they cannot afford to heat their homes this winter.

Teresa Goubert, from Guernsey, who uses electric and oil heating, said: "I'm trying to keep it off as long as possible because it's got very expensive and I just can't afford to do it [heat home] on my pension."

The States has proposed a 19% increase in the means-tested winter fuel allowance to £50.48 a week.

It will be debated in November.

Tina Bury, Employment and Social Security President, said: "The fuel allowance is quite a broad brush approach and obviously everyone's needs are different in this area."

Ms Goubert, who receives the allowance, said: "The first £70 of it is standing charges, so you're only getting sort of £100... just over £100 for your month, which is nothing at the moment."

"I'm putting blankets on me and then if I get too cold, I go up to bed, you know, just put more blankets on up there.

That's the only solution."

Islander Katina Jones, who lives with her husband, said they waited as long as they could before turning the heating on.

"Once I make a cup of tea, I use the extra hot water in a hot water bottle to use just to keep us warm."

Sheila Cornelius, who lives in an over-55 housing development in the island, said: "It's not very good because I don't believe in being cold so of course all my money, most of it goes on there.

"Luckily I've got some nice thick clothes that I can wear instead of having the heating on full, you know, [I] can't afford it."

Gareth Wordingham, from Guernsey Electricity, said: "The standing charges this year only went up by 3% so it wasn't a large proportion of the increase itself.

"We buy our electricity in international markets, years in advance, so that smooths the price that we pay or our customers' pay.

"We have to balance between the smaller customers and also those larger customers who might be equally vulnerable, a family with children, could be equally strapped for money."

Nick Crolla, head of marketing for fuel suppliers, Rubis Channel Islands, said: "Since August, we've seen prices increase by up to 30%.

"We are really seeing that we're not shielded from the volatile international market.

"If customers are concerned about the cost of heating oil, the best thing is to come speak to us, we have payment options to help the customer ease the volatility of the oil prices."

Bury, said the committee could respond if heating oil prices increased sharply over winter.

"Should we get to the depths of winter and there's a massive spike in costs of oil, for example, we do have the ability to react to that," she added.

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