Debt management advice: Warm Front fund could prove more cost effective

08/01/2010

Caution is being advised to pensioners looking to help manage their debt by applying for the boiler scrappage scheme.

The government scheme offers £400 towards the cost of a new more efficient boiler as it is hoped that replacing inefficient boilers will help reduce CO2 emissions.

However, by applying for the scappage scheme, people risk being refused £3,500 from the Warm Front fund which would allow them to replace their boiler and better insulate their house.

Ed Miliband, secretary of state for energy and climate change, said: "The Boiler Scrappage Scheme will save around £200 off heating bills per year for families that are replacing their old boilers, and in total will save the same amount of carbon equivalent to taking around 45,000 cars off the road."

But Mervyn Kohler, fuel poverty expert at Help the Aged, told the Telegraph that those with money problems are better advised to apply for the Warm Front fund which will allow them more financial help with insulating their property.

A more efficient boiler and better insulation can mean savings of hundreds of pounds each year in energy bills.

EuroDebt director Kevil Still advised: "With only 125,000 households in England qualifying for the boiler scrappage scheme out of an estimated 3.5 million properties that it could be applicable to, it seems quite confusing.

"We would recommend that people check their gas tariff at www.energyswitching.co.uk, the savings are likely to be more significant and easier to achieve, especially for people in need of debt management support.

"If you are in receipt of the warm front fund then think very carefully before giving it up."

Tags; Housing Debt and Bills,

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