Mary is a single mother with a four year old son. She lives in private rented accommodation, with a Short Assured Tenancy. She uses a pre-payment meter to pay for gas and electricity, a change she made two years ago after building up a lot of debt.
When she approached her CAB she was paying back her debt at a rate of £6.60 a day which meant she was having to pay £10 a day for gas and £12 for three days' worth of electricity. In addition, the Energy Saving Trust had informed her that her boiler was inefficient, but when she asked her landlord about it, he dismissed her requests to update the boiler.
Her local CAB adviser contacted her energy provider and negotiated a reduction in the daily amount Mary pays back towards the debt to £3.00 per day which is more manageable for her. The CAB also advised Mary that landlords from 4 January 2009 have to display Energy Performance Certificates on the property. Mary was advised to write to her landlord and, if there is no change, she should report the matter to the Private Rented Housing Panel.
Mary was happy about the reduction in her repayment amount per day and was grateful for all help she received.