Overworked and underpaid – 81% of emergency service personnel are forced to ration their energy usage as they struggle with unaffordable bills
A staggering 83% worry about how much they spend on their energy and almost one in ten (8%) don’t even know how much they’re paying
Over a quarter of hospital nurses (27%) say their salary isn’t sufficient to cover their bills while 27% of police workers are in debt to their energy supplier
To help make bills more affordable, emergency services personnel who are Blue Light Card members and switch via com will receive an exclusive £30 Tesco voucher.
Emergency service employees are struggling to pay their energy bills, with a staggering 81% rationing their usage, according to new research from Uswitch.com, the price comparison and switching service. The news comes as 83% say they are worried about how much they spend on their energy, rising to 90% for hospital nurses.
In an attempt to cut costs, emergency workers – including hospital nurses, police, ambulance workers and the fire service – have resorted to wearing more clothes indoors (42%), turning the thermostat down (40%) and setting the heating to come on for less time every day (29%). But the situation is especially dire for hospital nurses who are trying to ration their usage, with one in ten (10%) working extra shifts to avoid going home, and a similar proportion (9%) forfeiting household essentials just to be able to pay their heating bill.
Despite working in one of the UK’s most demanding professions, the challenging environment continues for nurses once their shift ends. From 2010 until last year, nurses were subject to a one per cent cap on their salary, which some observers say equated to a pay cut in real terms (taking inflation into account). This has left over a quarter (27%) barely able to scrape by, saying they struggle to pay their bills each month.
Adding insult to injury, an unprecedented round of price hikes earlier this year saw energy bills rise by an average of £117 (10%) to the new level of the price cap, affecting the 28% of emergency service workers who are languishing on expensive standard variable tariffs.
As a result, almost one in five emergency services personnel (17%) are in debt to their energy suppliers. The police have the greatest proportion who are in the red (27%), followed by just over one in 10 fire service staff (12%) and nurses (11%). And while regular meter readings would help curb any unexpected bill shocks, 10% of emergency service workers say they haven’t given their supplier a meter reading in the last six months.
But while energy prices continue to rocket, four in ten (41%) haven’t switched supplier in over a year, with almost one in six (16%) having never switched. In fact, 28% of emergency services workers assume that they won’t save much money by switching, despite savings of over £300 a year available to households moving to a fixed deal.
To help make bills more affordable, Uswitch is offering an exclusive deal through the Blue Light Card. Emergency services members who switch both gas and electricity via Uswitch.com will receive a £30 Tesco voucher, allowing them to save money on both their energy bills and their weekly shop. Those who have already switched through the Blue Light Card this year have saved an average of £222.
Sarah Broomfield, Uswitch.com energy expert, says: “It’s shocking that so many of the people we rely on in the front line of our emergency services are suffering with energy debt and unaffordable bills. With long shifts and gruelling work, it may seem difficult to find the time to switch energy supplier.
“But switching is quick and easy and locking in a fixed deal will save hundreds of pounds a year, meaning those whose job is to protect the public can be shielded from soaring energy bills.
“Our exclusive offer to Blue Light Card members is a small way of saying thank you to the people who put the well-being of others first, as well as encouraging them to seek out a better energy deal that will help with their household finances.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Tim Dunford
Phone: 020 3872 5612
Mobile: 07785 552666
Email: tim.dunford@uswitch.com
Twitter: @uswitchPR
Notes to editors
Research was conducted online by Opinium between 8th and 31st May 2019, among 288 people who work in emergency services (112 hospital nurses, 105 in the police force, 51 in the fire service, 9 in the ambulance and 11 in other types of emergency service).
When asked ‘During the winter that has just passed, did you attempt to reduce your household energy usage in any of the following ways?’ 81% of emergency service workers selected at least one action. This included 42% who said they ‘Put more clothes on / made my family wear more clothes to avoid putting the heating on’, 40% who ‘Turned the thermostat down’ and 29% who ‘Set the heating to come on less time every day’. 10% of hospital nurses say they have ‘worked extra shifts at work so I didn’t have to be at home’ and 9% said they had ‘Gone without household essentials so I could afford to pay my heating bill’
When asked ‘Do you worry about how much you spend on energy?’, 83% answered ‘Yes’ and 90% of hospital nurses answered ‘Yes’
When asked ‘How much do you pay a month for your energy bill?’, 8% answered ‘Don’t know’
When asked ‘What best describes your living situation?’, 27% of hospital nurses answered ‘My salary means I struggle each month to pay my bills’
When asked ‘Thinking about your most recent energy statement / bill from your supplier, which of the following best applies to you?’. 17% of emergency service workers were in debt to their supplier. 27% of the police force, 12% of the fire service and 11% of hospital nurses were in debt to their supplier
Sources: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-43481341 and https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/public-sector-pay-cap-nhs-staff-real-incomes-cut-government-wage-freeze-gmb-union-a7959806.html
When asked ‘What type of tariff are you on for your energy bills?’, 28% said ‘Standard variable tariffs’
When asked ‘When was the last time you gave your supplier a meter reading?’ 4.51% said 6-12 months ago, 2.77% said 1-2 years ago, 0.69% said, ‘Over three years ago’. A further 1.74% said ‘I’ve never given my supplier a meter reading’.
When asked ‘When was the last time you switched supplier?’, 10% said ‘12 to 18 months ago’, 6% said ‘18 months to two years ago’, 7% said ‘2-3 years ago’, 6% said ‘3-4 years ago’, 4% said ‘4-5 years ago’ and 8% said ‘Over five years ago’. 16% said ‘I have never switched energy supplier’
Source: Uswitch.com
When asked ‘You mentioned you had not changed your energy supplier for at least 12 months. Why have you not switched supplier more recently?’, 28% said ‘I don’t think I will save much money by switching’ and 10% said ‘I worry that something will go wrong when I switch supplier’.
Source: Uswitch.com
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