THE exact date households could start getting free cash to help with their energy bills has been revealed.
Cold Weather Payments is a type of support set up by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to help with energy costs when temperatures drop.
To be eligible for the cash boost you must be on state benefits such as Universal Credit or Income Support.
Temperatures also must hit zero degrees Celsius or below over 7 consecutive days for the sum to be paid out.
You do not need to apply for the scheme as the money will be paid into anyone who qualifies account within 14 days.
If you meet the requirements, you will receive £25 for each seven day period of incredibly cold weather.
These payments will start on November 1 and will be available up until March 31.
You will receive the payment if you meet the criteria and on any of the following benefits:
You may also have to meet one or more of these additional criteria:
You do not have to apply for the payment as it is paid automatically to those you are eligible.
However, if you are worried about your energy bills this winter then it is worth checking if you are missing out on benefits that could help you qualify for the payment.
Using a benefits calculator can be an easy way to do this.
There are a number of these tools online and they are free and anonymous to use.
For example, charity Turn2Us’ has a benefits calculator that works out what you could get.
Entitledto’s free calculator determines also whether you qualify for various benefits, tax credit and Universal Credit.
You can also use Policy in Practice’s calculator to determine which benefits you could receive and how much cash you’ll have left over each month after paying for housing costs.
If you do not want to do this online you can visit your local Citizens Advice and speak to an advisor.
You can find your local Citizens Advice by visiting its website, which can be found by searching, www.citizensadvice.org.uk/wales/about-us/contact-us/nearby.
A number of energy firms have support for struggling customers.
Many gas and energy suppliers offer grants and schemes for customers who are struggling.
For example, British Gas has a fund open to pre-payment meter and credit customers who have found themselves in debt worth up to £1,700.
The Individual and Families Fund was first set up in 2021 to help households struggling with energy debt.
This scheme’s support is available to British Gas and non-British Gas customers.
You might be able to get help with essential costs from your local council through a programme called the Household Support Fund (HSF).
The funding is designed to help people who are vulnerable or can’t afford to pay for necessities like energy bills, water bills, and food.
Some councils offer food vouchers to families during the school holidays, as well through the scheme.
Eligibility criteria varies by council, so you need to check your local authority’s website to see what’s available and how to apply.
The Sun recently published an article on all the bill help worth over £5,000 which you can check out here.
YOU can use a benefits calculator to help check that you are not missing out on money you are entitled to
Charity Turn2Us’ benefits calculator works out what you could get.
Entitledto’s free calculator determines whether you qualify for various benefits, tax credit and Universal Credit.
MoneySavingExpert.com and charity StepChange both have benefits tools powered by Entitledto’s data.
You can use Policy in Practice’s calculator to determine which benefits you could receive and how much cash you’ll have left over each month after paying for housing costs.
Your exact entitlement will only be clear when you make a claim, but calculators can indicate what you might be eligible for.
WE’RE now up to three super-cool small electric cars.
Fiat 500. Mini Cooper. Renault 5.
Regardless if you love or hate electric, you can’t say they’re not cool.
The Fiat 500 was hands down my favourite. Then Mini upped its game. Now Renault’s here with the Renault 5.
Another icon rebooted as a cool, clean and quiet electric runabout.
Did I mention they were cool?
R5 is going to be a smash-hit. I’m utterly convinced of it.
The classic R5 silhouette makes me happy. The way it drives makes me happy. The price makes me happy.
Starting from £23k. I repeat, £23k. That’s £5k cheaper than a Fiat 500 with a similar-sized battery and £7k less than a Mini Cooper Electric.
Even the big battery R5 at £27k is £1k less than the Fiat.
And it goes 50 miles further.
And it’s got four doors.
The only one.
And it’s 150kg lighter than the Mini.
We all run better with less timber, don’t we?
Put simply, the R5 works everywhere — in stop/start city traffic, on a motorway, on a twisty B-road.
You sit nice and low in this car, in proper comfy seats. The short-ratio steering is nicely weighted. The suspension nicely judged.
Without being too technical, the multi-link rear axle improves comfort and dynamics.
The B-mode braking regeneration system, which sticks a bit of juice back into the battery when you coast, is nicely calibrated.
Everything feels well sorted. And safe. It has all the makings of a cracking little hot hatch. Alpine will see to that.
The cabin combines Eighties cool with a Google-powered touchscreen.
If you’re an Eighties kid, you’ll love the H-pattern seats from the old R5 Turbo.
If you have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about, you’ll love them anyway.
The speedo is big and clear and almost Eighties computer game-y.
There are buttons for all the things we use most — plus one simple button to customise all the driver-assistance tech the law now demands.
So you can switch off all the beeps and bongs and the dastardly lane assist and KEEP THEM OFF. Thank you, Renault.
Price: £26,995
Battery: 52kWh
Power: 150hp
0-62mph: 8 secs
Top speed: 93mph
Range: 248 miles
CO2: 0g/km
Out: April
But I do have a grumble. There’s plenty of headroom for back-seat passengers. But nowhere to put your feet, or a drink, and no charging ports.
Renault is better than that.
The boot is a win, though. That rear axle I mentioned earlier allows for a 326-litre boot — bigger than a Mini, bigger than a 500.
As for looks, all sorts of retro details please me greatly. The swollen arches, another nod to the R5 Turbo. The upright tail-lights. The off-centre bonnet vent.
Except now it’s a charging indicator with a big glow-up “5” sliced into five segments. Each segment for 20 per cent of juice.
There was a lot of pressure to get this car right — and they pretty much have. The magic is back.
Next year we’ll see another small super-cool Renault with a petrol hybrid engine in it.
But I didn’t tell you that.
MARRIED At First Sight’s Eve Reid was caught SPYING on her wife Charlie Curtis while in her ‘safe space’ last night.
It comes after fans of the E4 show branded the Northern Irish star a ‘master manipulator’.
The pair hit it off immediately after tying the knot just moments after meeting.
But cracks started to show when they headed off on their honey moon – which ended in lots of tears, arguments and sleeping in separate rooms.
It didn’t appear to improve when they got back to the UK – and Eve even refused to move in with Charlie to their new apartment.
Things reached boiling point between the two when Charlie revealed that Eve had listening in on her interview after the dinner party.
Charlie fumed at Eve: “You went into my safe space, put your ear against the door in my interview, that you should not have done.
“You took that upon yourself to do that.
“To listen to my interview, after the dinner party, and got your back up because of an action you took.”
Eve asked: “What did I say?”
“You sat in that room and you glared at me like I had done the worst thing in the world,” Charlie replied.
Eve said: “That’s not true.”
Charlie fumed back: “You literally listened into my safe space, MY interview. You took that upon yourself to do that.”
Eve said that it wasn’t true, to which Charlie got frustrated and asked: “Why is it always my fault?!
“Take some accountability for the mistakes and issues that you’ve made.”
Loved-up Tayah Victoria and Adam Aveling of series six fame had the first Mafs baby.
The pair couldn’t keep their hands off each other on the programme and quickly found their feet in the outside world, moving into Adam’s Doncaster home.
Just 18 months after meeting, the couple welcomed their daughter Beau.
Season five couple Michelle Walder and Owen Jenkins also managed to make their marriage work away from the cameras and had their first child in December.
Teacher Michelle, 29, has no regrets about taking part in the experiment. She told us: “I just feel very lucky and thankful that it has worked out – and excited for everything to come.”
Michelle and Owen were both sick of dating apps when they applied in 2019.
Owen recalled: “I had been out for some drinks with a friend after work.
“While he was out for a cigarette I was scrolling on Instagram waiting for him to come back in.
“The MAFS advert was the last thing I saw, and I joked, ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if I signed up?’
“A few beers later when I was back at home I sent in the application, and the rest is history.”
Another couple to make Mafs UK history is Zoe Clifton and Jenna Robinson.
Despite a slight rocky start, where they clashed over Jenna’s vegan lifestyle, the show’s first same sex pairing are still going strong.
They even have a successful podcast together called Life With a Pod.
Jenna shed light on being involved in the show earlier this year when she told us: “We’re not legally married, and I never felt like we were. I definitely feel the process makes you take the relationship a lot more seriously and having the help of the experts… if you can survive that process it sets a firm foundation for a long-lasting relationship.”
Eve said: “Charlie stop telling lies.”
Expert Paul Brunson then told them that they were going to get to the bottom of what had gone on.
Charlie started hysterically crying and expert Charlene Douglas told her to breathe.
Expert Mel Schilling then told the pair: “Eve, with respect, you’ve lied on the couch today.”
The couple left the experiment shortly after.
Fans watching at home were shocked at what had gone on between Eve and Charlie.
One wrote on Instagram: “Eve is a master manipulator 100%.”
Another added: “Eve was very clever with her little game of let’s blame Charlie for everything.”
“Experts let Eve off lightly !! ,” a third chimed in.
A fourth said: “Eve is a gaslighter sadly, poor Charlie.”
