Cost of living
Cost of living
We know things are tough for many people right now and we want to help.
If you’re struggling to afford food, rent, energy or other costs, there are ways we may be able to help you. Settle plus is how we support residents who are struggling with their finances, whether it be paying your rent or other essential costs. There’s lots we can do to help, including via the settle comfort fund, issuing vouchers for food and energy, and making referrals to specialist organisations.
Please fill in our help with living costs form. We’ll contact you in 3 working days. You can also contact us by phone and in other ways.
How we and others can help
We’ll do our best to support you or put you in touch with organisations and partners who may be able to help.
If you’re having problems paying your rent or other charges with us, please let us know as soon as you can. We take a supportive approach and we’ll do all we can to work with you and help you through this difficult time.
Get in touch
Fill in our help with living costs form or you can contact us by phone or other ways.
How we can help
Together we’ll agree a manageable plan to help you get your account up-to-date, but keep reading to learn about many more ways we and our partners can help you.
Will I be evicted?
We’ll do everything we can to stop that from happening. The quicker you contact us about any problems, the quicker we can help.
settle
In some circumstances we may be able to find you help for emergency energy costs. We can also help if you have a pre-payment meter and have accumulated an unmanageable debt.
Just fill in our help with living costs form or contact us.
Citizens Advice
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/
Citizens Advice may be able to help support you with grants and benefits along with advice and energy saving tips to help you pay your energy bills.
Refilling your oil tank
The Community Development Action (Hertfordshire’s rural community charity) is offering residents the opportunity to join their oil buying group. Oil is bought in bulk through this scheme, which reduces the cost for customers.
More information can be found on their website cdaherts.org.uk. You can also call 01993 225 011 or send an email to [email protected].
The National Databank provides free mobile data, texts and calls to people in need. Think of it like a ‘food bank’ but for internet connectivity data.
If you can’t afford or access mobile data, we can refer you to the scheme. Just contact us or fill out our help with living costs form.
Claiming benefits
It could be that you’re entitled to Housing Benefit or other benefits. Try using one of the benefit calculators below:
- Our benefits and budgeting calculator
- Benefits calculator by GOV.UK
- Benefits and calculator by Turn2us
If you need help applying for benefits please contact us.
Citizens’ Advice
You can get help with benefits or money advice from the Citizens Advice on 03444 111 444
Pocket Power
We’ve partnered with Pocket Power who can provide you with free expert guidance on how to save money on your bills. Let us know if you would like us to refer you to this service.
Credit unions
A credit union is a financial co-operative that provides savings, loans and a range of services to its members, so the emphasis is always on providing the best service to members – not maximising profits.
Step change
If you’d like to speak to someone over the phone or anonymously you can contact the debt charity Step Change.
AskCPAG – Financial Help for Families
The Financial Help for Families e-book can help you maximise income, deal with benefit problems and has lots of useful tips.
Help to Save
The Help to Save scheme gives low-income earners claiming universal credit or working tax credit a savings boost. It pays a 50% bonus on the amount saved, up to a maximum of £1,200 over four years.
Getting into work
From writing your CV and interview skills to help finding volunteering opportunities that help prepare you for work we can help you getting into work.
Help with food
We’ve put together a list of some of the organisations who are providing support with food in your area.
North Herts
- You can see a list of food providers in North Herts here
- You can apply for a welfare assistance payment with Hertfordshire County Council here if you are in crisis
Letchworth, Baldock and Hitchin
- If you are struggling to afford to pay for food, we can refer you to foodbanks in Letchworth, Hitchin and Baldock
- Feed up Warm up – Hitchin Drop-In, Scout Hut, Our Lady Immaculate Church, Hitchin Wednesdays between 6-8pm
- Best Before Cafe in Letchworth Garden City
- The Kaotic Angel Foundation – Food Station on Thursdays at St Mary’s Church, Church Street, Baldock, SG7 5AE at 10:30am. Contact [email protected] for more information
- Hitchin – Fabio Gelato – has a community food cupboard in their shop for people to help themselves to
Royston
- Royston Evangelical Church walk-in foodbank (Wednesdays & Saturdays between 9am-11am)
St Albans
Stevenage
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- The Foodshed (Stevenage Vineyard) – referrals via Citizens Advice, Stevenage
- Feed up Warm up – The Stevenage Stadium, Monday 5pm – 7pm
- NHS Healthy Start – Get help to buy food and milk (Healthy Start)
- Too good to go – Fight food waste with us (toogoodtogo.ie)
- OLIO – OLIO – The #1 Free Sharing App (olioex.com)
- Food Rescue – Old Red Lion, Shephall Green, Saturday 9am – 11am
- The Kaotic Angel Foundation – Food Station on Saturdays and Sundays in Stevenage. Contact [email protected] for more information
Codicote
- Codicote walk-in foodbank, open Wednesdays 6pm-7pm
Can deliver at alternative times if urgent – customers can call or message them via their Facebook page
Waltham Cross
Watford and Three Rivers
Great Offley
- St Mary Magdalane Church entrance has food donations in their entrance area.
Bedford
- Bedford Foodbank (Bedford Borough Council can refer – contact 01234 718097)
Biggleswade
- Biggleswade Food Bank – Biggleswade Baptist Church
Luton
Stotfold
- The Need Project – Fighting rural poverty in Central Bedfordshire
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- NHS Healthy Start – Get help to buy food and milk (Healthy Start)
- Too good to go – Fight food waste with us (toogoodtogo.ie)
- OLIO – OLIO – The #1 Free Sharing App (olioex.com)
- Free school meals – Free school meals | Hertfordshire County Council
- Trussel Trust
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Ways to lower your bills
At a time when energy costs are rising, there are some small changes that can make a big difference when it comes to reducing the amount we are spending on heating and electricity bills.
We’re working hard to make all of our homes energy efficient, but here are some things you can do to lower your energy costs. They may sound really simple, but even little changes can help.
1. Switch off standby
Almost all electrical appliances can be turned off at the socket switch without upsetting their programming. You can save around £55 per year by remembering to turn your appliances off standby mode – but remember to check the details of your appliances before turning them off.
2. Turn off lights
Turning your lights off when you’re not using them or when you leave a room could save around £20 a year on your annual energy bills.
3. Switch to energy-efficient light bulbs
Switching to energy efficient LED light bulbs can reduce bills by £30. LEDs also have a longer lifespan of around 34 years, compared to just over one year for incandescent bulbs.
4. Wash clothes at a lower temperature
Washing clothes at 30˚C saves around 40% of the energy that gets used when washing at higher temperature. Reducing your washing machine use – e.g., by avoiding washing half loads – will also reduce energy costs.
5. Avoid overfilling the kettle
Only filling as much water as you need when boiling the kettle can around save £11 per year.
6. Take shorter showers
Keeping your shower time to just 4 minutes could save a typical household £65 a year on their energy bills.
7. Budgeting in the summer
If you have a pre-payment meter, it can be helpful to budget energy costs in the summer in order to manage increased energy consumption and costs during the winter.
8. Download the free Herts Energy Saving Advice (HEAT) app
The HEAT app is for all Hertfordshire residents, designed to take you through your home and identify how you may be able to reduce your energy use, and in turn save you money. The app is available for both Android and iPhone users – on Google Play and the App Store.
- You can find out how much water your household uses on average and how this compares with similar properties using the Anglian Water usage calculator
- There’s also a How much will I save calculator on the Affinity Water website. This will show how much you could save by having a water meter installed. If you want a water meter installed, you’ll need to get permission from us first
- You can find out ways to reduce your water usage and apply for free water saving devices through Affinity Water’s Save Our Streams campaign
- For residents on a water meter or waiting to have one installed, Citizens Advice have information on WaterSure, a scheme that helps some people with their water bills
If you receive Universal Credit or Housing Benefit you’re eligible for a water discount from Affinity Water. If you pay your water charges through us (at the same time as your rent) let us know so we can apply for the discount for you. Contact Affinity Water if you pay your water charges direct to them.
The Settle Comfort Fund
We understand that for some of our customers, the cost of living crisis is causing financial emergencies where they can’t afford the basic necessities. We want to help.
If it’s an emergency and you need to pay for things like food, heating or electricity, we can provide vouchers or payments.
These are one-off purchases for things like:
- Washing machines, fridges/freezers, cookers etc
- Clothing and school uniforms
- Heating and electric bills and energy debt
- Essential household items like a sofa, a bed, bedding, cooking utensils etc
If your application is approved, we’ll purchase the item and arrange delivery.
- You must be over 18 and a settle customer. This includes those who rent their home from us and those who own their home (leaseholders)
- You must have less than £300 in your bank account (or between you if you’re a joint tenant)
- Residents are only able to access one item within a 12 month Except in the circumstances of energy vouchers where up to three can be applied for. If the resident needs any further energy vouchers within the 12 month period, we must be able to demonstrate that we are working with them to address their financial needs such as working with citizens’ advice or pocket power etc
- Only one application can be made. If approved, you can’t apply for another item in the same financial year (April-March). If your application is successful you’ll be gifted with a basic model of the item requested
- Before applying you must have completed our benefits calculator
You must not be in serious breach of your tenancy agreement (only in exceptional cases will we consider requests from residents who are in serious breach of their tenancy agreement)
We only accept applications from others where our customer has given their permission and the application comes from:
- A recognised social organisation such as a charity registered with the Charity Commission
- A social services department that is supporting one of our customers
Please include your name, contact information and the organisation you’re from in the application form.