Energy U-turn: Debt fear of man who must keep house warm

Dave Davies is worried about his future following Jeremy Hunt's announcement

Ending the cap on energy prices early will cause "more mental stress" to those "forgotten by the system", a man paralysed 16 years ago has said.

Dave Davies is worried about his future following the new chancellor's announcement on Monday.

The UK government had previously said a limit on prices would be in place for two years but it will now end in April.

HM Treasury said it was the government's intention to focus help on vulnerable households after the winter.

The original plan placed a cap on how much suppliers charge per unit for gas and electricity.

But as part of the mini-budget U-turn, Jeremy Hunt, said he will reconsider what should happen after April. He also referred to a "new way" of targeting those most in need.

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Mr Davies, from Ceredigion, rents a bungalow that was specially built for him after breaking his neck in a diving accident 16 years ago.

The 39-year-old from Cribyn, near Lampeter, said the UK government's U-turn created uncertainty for him and others in similar situations.

Since his accident, he is dependent on 24-hour care and suffers from a neurological issue which means the father of two is unable to control his temperature.

With his skin being extremely sensitive, wearing heavy materials such as sweaters to ward off the cold can cause problems for Mr Davies

He said: "Due to my disability I need the house to be 24 degrees [Celsius (75F)] throughout.

"If it starts to get colder, I start to get quite bad symptoms and I actually start sweating."

Mr Davies said the bungalow costs a "fortune" to heat. In the past he's had to borrow money from family and use credit cards to pay bills.

"It was good there was something in place to help us and that was supposed to be in place for two years, which gave me a bit of breathing room and a bit less stress to wonder where I get the rest of the money from.

"But now that's going to be cut in six months time I don't know what's going to happen."

Dave Davies: "I'd love to go out and get a job to earn more if I could, but I'm stuck with what the system is giving me"

Mr Davies said he had "no faith in the system".

"A year ago I was paying 11p a unit, now its 34p so its tripled in a year," he said.

"Its not sustainable for people at the bottom. People with disabilities have hidden expenses that people at the top don't think about.

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"I have live-in carers, I have to pay for their food as well as well as other things such as pushing gloves, anything to do with disabilities costs a lot. They don't see us so why would they care?"

Publican Suzette Sims said the UK government's energy cap was "not enough to help us get through this"

Meanwhile, Suzette Sims, who runs the Butchers Arms in Alltwen, Swansea, said the UK government's energy cap was "not enough to help us get through this".

She said she had been "devastated" by rising costs, including a £9,000 utility bill for six weeks after her tariff ended.

"I don't sleep very much in the nights anymore," she said.

"You don't know where your business is going."

She said her suppliers were also struggling, as well as customers.

"It is a desperate situation.

"I've spoken to people over the last few days and they are finding the exact same thing.

"Everybody's frightened."

Jeremy Hunt replaced Kwasi Kwarteng as Chancellor of the Exchequer

On Monday, new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the support would be reviewed so it would cost "much less" to the public purse.

He added the most vulnerable would continue to be protected from rising wholesale prices.

But the Welsh government's finance minister said the U-turn was causing concern for households and businesses.

Rebecca Evans MS said: "I think it's really worrying that the UK government has taken away that certainty from after April in respect of support with energies.

"Whilst the Welsh government will do everything it can to support people through the cost of living crisis by targeting our support to those who need it most, I think we need to be realistic as well as to how far the Welsh budget can stretch.

"We can't be promising things that we absolutely are not going to be able to afford."

Luke Young from Citizens Advice said: "You have this wider impact where people will now be thinking, once again, 'can I pay my bills' and 'can I make ends meet'?"

Luke Young, of Citizens Advice charity, said the UK government's latest announcement is likely to increase worries about bills.

"We know that the current level of support isn't going to be enough because lots of people are already struggling," he said.

"We've been arguing for the past few weeks for additional targeted support on top of the energy price guarantee.

"I think today's announcement adds further doubt as to what support is going to be available to people from April onwards."

He called on the UK government to consider increasing benefits in line with inflation as a short-term measure.

A spokesman for the Treasury said: "It is the government's intention that, after this winter, support is better focussed on the most vulnerable households and those least able to pay, with greater incentives to improve energy efficiency.

"A Treasury-led review will consider how best to deliver these objectives."