With the rising fuel cost, a growing number of households are struggling to pay their gas and electricity bills and may find themselves in fuel poverty.

Apart from applying for grants to install energy efficiency measures, and looking at other simple ways of reducing energy use, if you are in this situation you could consider changing the way you pay for your energy.

• The price of gas and electricity varies enormously between different companies. Do a comparison using Uswitch to see if you could be paying less.
• Generally paying for both gas and electricity by direct debit using an internet account to the same company is the cheapest way of paying. Paying by pre-payment meter is the most expensive way.
• Some fuel companies have developed social tariffs for their customers who struggle to pay their bills. For example Scottish and Southern Energy’s “energyplus care” tariff offers householders a discount of 20% on their energy bills and a variety of other services to help them better manage their energy consumption.