Victoria Boland, 24 of Easington in County Durham, had successfully juggled a full-time job and single parenthood when she fell unexpectedly pregnant with a second child.
She was unable to arrange full-time childcare for her daughter Amber, 3, and her baby son Trai, and her employer had no part-time jobs available.
She fell into arrears with her energy bills after her maternity benefit ended and after struggling for a few months; she contacted her energy supplier and asked for them to install prepayment meters so she could better manage her bills. She also returned some high-cost credit furniture items to the weekly pay store to further reduce her outgoings.
Vicky is still looking to get back into employment and has been allocated a Families First Advisor from the local Jobcentre, Dawn Jackson. Dawn contacted Linda Evans from Five Lamps’ Energy Debt Advice Team to see if anyone could help Vicky with her outstanding energy debt, which was being deducted from her prepayment meter.
Linda contacted Vicky’s energy supplier and arranged for the deductions to be cut from £20 per week to a more manageable £10 per week. She also completed an income and expenditure form for Vicky and applied for an energy trust grant for her.
nPower Energy Trust were impressed with how Vicky was attempting to take control of her finances and have made an award of £625 to clear the outstanding debt on Vicky’s energy bills.