Nick, a heating oil customer from West Suffolk, told the BBC’s Your Voice that “off-grid households remain a major policy blind spot” for the government.
“Any protection from UK government for domestic heating oil users will be very welcome, providing this is for all domestic heating oil users,” the 28-year-old said.
He rents a three-bedroom home with his partner. He said they had seen prices more than double in a year, to quotes of 111p per litre.
“Heating my home is now no longer another household bill, but almost an investment,” he said.
He called on tax cuts for customers, or the extension of the price cap to heating oil – a demand also made by charity National Energy Action.
Tim Buckman, chief executive of price comparison site Boiler Juice, told the BBC he wants stronger protections for consumers but the main problem was that heating oil is twice as expensive as it was before the war.
“Just putting regulation in place is not going to reduce the price for customers. What we would like to see is the VAT off heating oil or targeting that specifically.”
Some 1.5 million households depend on heating oil, but they do not have the same consumer protections as electricity and gas customers.
However, energy regulator Ofgem, which sets the cap for standard variable tariffs, only covers England, Wales and Scotland.
Most heating oil customers are in Northern Ireland, where 60% of households rely on it, but where regulation is separate.
It is likely Ofgem will regulate heating oil in England, Scotland and Wales, and the UK government said it would “engage with the Northern Ireland Executive as they consider these recommendations in parallel”.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
