Childminder facing 'severe financial burden' as heating oil costs rise

Many households across Northern Ireland continue to be hit with high prices for home heating oil, with one woman saying there is a "severe" financial burden on childminders.

The war in Iran is having a practical impact on people across the island as energy prices continue to climb.

On 24 September, the average price of 500 litres of home heating oil in Northern Ireland was £561.83, according to the Consumer Council NI (CCNI), external.

"It's a severe financial and operational burden on all registered childminders because as well as the prices of the oil, there's massive increases in the food bills, the insurance," Rachel Jeffers, from Stewartstown, County Tyrone said.

"That's all increased massively and a lot of the parents are saying if we're increasing our rates it's a financial burden on them."

Almost two-thirds of homes (62.5%) in Northern Ireland use oil for heating, the highest proportion of the UK nations.

Unlike gas or electricity the heating oil market is unregulated, so global price rises are rapidly passed through to consumers.

Alongside her six-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son, Jeffers minds one child after school hours and three children under school age all day.

She told BBC News NI the cost of her home heating oil had "doubled" since last year.

Last week, she purchased 500 litres of oil for £560. Jeffers said her tank was "not even near filled", but the price is currently too high to fill it completely.

Jeffers said she had found herself turning off her heating sooner in the day than she usually would.

During the winter months, Jeffers said she had to run the heating all day to keep the house warm for the young children.

"Through the summer we were still using it because our hot water runs off our heating oil," she said.

Jeffers has not yet had to increase her childminding fees, but it is something she has been "discussing".

"The guilt is there also because whenever you start minding, the families nearly become an extension of your family, so you're feeling for them."

She said the cost of home heating was "always on the back of your mind".

In terms of the knock-on impact the high costs are having on her own family, Jeffers said she has had to rethink whether to send her children to after school activities.

"They do piano, they do football, and you're sitting and questioning is it worth going to these?

"And then that's impacting on them and they're out and they feel like they're missing out because they're seeing their friends still going to it, but you obviously then can't afford to do everything," she said.

In short, Gormley said it "all depends on what happens in the Middle East".

"If there is peace discussions and there is sort of a truce, you'll see prices coming down, slowly be that, but they'll come down. If not, if war continues, prices will only go one way," he said.

He added that the oil prices were "really headline driven".

He said prices had "come down slightly in a week". However, he added: "As you know, prices go up a lot quicker than they come down."

Gormley is suggesting that people keep an eye on the daily oil prices.

"If you're going to wait and see if your price is going to come down, well then keep an eye on the daily prices," he said.

"And then you get to a point where you think you're going to buy, price around a few oil suppliers because there is a bit of variancy on prices there."