More than £110m worth of vouchers sent to low-income families to help pay for their winter heating are still unclaimed, with just days left until they expire completely.
The vouchers, which were sent to families with traditional prepayment meters by their energy suppliers as part of the Government's £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS), were meant to support households over the colder months, but latest figures show that more than 1.7m - or 15% - are yet to be claimed. All vouchers, regardless of when they were issued, have to expire by 11.59pm on June 30, after which energy suppliers must return any unused funds to the Government.
There are around four million households on prepayment - or Pay As You Go (PAYG) - meters in the UK, according to energy regulator Ofgem. Some homes have always had them. Other households, however, will have had them fitted by suppliers after going into debt on their energy bills. Landlord often have prepayment meters fitted for their tenants.
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Most families did not need to do anything to get their £400 support payments – the money was either taken off their monthly payment, sent directly to their bank account or applied as credit to their bill or meter. But those with traditional prepayment meters - where the user has to top up a card or key at a shop and then load it on to their meter - received vouchers via text message, email or post. According to Ofgem, the last voucher should have been received by March 11, so if you pay for energy by topping up you should have received all six vouchers by now.
Although expired vouchers can be reissued by your energy company if you're quick, all vouchers are only valid for 90 days and will all expire next Friday, June 30, so any vouchers reissued now will not be valid for the full 90 days.
Consumer Energy Minister Amanda Solloway has urged anyone who has not yet redeemed their prepayment meter vouchers to do so and Simon Francis, co-ordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, told This Is Money that everyone should check that they have had the full value of the EBBS that they are owed. "'If people suspect they have not had a payment - or if they may have misplaced their voucher - they should contact their energy firm immediately and check," he said. "Payments can still be made and vouchers reissued so it is not too late."
The vouchers need to be redeemed at a Post Office or PayPoint shop to add it to your gas or electricity top-up key or card. The vouchers are not interchangeable, so you will need to redeem using the method printed on the voucher. You can't redeem your voucher in a Payzone store as they are unable to accept the vouchers.
Are you still waiting for any of your six energy vouchers? Let us know in the comments below
If you haven't got yours, or if you did but have since lost it or it's expired, contact your energy supplier and it should be able to resend it. Some suppliers are automatically reissuing expired vouchers if they can see that you've redeemed another month's voucher and if the voucher was initially sent by post, you can ask your supplier if it can send it by email or text message instead. The Government says suppliers are required to make all reasonable efforts to ensure you get your discount.
