Households on prepayment meters are being urged to check for their energy bill support vouchers after millions of pounds in government support remains unclaimed. The government announced its energy bill support scheme would give every household £400 off their energy bills to help during winter.
Payments began in October with customers paying via direct debit saw their bills automatically reduced by £66 per month. Meanwhile, customers on pre-payment meters were sent vouchers via post, email or text.
Customers need to take these vouchers, which have a 90-day expiry date, to their local Post Office or PayPoint store so they can be credited to their meter. However, The Guardian says that figures from The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) show that 24% of vouchers remain unclaimed.
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Energy suppliers are responsible for telling prepayment customers how to access government support through vouchers. Suppliers are also obliged to make several attempts to contact customers who have not redeemed them.
A Government spokesperson has urged customers to make sure they get the credit applied to their meter as soon as possible. They said: “When a voucher is not redeemed, suppliers must make at least three attempts to reach the customer, by more than one means which can include post, email and text message.”
What to do if you have unclaimed vouchers that have expired?
If you find that you have vouchers that you haven’t claimed but they are past the 90-day expiry date, then do not panic. Anyone who has not received their voucher or has not redeemed it in time can contact their energy provider.
Your provider should check that your contact details are correct, to ensure that your vouchers haven’t ended up in the wrong place, and reissue the voucher to you. The new voucher should also be valid for 90-days giving you plenty of time to redeem it.
All energy vouchers must be redeemed by June 30, 2023.
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