The UK Government has announced that nearly one million households who initially slipped through the cracks of a programme designed to help people with their energy bills will be able to apply for support from the start of next year.
People who live in park homes, houseboats, off-grid and care homes, or pay their energy bills as part of all-inclusive rent directly to their landlord will be able to get £400 in support - matching what is currently being paid out to an estimated 29 million households across the UK with a direct connection to their energy supplier. The Energy Bill Support Scheme has been providing households with a £66/£67 discount to their electricity bill since October and will continue until the end of March.
Business and Energy Secretary Grant Shapps MP said that the additional support will extend to the 900,000 households in Great Britain which do not have a direct relationship with an energy supplier, including Travellers.
He said: "Putin's illegal war has caused global energy prices to soar, but we are continuing to work hard and urgently to get help to households across the UK, and this update provides people with more certainty on when and how we will deliver help with fuel bills.”
The UK Government will publish details on eligibility and open a portal on GOV.UK in January, offering a “short online application process” for those eligible households to apply for Energy Bill Support Scheme Alternative Funding, worth £400.
A helpline will be available for those unable to apply online. Applications will be validated, and payments processed by the relevant local authority. The £400 government credit will be paid this winter to all eligible households who apply.
Those who benefit will also include people in sheltered accommodation, those who pay through a landlord on a commercial supply deal, homes on a heat network and farmhouses that are only used for domestic purposes.
Most households who don’t have a direct relationship with a domestic energy supplier benefit from a discount on their energy bills through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, which is already providing support to intermediaries such as landlords and park home operators.
The Energy Prices Act legislation passed earlier in the year ensures those benefits are passed on to consumers who do not pay their energy bills directly to an energy supplier.
£200 Alternative Fuel Payment Scheme
The UK Government also said it would pay £200 to households which use alternative fuels such as heating oil, LPG or biomass to heat their homes from early next year.
In a written statement to Parliament on Monday, Energy and Climate Minister Graham Stuart MP, explained that payments will begin in February, 2023 with “most payments being made that month through electricity suppliers”.
More details about how the UK Government will target the scheme will follow “soon in the new year” and households which will not receive automatic payments will be able to apply to the same online portal used for the Energy Bill Support Scheme Alternative Fund from February.
Mr Stuart said: “I can also set out today our intended timings for the £200 Alternative Fuel Payment scheme for households in Great Britain who use fuels such as heating oil, LPG or biomass to heat their homes."
Payments will commence in February, with most payments being made that month through electricity suppliers. You can read Mr Stuart’s full statement here.
The additional support comes on top of the £2,500 Energy Price Guarantee, announced under Liz Truss's government, which caps the price that a household pays for electricity at 34p per unit and 10.3p for a unit of gas.
Mr Shapps said: "We're already limiting the amount suppliers can charge consumers for their energy through the Energy Price Guarantee, which will continue to help consumers through to March 2024. We've all seen and felt the temperature dropping recently, so today's updates will help millions worry less about their energy and heating bills this winter.
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