One in five of the UK's poorest households have not cashed in the energy vouchers sent to help them pay their bills over the coldest months, according to new figures.
The vouchers are being sent out monthly by energy suppliers from October 2022-March 2023 as part of the Government's Energy Bill Support Scheme (EBSS). Those who pay by direct debit, on receipt of bill, or have a smart prepayment meter should be receiving the money automatically, but those with traditional prepayment meters - the type which have a key of card that needs to be topped up at a shop or Post Office - get their rebate in the form of monthly vouchers, which then need to be redeemed in the same way.
The vouchers were sent with a 90-day expiry date, so the tranche sent in November ran out on Sunday, February 5. The Post Office had previously urged households to cash their October £66 vouchers, as their figures showed £17m was still outstanding just days before the deadline. And now new data from PayPoint shows a concerning number of people missed the deadline for November vouchers, with only 81% of vouchers redeemed before they expired.
