People who missed out on energy bill support ‘should receive money immediately’

Some of the most vulnerable people in society missed out on energy bill support last year, according to the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee. In its report Preparing for the winter, the Committee has called on the government to rectify this.

Energy Bills Support Scheme

The Energy Bills Support Scheme provided households with a £400 payment in monthly instalments between October 2022 and March 2023.

Alternative Funding

This was followed up with an Alternative Funding scheme for those households without a direct relationship to an electricity supplier or without their own electricity supply.

Some of the most vulnerable people live off-grid and are not attached to an energy provider. This includes:

• care home residents
• houseboat dwellers
• people living in park homes

According to the new report, customers were ill-served by the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding. The scheme opened in February 2023 and customers had to apply for support. Fewer than 200,000 people out of over 900,000 successfully applied and received the subsidy before the scheme closed at the end of May.

Unclaimed money

A total of £440m intended for energy bills support was returned to the Treasury, figures from National Energy Action show.

Of this, £130m was unclaimed by people on traditional prepayment meters.

Call for payments to be made immediately

The Committee has called on the government to make sure anyone who missed out on energy bill support receives the money they’re entitled to immediately.