What to do if one of your energy discount vouchers has expired
Under the government’s energy bills support scheme, households in England, Scotland and Wales are getting £400 to help with their winter energy bills.
The financial support is being made in six monthly payments. Most people don’t have to do anything in order to get the discount – it’s all being sorted for them by their energy supplier. But people on traditional prepayment meters are being sent vouchers that they have to take to a PayPoint shop or Post Office in order to add the credit to their gas or electricity top-up card or key.
New government figures show, at the end of January, a quarter of all vouchers issued so far had not been redeemed. This means nearly 2m vouchers were still to be used. As vouchers are only valid for 90 days, it's more than likely that some of these unredeemed vouchers will have expired. So what should you do if you have an expired voucher?
Contact your energy supplier
There’s no need to panic if you realise one or more of your vouchers have expired. Contact your energy supplier and they should be able to send you a replacement voucher. Suppliers like EDF and E.on are even reissuing expired vouchers automatically if you’ve redeemed vouchers for other months, as that shows they have the correct personal details for you.
Decide how you want to receive your voucher
If the expired voucher you want to replace was originally sent by post, you can ask your energy company to send it by email or text if you prefer.
Once you have your replacement voucher
Once you get your replacement voucher, take it to a PayPoint shop or Post Office to add the money to your energy top-up card or key. You’ll need to do this within 90 days of the issue date and by 30 June at the very latest, as this is when the scheme closes. Remember to take proof of ID and address.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that you can generally only hold about £250 at a time on most energy meters. So if you’re keeping vouchers to redeem later, make sure you take this into account.
Rebecca Routledge
A qualified journalist for over 15 years with a background in financial services. Rebecca is Money Wellness’s consumer champion, helping you improve your financial wellbeing by providing information on everything from income maximisation to budgeting and saving tips.
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