British Gas customers will be able to claim up to £1,700 of payments into their energy accounts from this coming Thursday, while customers of rival energy firms may also be able to qualify.
The gas and electricity giant's charitable trust is reopening its British Gas Energy Support Grant on Thursday, October 1, offering up to £1,700 per household of support for both credit and prepayment meter customers struggling to pay their bills or catch up with energy debt.
Energy bills rise as price cap increases
It comes as energy bills increase another 4% on Wednesday as Ofgem increases its price cap from £1,633 per year for a typical use household to £1,723, just in time for winter.
The British Gas Energy Trust, which is an independent charity, runs an Energy Support Grant scheme which says only customers who have attempted to get guidance or advice for their energy debt are eligible to apply. It will then take six weeks for your application to be processed, and the payment will then show up on your energy account as a bill credit.
Eligibility criteria for the grant
If you're a British Gas customer and have not received a grant from the fund within the last two years, you may be eligible depending on your current energy debt.
Those who are customers of another energy firm must apply to their own firm first, and may be eligible only if they have been declined by their own provider and can provide evidence of the refusal.
The British Gas Energy Trust explains: "If you are a customer of OVO, Boost, E.ON Next, EDF, ScottishPower, Octopus, Shell Energy, SSE, Utility Warehouse or Sainsbury’s Energy, you must apply to your supplier’s support fund first. You can only apply to us if you have recently been declined by your supplier’s support fund. Evidence of the decline will be required."
You need to have between £50 and £1,700 of debt if you’re a pre-payment customer, or £100 to £1,700 if you’re a credit account customer (for example if you pay by direct debit).
Full list of rules for the Energy Support Grant
The full list of rules set by the British Gas Energy Support Trust for eligibility for the Energy Support Grant is (note you do not necessarily need to meet all the criteria at the same time):
- You have received money advice or guidance within the last 6 months. If you have not received money advice, please use our trusted partner’s self-help Benefit Calculator tool which is available as part of the application. Please note, you will need to provide the full money advice document, as screenshots or partial pages cannot be accepted.
- You are seeking a grant to clear outstanding debt on a current energy account in your name and place of residence. We cannot consider applications for closed accounts (i.e. if you have moved home or changed supplier).
- You have a household income of less than £25,000 or someone in the household: is registered disabled and receives a disability benefit (inclusive of Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payments, Employment Support Allowance, Attendance Allowance, UC with disability premium or Limited Capability for Work & Work related Activity, Severe Disablement Allowance and Scottish equivalents); receives Carers Allowance; has 3+ children; is a single household occupant; is a lone parent household with less than 3 children; is in or facing fuel poverty.
