Energy customers with suppliers including OVO, Boost, E.ON Next, EDF, Sainsbury's and Octopus could receive a payment of £1,700 from October. The British Gas Energy Saving Trust, a charity, is relaunching an energy grant from October 1 aimed at helping those with energy debt.
Although the scheme is primarily aimed at British Gas customers, those with other energy firms who have been denied financial help from their own suppliers could still be eligible for support worth up to £1,700.
Which suppliers are included?
Customers from OVO, Boost, E.ON Next, EDF, Scottish Power, Octopus Energy, Shell Energy, SSE, Utility Warehouse or Sainsbury's Energy could all apply for the grant, which does not need to be repaid, if they have been declined help from their own energy firm. Customers will be able to claim up to £1,700 of payments into their energy accounts from Thursday, October 1.
The gas and electricity giant's charitable trust is reopening its British Gas Energy Support Grant, offering up to £1,700 per household for both credit and prepayment meter customers struggling to pay their bills or catch up with energy debt.
Application rules and eligibility
The British Gas Energy Trust, an independent charity, runs the 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 take six weeks for applications to be processed, and the payment will then show up on the energy account as a bill credit.
British Gas customers who have not received a grant from the fund within the last two years may be eligible depending on their 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."
Applicants need to have between £50 and £1,700 of debt if they are a pre-payment customer, or £100 to £1,700 if they are a credit account customer (for example, if they pay by direct debit).
Criteria for the grant
The full list of rules set by the British Gas Energy Support Trust for eligibility for the Energy Support Grant includes (note that applicants do not necessarily need to meet all the criteria at the same time):
- Received money advice or guidance within the last 6 months. If not, applicants can use the trusted partner's self-help Benefit Calculator tool available as part of the application. The full money advice document must be provided, as screenshots or partial pages cannot be accepted.
- Seeking a grant to clear outstanding debt on a current energy account in their name and place of residence. Applications for closed accounts (for example, if the applicant has moved home or changed supplier) cannot be considered.
- 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, or is in or facing fuel poverty.
The grant comes as energy bills increase another 4% on Wednesday when Ofgem increases its price cap again, up from £1,633 per year for a typical use household to £1,723, just in time for winter.
