Energy bills: £200 in free cash available to help households - check if you can claim
Households only have until May 31 to claim for the one-off payment.
PA
More households that use alternative fuel to heat their homes will be able to claim £200 worth of energy bill support from today after the Government announced a change to the application scheme.
Households who use heating oil, liquefied petroleum gas, coal or biomass as their main source of heating received payments worth £200 from February 2023 to help with rising energy costs.
The 'alternative fuels payment' was on top of the £400 Energy Bill support for all UK households to help with the cost of living, and homes that didn't receive an automatic payment of £200 needed to apply for the cash using an online portal.
To apply, they needed to provide evidence of payments of alternative fuel from September 2022, though this has now been extended backwards three months to June 2022.
The scheme will support those with the cost of living
PAThis means that households who purchased fuel before September last year can apply for the £200 support using their receipts from earlier in the year.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said the move was made because some households purchased fuel in bulk ahead of the winter price rises in October.
The department added that it was "right" that these households weren't penalised for planning ahead.
However, they stated that they were not in a position to confirm how many more households can claim the free cash, as it depends on a number of factors that include buying habits, particularly how many households chose to bulk-buy alternative heating fuels last summer.
The department said that only a "small number" of households using alternative fuels as their main heating source needed to apply for the cash.
They said the "vast majority" have already received the £200 as energy credit as they had a direct relationship with an electricity supplier.
Grant Shapps, Energy Security secretary, said: “We have already stepped in and paid half of a typical household energy bill, but we also always want to make sure support gets to those who need it.
"That’s why we’re again stepping in to make sure those households using heating oil, LPG, biomass and more, can submit receipts for fuel purchases as far back as June 2022, because we recognise many households will have bought ahead of winter.”
Shapps said he wants to make sure support gets to those who need it.
PAHouseholds who solely use alternative fuel have until May 31 to make their claim for the extra cash and those who are eligible for the alternative payment will need to fill out the online application form through Gov.uk.
If households do not have online access, they can also apply through the scheme's contact centre by calling 08081753287.
Households only have until May 31 to claim for the one-off payment.