Households across the UK will be able to apply for £200 worth of energy bill support after the Government announced a change to the application scheme.
Households in England, Scotland and Wales that don’t use main gas and use alternative heating fuels, such as heating oil, biomass boilers or LPG, can get an additional £200 of support on top of the £400 from their energy supplier for electricity.
Around five per cent of homes in the UK are heated by oil, the equivalent of 1.5 million households.
The cost for them has soared from 58p per litre in 2021 to 94p per litre now, while it hit highs of £1.59 per litre last year.
A further 200,000 families heat their homes with LPG.
The initial Alternative Fuels Payment (AFP) launched in February 2023, with homes having to apply for the funding rather than receiving an automatic payment.
As part of the application process, applicants needed to provide evidence of alternative fuel payments from September 2022, however this has now been extended three months to June 2022.
The change is due to some households purchasing in bulk ahead of winter price rises in October, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said.
Grant Shapps, secretary of state for energy security and net zero 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 today 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.”
You can apply for the support here.
You may be eligible to apply if you use alternative fuels for heating. Your main home must also be:
- in a residential park home
- on a boat on a permanent residential mooring
- on a permanent Gypsy and Traveller site
- in social or private rented accommodation which has a business energy connection or a communal electricity supply
- off the mains electricity or gas grid
- part of a business property (such as a farm or a flat above a shop)
You will need:
- an email address or phone number (if you have one)
- your bank account details
- proof that you’ve spent £200 on alternative fuels to heat your home since June 2022 (for example, a delivery note or receipt)
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