Four in five people due £400 ‘indirect’ energy bill help never got Government money

Almost four in five people eligible for £400 energy bill help from the Government never got the money, according to charity Age UK.

Age UK says more than half a million homes have lost out on the cash, which was meant to be handed out through the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Fund (EBSS AF).

This gave £400 of Government cash to households without direct control of mains electricity or gas, such as elderly people in care homes, those in assisted living, traveller camps and tenants with all-inclusive rents.

But unlike other Government energy bill help schemes, the EBSS AF has to be claimed and is not paid out automatically. 

Only 17 per cent of households have claimed the money they are entitled to, according to Freedom of Information requests from Age UK.

The unspent cash totals £300million, with only 150,000 out of 883,000 eligible homes getting the money, according to Age UK. 

Eligible care home residents were the least likely to get the £400, with only around one in 14 of them (7 per cent) receiving the £400 energy help. 

This compares to around a third of park home and houseboat residents (35 per cent) and over half of eligible heat network users (58 per cent).

Age UK is calling on the Government to make applying for the cash easier to help boost the number of homes getting the help.

Age UK charity director Caroline Abrahams said: ‘Unfortunately, we have now established that most older people who receive their energy indirectly and who were eligible for £400 to help them with their bills, never actually received their money. In fact, almost four in five of them totally missed out.

‘The need for this extra funding certainly hasn’t gone away and that’s why we think the Government should try again to get the money out to everyone in line for it, rather than giving it up as a bad job, to the benefit of Treasury coffers but at the expense of older people in need. It’s not too late for Ministers to act and we very much hope they will.’

Age UK is urging any older person living on a low income or struggling with their bills to contact Age UK’s free Advice line on 0800 169 65 65 to check they’re receiving all the financial support available. 

Alternatively, people can visit the Age UK website or contact their local Age UK team for information and advice.

The Government’s Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Fund closed at the end of May

A Government spokesperson said: ‘We spent billions to protect families when prices rose over winter, covering nearly half a typical household’s energy bill – this includes more than £60million supporting over 140,000 households without a domestic electricity supplier.

‘We used a range of methods to communicate the scheme with as many eligible households as possible, so they could apply to access this vital energy bills support – including a contact centre and requesting councils to write to eligible care homes and park home sites.

‘We recommend that any household that did not apply should visit our webpage to view what other support they may be eligible to receive.’

What is the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Fund?

Most UK properties got £400million in Government energy bill help in the form of energy bill rebates. 

That programme, called the Energy Bills Support Scheme, gave monthly payments to properties with mains electricity from October 2022 until March 2023.

Those with pre-payment meters got £400 in the form of vouchers.

But the Energy Bills Support Scheme leaves out people without mains electricity, and in some cases gas.

That includes those living in park homes and houseboats, who may use bottled gas for heating and cooking, and who might not have mains electricity either.

It also includes people without a direct link to an energy firm, such as those living in care homes and properties with all-inclusive rents.

In response, the Government launched the EBSS AF. Applications for the £400 closed at the end of May this year.