Your circumstances | What to check | More information |
|---|
If your household has a direct relationship with an energy supplier for a domestic electricity and/or mains gas supply | Energy price cap If you are on a standard variable tariff (which is not a green energy tariff) or default tariff for your gas or electricity, there is a maximum amount you should be charged for each unit of gas and electricity you use and for the daily rate of your standing charges. The maximum you can be charged is the rate set by the energy price cap. The amount of the price cap varies according to where you live and the way you pay your bill. The government introduced the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) in October 2022. It also set a limit on the amount domestic energy customers could be charged. Until 30 June 2023 the EPG determined the maximum charges because the EPG was lower than the energy price cap. From 1 July 2023, the energy price cap has been lower than the EPG, so the price cap has determined the maximum amount for most people since that date, unless you paid by prepayment meter. The EPG ended on 31 March 2024. For households with pre-payment meters, from 1 October 2023 to 31 March 2024 when it ended, the EPG limited the amount you had to pay for standing charges. If you did not pay a standing charge but instead paid more for an initial number of units, an equivalent discount was applied to the cost of those initial units The aim was to ensure that if you have a pre-payment meter you paid no more for energy than you would if you paid by direct debit. From 1 April 2024, changes to the price cap ensure charges for people with prepayment meters are the same as for those who pay by direct debit. | Fuel Rights Handbook: GOV.UK: House of Commons Library Research briefing:
|
If you are aged at least 66 | Winter fuel payment This is an annual payment of up to £300. The amount paid depends on your age and circumstances. You may qualify if you are aged at least 66 in the week which begins on the third Monday in September (for 2024/25 this is the week beginning 16 September 2024). It should be paid automatically by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) if you have had a winter fuel payment previously or if you are getting certain benefits, otherwise you must claim it on or before 31 March 2025 to get it for 2024/25. | Welfare Benefit and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
Fuel Rights Handbook:
GOV.UK:
|
If you live in England or Wales and there has been a period of very cold weather | Cold weather payment A payment of £25 for each week of sufficiently cold weather. You may qualify if: •the average temperature in your area is recorded as, or forecast to be, zero degrees Celsius or below over 7 consecutive days; and •for at least one of the days you get pension credit or, in some circumstances, you get universal credit (UC), income support (IS), income-based jobseeker's allowance (JSA), or income-related employment and support allowance (ESA), or a DWP loan for mortgage interest.
In most circumstances, it should be paid by the DWP automatically. | Welfare Benefit and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
Fuel Rights Handbook:
GOV.UK:
|
If you live in Scotland | Winter heating payment An annual payment of £58.75 (2024/25 rate). You may qualify if, on any day in the week starting with the first Monday in November (in 2024 this is the week from 4 - 10 November) you were getting: •pension credit; or •in some circumstances, UC, IS, income-based JSA, income-related ESA, or a DWP loan for mortgage interest.
Winter heating payment is normally paid in December or January. and, in most circumstances, is paid automatically by Social Security Scotland (SSS). | Welfare Benefit and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
CPAG in Scotland:
mygov.scot:
|
Child winter heating payment An annual payment of £251.50 (2024/25 rate). A child or young person may qualify for child winter heating payment (previously called child winter heating assistance) if, on at least one day in the week beginning on the third Monday in September (ie, in 2024, the week 16 - 22 September), they are under 19 and are entitled to: •the highest rate of the care component of child disability payment or disability living allowance; or •the enhanced rate of the daily living component of adult disability payment or personal independence payment.
It is usually paid at some time from November, and in most circumstances, it should be paid automatically by SSS. | Welfare Benefit and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
Fuel Rights Handbook:
CPAG in Scotland:
mygov.scot:
|
If your energy supplier participates in the warm home discount scheme | Warm home discount A £150 discount off your electricity bill (normally paid by voucher if you have a traditional prepayment meter). The discount may be applied to your gas bill if the same supplier provides you with both electricity and gas. The £150 discount includes VAT. The scheme opens in October 2024 for payment for 2024/25. You qualified for the 2023/24 warm home discount if your energy supplier participated in the scheme and either: •on 13 August 2023 you were getting the guarantee credit of pension credit; or •in England and Wales, on 13 August 2023 you were getting a means-tested benefit or in some circumstances tax credits and your property's characteristics meant you were likely to have high energy costs; or •in Scotland, you were on a low income and met your energy supplier’s criteria for the scheme.
If you live in England and Wales, or if you live in Scotland and got the guarantee credit of pension credit on 13 August 2023, you should have been awarded the discount automatically. If you live in Scotland and were not getting the guarantee credit of pension credit on that date, you had to apply to your energy supplier. | Fuel Rights Handbook:
GOV.UK:
mygov.scot:
|
If you are a permanent resident of a park home in England, Scotland or Wales | Park homes warm home discount A one-off charitable payment for households, available from a limited fund on a first-come first-served basis. You may qualify if you do not have a direct electricity account with an energy company (eg, because you pay your electricity bill directly to the park site owner) and: •you are on pension credit, income support, income-based jobseeker's allowance, income-related employment and support allowance or housing benefit; or •in some circumstances, on universal credit or tax credits.
| Charis Grants:
|
If you have an electricity and/or gas prepayment meter | Fuel vouchers If you have an electricity and/or gas prepayment meter and are imminently at risk of running out of fuel you may be able to get a fuel voucher to enable you to top-up your meter. Check your local authority’s website or ask your local advice agency, such as Citizens Advice, for details of schemes in your area and how to apply. | GOV.UK:
mygov.scot:
Citizens Advice: |
If you are not on the gas grid and use off-grid fuel | Heat Fund You may be able to get financial assistance to help with the cost of off-grid fuel (such as oil, coal or liquid petroleum gas) if you are imminently at risk of running out of fuel. The Heat Fund is provided by the Fuel Bank Foundation. Applications must be made via organisations that are participating Fuel Bank Foundation partners. Check your local authority’s website or your local Citizens Advice to find participating organisations. | GOV.UK:
mygov.scot:
Citizens Advice: |
If you are struggling to pay your fuel bills | Grants or discounts Some energy suppliers or charities offer grants or discounts if you owe money for fuel or are struggling to pay your energy bills. To find details: •check your energy supplier’s website for information on grants and discounts available; •check the British Gas Energy Trust’s (BGET) website. The BGET offers grants to help with fuel debts whether or not your energy supplier is British Gas, although you must have received money advice to be eligible to apply; •check for other sources of help on Charis Grants’ website and in our Fuel Rights Handbook.
| The British Gas Energy Trust:
Charis Grants:
Fuel Rights Handbook:
|