Are you receiving your Cost Of Living Allowances?
You maybe aware that there are various support packages to help get everyone through the cost of living crisis and the increase in energy bills. Here, we go through some of the payments available. Check you are receiving yours.
Cost of Living measures announced by the Government - Check to see what you are entitled to this winter?
It has been well documented that the war in Ukraine along with the post pandemic wholesale increase in gas and electricity prices have caused our energy bills to rise. That's the bad news but there is some good news regarding support packages as outlined below, and as a well known supermarket would say "Every little helps".
A £150 'energy rebate' has now been issued to eligible homes - If you are in Council tax bands A to D and this has not been received please contact your council direct.
The Government have also announced fresh support to help tackle increasing energy bills. The Energy Price Guarantee, or EPG, was introduced on September 8th, 2022 by the UK government. It will discount the cost of gas and electricity for energy consumers and will apply to all households in Great Britain. Under the EPG, a typical/average household will pay no more than £2500 per year for their energy. The government has recently announced that the EPG will run in its present form until April 2023, after which it will be reviewed.
It’s important to note that the Energy Price Guarantee doesn’t limit the total amount you’ll spend on energy. This means that you will still pay for the gas and electricity that you use but the government’s Energy Price Guarantee will help limit the price that suppliers can charge for each unit of energy. The more energy you use the more you’ll spend.
Also in response to rising energy bills, the government has announced the Energy Bills Support Scheme. Through this scheme, the government will give every household in Great Britain £400 off their electricity bill. It will be paid in instalments between October 2022-March 2023. You won’t have to do anything to get your discount, and you won’t have to pay it back. Find out how you’ll receive yours below:
The Energy Bills Support Scheme will deliver an additional £400 non-repayable sum of money to all UK households to help with energy bills from October.
There is no need to apply for the discount. Energy suppliers will deliver this support to UK households ‘with a domestic electricity connection’ over 6 months starting in October 2022.
Households will see a discount of £66 applied to their energy bills from October and November, rising to £67 each month from December through to March 2023.
The discount will be provided on a monthly basis regardless of whether consumers pay monthly, quarterly or have an associated payment card.
Traditional prepayment meter customers will be provided with redeemable vouchers from the first week of each month, issued via SMS text, email or post.
This is an £11.7 billion scheme which forms part of the £37 billion cost of living assistance package for consumers over winter 2022 to 2023.
The scheme will help around 29 million households across Great Britain!
If you are not receiving the support you are eligible for, please contact your energy supplier direct and if you are struggling with your bills please also contact your energy supplier or Citizens advice Bureau for assistance.
We hope this is helpful and please note there is further information available online and in newspapers.