Financial support in the energy crisis

On the 8th September, the government announced a significant support package to help with energy costs this Winter. This freezes the annual bill for a typical household at £2,500.

It will save the average household about £1,000 per year compared to what they would've spent on a tariff at the maximum October price cap (£3,549).

You don't need to do anything to access the Energy Price Guarantee: it'll be factored into your energy tariff, so you'll get the savings automatically.

You can find out more details about how the Energy Price Guarantee works in our dedicated blog. There's also lots of information about this on the government's Energy Bills Support Fact Sheet, and you can check here for regular updates.

Existing crisis support schemes such as the £400 Energy Bill Support Scheme for all households, and up to £1,200 for the most vulnerable households, will still remain in place. Read on to find out the details of these.

This scheme is now closed.

Who received this?

This scheme was a discount from Government to everyone in the UK who is a domestic energy customer.

Domestic energy customers are people who pay for the electricity and gas they are using for their homes, not for businesses.

This scheme is a discount for your energy use. You don't need to apply, it will be applied to your energy account automatically by your electricity supplier.

How was it paid?

The £400 will be spread across six months, starting from October 2022 and ending in March 2023.

You'll get the following discount each month:

2022

• October - £66
• November - £66
• December - £67

2023

• January - £67
• February - £67
• March - £67

You'll get the discount in different ways depending on how you pay your energy supplier.

Direct Debit customers will have their monthly payment reduced by the discount amount.

Good to know: you can choose to change your DD back at any time via their online account or by contacting us if you'd prefer to build up the government support as credit.

Customers who Pay on Receipt of Bill will have the discount added each month.

Smart Prepayment customers will have the discount applied as a credit to their meters.

Traditional Prepayment customers will get a voucher they can redeem as top up credit for their electricity meter.

Important: all energy vouchers need to be redeemed by the 30th June 2023.

Prepayment customers are people who pay for energy before they use it.

What if my DD is lower than £66/67 a month? Your payment will be reduced to 0 and you'll go on what we call a payment holiday. Any extra will be added to your energy account as credit.

Visit the gov.uk page on cost of living payments for people on benefits for more detailed info.

Who gets this?

You may be entitled to up to 3 Cost of Living Payments of £301, £300 and £299 if you receive any of the following benefits or tax credits on certain dates:

People on benefits:

• Universal Credit
• Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Income Support
• Working Tax Credit
• Child Tax Credit
• Pension Credit

How is it paid?

Into your bank account.

When is it paid?

If you’re entitled, you will get:

• £301 paid between 25 April 2023 and 17 May 2023 for most people on DWP benefits
• £301 paid between 2 and 9 May 2023 for most people on tax credits and no other low income benefits
• £300 paid during autumn 2023 for most people
• £299 paid during spring 2024 for most people

Visit the gov.uk page on cost of living payments for pensioners for more detailed info.

Who gets this?

Pensioners who can get Winter Fuel Payments.

How is it paid?

When you get your Winter Fuel Payment, you'll receive an additional £150, or £300.

This money is not taxable and doesn't stop you from getting other types of benefit.

When is it paid?

November or December 2023.

Visit the gov.uk page on disability cost of living payments for more detailed info.

Who gets this?

People on some types of benefits:

• Attendance Allowance
• Constant Attendance Allowance
• Disability Living Allowance for adults
• Disability Living Allowance for children
• Personal Independence Payment
• Adult Disability Payment (in Scotland)
• Child Disability Payment (in Scotland)
• Armed Forces Independence Payment
• War Pension Mobility Supplement

How is it paid?

Into your bank account. This money is not taxable and doesn't stop you from getting other types of benefit.

When is it paid?

We'll update this page with the qualifying date for the Disability Cost of Living Payment when it is announced by government.

Visit the gov.uk page on Winter Fuel Payments for more detailed info.

Who gets this?

The exact amount you'll receive for this depends on your age, and whether other people in your household also qualify.

Pensioners:

• People who get Pension Credit
• People born before 25th September 1957, who are likely to qualify in the winter of 2023-2024, as long as you are living in the UK during the qualifying week.
  • The qualifying week is the week beginning from Monday 18th September 2023.

Some people on different benefits:

• Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Income Support

The payment is different depending on your circumstances.

You should already be getting this if you are meant to be getting it.

How is it paid?

Into your bank account.

When is it paid?

Normally around November or December 2023.

Visit the gov.uk page on Cold Weather Payment for more detail.

When does this happen?

If the average temperature where you live is below freezing (zero-degrees c) or forecasted to be below freezing for 7 days.

Who gets this?

Pensioners:

• People on Pension Credit

Some people on different benefits:

• Universal Credit
• Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Income Support
• Support for Mortgage Interest

How is it paid?

Into your bank account.

When is it paid?

Between 1st November 2023 and 31st March 2024.

The 2022 / 2023 scheme is now closed. More information for the Warm Home Discount scheme 2023 / 2024 will be available later this year.

The 2022 / 2023 scheme is now closed. More information for the Warm Home Discount scheme 2023 / 2024 will be available later this year.

We created a £2.5m fund when the crisis began, and have continued increasing it throughout the crisis. The fund has already helped tens of thousands of customers with specialised support, and since the October price cap rise was announced, we've doubled it again from £7.5m to £15m.

So far we've given specialised support to over 100,000+ customers. There are a number of ways we're helping those struggling the most:

• Direct bill support
• Home energy visits
• Loaning thermal cameras to spot heat loss
• Giving out free energy-efficient electric blankets

Read more about the support available from Octopus here.

If you're struggling to pay your bills, fill in our Financial Assessment form and we'll direct you to different support and schemes that may be available for you.

Looking for ways to reduce your bills? Our expert Energy Saving Tips & Advice helped hundreds of thousands of customers cut their gas bills last Winter.

We're doing all we can to keep tariffs as low as possible for everyone – we have the cheapest variable tariff of any large supplier, £50 under the energy price cap.