Thousands of the UK’s poorest households will be getting a £250 boost to help pay their energy bills. British Gas has said the money will be paid automatically to those who it identifies are eligible for it, so people don’t need to apply for help.
This extra cash boost is in addition to any cost of living payments or energy bill support from the Government.
The meter credit is part of a new £10million support package announced by the energy giant to help prepayment customers who are often the most vulnerable families.
Prepay – or Pay As You Go – meters are often installed when a customer builds up debt on their account that they can’t pay back.
However prepayment customers face higher rates than direct debit customers and have no option other than ‘self-disconnect’ if they run out of money to top up the meter.
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It has seen a 229 percent increase in the past year in the number of people coming for help who can’t afford to top up.
In 2022, it saw more people who couldn’t top up their prepayment meter than it did in the whole of the last 10 years combined.
Those who pay using this type of meter have no power unless they pay for it first, so if they have no credit left and are unable to afford to top up, they are unable to cook or heat their homes.
This is known as self-disconnection, and Citizens Advice says it’s not just a one-off for most affected families, as more than two million people are being disconnected at least once a month.
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Chris O’Shea, chief executive of Centrica, parent company of British Gas, told The Mirror: “We know that some prepayment customers are self-disconnecting and not coming forward for help, so we have reviewed our policies to do more to target support at this group.
“As a responsible business we are doing all we can to support our customers during this crisis – our work with the British Gas Energy Trust provides grants and money advice services.
“As well as helping our customers with much needed cash grants, I’m really proud of how our teams are giving expert advice and support at this busy time to help guide people through this crisis.
“Our call centres are helping around a million energy customers each month with their bills and our engineers are in homes every day advising customers on how to be more energy efficient and make savings.”
In addition to the £250 top-up, British Gas also has a hardship scheme for customers.
The support fund can pay up to £1,500 towards fuel debt of £250 or more, as long as people have not had a British Gas grant in the previous year and have consulted a debt charity such as Stepchange.
Even if someone is not a British Gas customer, there is an additional grant, from the British Gas Energy Trust, which will pay up to £1,500 to households in in fuel debt of £250 or more and with no savings over £1,000.
People can’t apply if they have had a British Gas grant in the past two years.
More information can be found on the British Gas website.
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