More than £100m worth of vouchers sent to low-income families to help pay for their winter heating have yet to be redeemed as the deadline approcahes.
The vouchers, which were sent to families with traditional prepayment meters by their energy suppliers as part of the Government's £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS), were meant to support households over the colder months, but latest figures show that more than 1.9m - or £130m worth - are yet to be claimed.
And concern is growing that struggling families will miss out if the money is not claimed before the final deadline of June 30, after which all vouchers will expire. Earlier figures from the firms processing the vouchers – PayPoint and the Post Office – showed that nearly a fifth (19%) of vouchers issued for October and November 2022 had expired without being used.
Read more: Confusion as £400 energy bills support for households comes to an end
There are around four million households on prepayment - or Pay As You Go (PAYG) - meters in the UK, according to energy regulator Ofgem. Some homes have always had them. Other households, however, will have had them fitted by suppliers after going into debt on their energy bills. Landlord often have prepayment meters fitted for their tenants.
Those paying their energy suppliers directly by direct debit, on receipt of a bill or using smart prepayment meters didn't need to do anything to get their £400 support payments – the money was either taken off their monthly payment, sent directly to their bank account or applied as credit to their bill or meter. But those with traditional prepayment meters - where the user has to top up a card or key at a shop and then load it on to their meter - received vouchers via text message, email or post. According to Ofgem, the last voucher should have been received by March 11, so if you pay for energy by topping up you should have received all six vouchers by now.
Although expired vouchers can be reissued by your energy company, all vouchers are only valid for 90 days. However, all vouchers, regardless of when they were issued, have to expire by 11.59pm on June 30, so any vouchers reissued now will not be valid for the full 90 days. After June 30, when the scheme officially ends, energy suppliers must return any unused funds to the Government.
And Martin Lewis has warned those who might be storing vouchers to redeem later should be aware that most meters can only hold up to around £250 of energy credit at a time.
Consumer Energy Minister Amanda Solloway has urged anyone who has not yet redeemed their prepayment meter vouchers to do so and Simon Francis, co-ordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, told This Is Money that everyone should check that they have had the full value of the EBBS that they are owed. "'If people suspect they have not had a payment - or if they may have misplaced their voucher - they should contact their energy firm immediately and check," he said. "Payments can still be made and vouchers reissued so it is not too late."
The vouchers need to be redeemed at a Post Office or PayPoint shop to add it to your gas or electricity top-up key or card. The vouchers are not interchangeable, so you will need to redeem using the method printed on the voucher. You can't redeem your voucher in a Payzone store as they are unable to accept the vouchers.
Are you still waiting for any of your six energy vouchers? Let us know in the comments below
If you haven't got yours, or if you did but have since lost it or it's expired, contact your energy supplier and it should be able to resend it. Some suppliers are automatically reissuing expired vouchers if they can see that you've redeemed another month's voucher and if the voucher was initially sent by post, you can ask your supplier if it can send it by email or text message instead. The Government says suppliers are required to make all reasonable efforts to ensure you get your discount.
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