You don’t need us to tell you that energy bills have skyrocketed this year and are expected to rise again in October and again in 2023. Currently running at around £1,971 per year for an average home, the cap was due to rise again by 80% from 1 October for 24 million people.
The UK Government has now frozen typical energy bills at £2,500 from October for the next two years more information on this can be found at the Energy Saving trust. This is still a huge increase compared to previous years. It isn’t at all surprising that people are concerned about these rises. It isn’t all doom and gloom, though as there is help at hand. In this guide we will look at some of the current help available to relieve these price increases a little.
Energy Bills support Scheme
This scheme is open to all households in Great Britain who have a domestic energy connection. This will be an automatic relief administered by the energy suppliers. In essence consumers will see and automatic reduction in their energy bills from October 2022 of £66 per month for October and November and then £67 per month from December to March 2023. For direct debit customers the discount will be processed by reducing the direct debit payments accordingly. For other payment types the discount will be applied by a credit on their accounts or their pre-payment meters. This scheme will give a reduction in energy costs over the 6 months totalling £400.
Council Tax Rebate
This scheme will give householders who live in a property, as their main home, rated A-D for council tax a rebate of £150 on their 2022 council tax bills. If you are eligible and pay by direct debit the council should automatically pay the rebate into the bank account from which the direct debit comes. If you pay in other ways, the council should contact you with details of how the rebate will be paid.
One off Payment to low income households
Under this one off payment scheme, low income households will be eligible for 2 payments totalling £650. The first would have been made in July 2022 of £326 and the remainder in the Autumn. To be eligible for this payment a household will need to be claiming one or more of the following benefits:
- Universal Credit
- Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Income Support
- Working Tax Credit
- Child Tax Credit
- Pension Credit
These schemes are Government funded, but you might find that your supplier can also help with the increases, so it would make sense to call them and see what help they can offer.
All the cost of living increases are concerning, but this help from the Government will give some relief to those struggling.
