We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

How can I opt out of the £200 energy scheme?

1356712

Comments

  • QrizB
    QrizB Posts: 19,746 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Fourth Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 3 February 2022 at 11:33PM
    stokegal said:
    It just seems like a way for the energy companies to get more money.. if your one household which then splits into 3 (say 2 children leave home) they get £600 back for the £200 loan.
    i don’t understand how it’s even legal
    The surcharge will go back to the government. If anyone profits, it's the Exchequer.
    It's legal because either:
    • A law already exists that the government will use; or
    • The government will make a law to permit it.
    N. Hampshire, he/him. Octopus Intelligent Go elec & Tracker gas / Vodafone BB / iD mobile. Ripple Kirk Hill Coop member.
    2.72kWp PV facing SSW installed Jan 2012. 11 x 247w panels, 3.6kw inverter. 34 MWh generated, long-term average 2.6 Os.
    Ofgem cap table, Ofgem cap explainer. Economy 7 cap explainer. Gas vs E7 vs peak elec heating costs, Best kettle!
  • MWT
    MWT Posts: 10,397 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Fifth Anniversary Name Dropper
    QrizB said:
    Mojisola said:
    GingerTim said:
    You can't, it's a universal measure applied to every bill, not to an individual.
    How will this work with pre-paid meters? 
    Pre-paid smart meters (topped up with an app) can be credited remotely.
    Key meters? Yet to be seen, although there are various options. Someone said this week that they'd been sent a voucher by their HA, for example.
    The answer given this morning was that it would be handled in the same way as the WHD, so yes, vouchers will be sent out for those that cannot be handled any other way.
  • Aylesbury_Duck
    Aylesbury_Duck Posts: 15,942 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Easily: There's nothing stopping you making a one-off extraordinary payment of £200 to your energy account, so that you're never "borrowing" the money in the first place.  

    Problem solved.
  • GingerTim
    GingerTim Posts: 2,703 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Bizarrely, I'm going to be in profit on my electricity bill this year. My usage is on track to be same as last year, so about £320 - but with the £200 credit, and £220 cashback from EDF for fixing last summer I'll actually be up. Not something I thought I'd ever be able to say about a utility bill.
  • Sea_Shell
    Sea_Shell Posts: 10,079 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    I'm sceptical of the transparency of the whole thing TBH.  

    I bet our bills won't show this as a separate line in the calculations, once the clawback begins!!   So we can see and KNOW that we're only paying back £200 and not a penny more.



    How's it going, AKA, Nutwatch? - 12 month spends to date = 2.60% of current retirement "pot" (as at end May 2025)
  • MWT
    MWT Posts: 10,397 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Fifth Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited 4 February 2022 at 9:46AM
    Sea_Shell said:
    I'm sceptical of the transparency of the whole thing TBH.  

    I bet our bills won't show this as a separate line in the calculations, once the clawback begins!!   So we can see and KNOW that we're only paying back £200 and not a penny more.

    That is a certainty as those who do not have an account now  and so do not receive the £200 discount will also be paying extra to cover the current cost of that discount if they have an energy account at the time.
    There will be no direct matching between recipients now and those paying extra later.

  • QrizB said:
    Mojisola said:
    GingerTim said:
    You can't, it's a universal measure applied to every bill, not to an individual.
    How will this work with pre-paid meters? 
    Pre-paid smart meters (topped up with an app) can be credited remotely.
    Key meters? Yet to be seen, although there are various options. Someone said this week that they'd been sent a voucher by their HA, for example.
    QrizB it might have been me asking about the HA voucher.  They sent me a voucher, due to the Energy rating of the property.  Reading the voucher it only mentioned going to a PayPoint shop and having the £20x4 payments put on three types of prepayment options.  I pay via DD so enquired how that would work with the voucher, seems they sent the wrong voucher to me and I should receive the correct one within 48 hours.  So I assume with this new announcement vouchers will be given to prepayment meter people to allow the top up.
    Paddle No 21:wave:
  • facade
    facade Posts: 7,729 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Sea_Shell said:
    I'm sceptical of the transparency of the whole thing TBH.  

    I bet our bills won't show this as a separate line in the calculations, once the clawback begins!!   So we can see and KNOW that we're only paying back £200 and not a penny more.




    I think they will show a levy on the standing charge- an additional tax, that way even if you managed to get a fix that goes into the repayment period, your energy supplier can still apply it as it is a taxation change.
    I want to go back to The Olden Days, when every single thing that I can think of was better.....

    (except air quality and Medical Science ;))
  • MWT
    MWT Posts: 10,397 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Fifth Anniversary Name Dropper
    facade said:

    I think they will show a levy on the standing charge- an additional tax, that way even if you managed to get a fix that goes into the repayment period, your energy supplier can still apply it as it is a taxation change.
    The point remains though that it will be applied to all accounts at that time, not just those that benefited from the discount.
    It is not a specific recovery from those who received the benefit.

  • What_time_is_it
    What_time_is_it Posts: 892 Forumite
    Fourth Anniversary 500 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 4 February 2022 at 10:31AM
    To be honest it wouldn't surprise me if the whole thing unravelled and the policy is reversed before the price cap even takes effect in April. It's a rubbish scheme.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 352.1K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.6K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 454.2K Spending & Discounts
  • 245.1K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 600.8K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 177.5K Life & Family
  • 258.9K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.