£400 rebate for homes heated by oil

dunstonh

Usually it is those in rural areas on a low income. 

I don't think income has anything to do with it.  Rural location certainly has.

Unlike gas/electricity you have to find a lump-sum upfront or else, like me, freeze this winter

Gas and electric usually has to build up summer credit to spend in the winter.  Whilst it is possible to get into arrears, most suppliers will look to get their money back as quickly as possible.

MalMonroe

wend33 said:

Am I right in thinking that the rebate cannot be used to purchase heating oil but instead must be credited to an electricity account?
I am very careful with all energy usage but in the case of electricity I'm on a good fixed rate and also have solar panels. What I could really benefit from is £400 towards filling my oil tank - will that be possible does anyone know?

Hi, apparently you can apply for a voucher, there's some more information in the following link from Citizens Advice -

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/get-help-paying-your-bills/grants-and-benefits-to-help-you-pay-your-energy-bills/

Scroll down to 'If you don't use gas or electricity for your heating'.

Ebe_Scrooge

Linsomer said:

Unlike gas/electricity you have to find a lump-sum upfront or else, like me, freeze this winter

What we do is put aside a regular amount each month into a separate account, then use that when we need to buy oil.  In effect, it's the same as paying a monthly direct debit to a gas or electricity supplier.  It doesn't alter the overall cost, of course, but it does at least mean you haven't got to suddenly find a big lump sum when it's time to fill up.

It's a bit of guesswork initially as to how much you need to put aside each month - when we first moved in we started out by putting aside the same as what we used to pay for gas every month in our previous house.  After the first few fill-ups you start to get a pretty good idea of how much you'll get through each year, and can adjust the amount you save accordingly.  And we've increased the amount in recent months due to the big increase in cost.  If we're lucky, the cost might have dropped by the time we next need to order, so we'll have a bit spare (yup, I'm probably being very optimistic there!)

greyteam1959

Van_Girl said:

pochase said:

Problem might that while nobody knows how the grant will work exactly, the general idea seems to be that there will not be one amount but 6 x 66.67 starting in October. 

So you can reduce your DD for 6 months, but that does not really help you paying upfront for oil.

I wondered about this - I reckon this will be the only way of doing it. That said, while increasing your DD can usually be done online, not so easy for decreasing it. Can't wait to sit on the phone to get that one sorted     

I save a monthly amount for oil, which has doubled since Jan 21, but I'm fortunate that I have other savings if I need to add to it. But I know some people aren't in that boat and there are a lot of people worried about winter 

EonNext allow you to decrease your DD online only by 10% though 
BG you have to do it via chat or phone 

mumf

Oil is no different to wood and coal tbh. Our primary heating is solid fuel. Like everything else,it’s gone/ going up in price.I am not looking for any kind of subsidy on that.I don’t like paying more for anything,but that’s life. The £400 ‘help’ is for electricity. Now I guess there aren’t many folks without mains electricity ( although I am aware that park homes may have an issue there). Had our glorious leaders offered this ‘rebate’ to just gas ,it would have REALLY left a lot of homes out of the offer. 

Just like Van Girl said earlier, we put aside a regular amount into the savings to cover solid fuel prices. Then when we need more fuel,we have a punt around for the best prices.

Also,what you DON’T spend on electricity because of the subsidy,you can put towards oil? 

kassy64

Does your oil supplier not do a monthly payment system. I’m on LPG (similar in delivery system etc) and I just pay a monthly direct debit to them of £100 and have a running balance similar to if I were on mains gas, the price is also fixed on a 2 year contract. Might be worth asking the question. It doesn’t work out cheaper or more expensive just spreads the payments over the year. If not, maybe look to find a supplier that does.

Van_Girl

kassy64 said:

Does your oil supplier not do a monthly payment system. I’m on LPG (similar in delivery system etc) and I just pay a monthly direct debit to them of £100 and have a running balance similar to if I were on mains gas, the price is also fixed on a 2 year contract. Might be worth asking the question. It doesn’t work out cheaper or more expensive just spreads the payments over the year. If not, maybe look to find a supplier that does.

Oil is a bit different to LPG, in that you don't have a fixed supplier or contract - If you do choose to set up a payment plan with someone, like BoilerJuice, then you're at the mercy of whatever their current prices are when you need to order

I looked into something similar - where you pay a monthly amount, then have a tank alarm fitted and you get topped up when your tank gets to a certain level, but for my own circumstances I preferred the option of being free to shop around depending on price. 

[Deleted User]

My understanding of how this will work is that the supplier will adjust the monthly DD payment by £66 for electricity. If the monthly DD payment was £200, the consumer would pay £134: thus keeping £66 in his/her Bank account. If the monthly DD payment was £50, then the consumer would get a refund of £16: again keeping £66 in his/her Bank. In the two examples cited, £200 and £50 would still be credited to the electricity account as if there was no Government aid.

There is no indication that I can see that the £66 will be added to the existing credit balance. If this was the case, suppliers would be inundated with requests for DD reviews or credit repayment.

It follows that those on oil or LPG are not disadvantaged.

Van_Girl

@[Deleted User] yes, that's the new update, but it hadn't been clarified when the thread was started. Though I suspect that the £66 will just get swallowed by the increase for folks who are not on fixed rates