Oil £100 payment info

ccluedo

Got this info from my local oil club today. 

Update on the extra £100 support for heating oil users: As with the wider Energy Bills Support Scheme model, the Government has now announced the £100 for oil users will be credited via your electricity provider against your electricity account. However, we dont know when this will be paid at the moment, but we will be sure to keep you updated as and when more information becomes available. Also please be aware of scammers and scam texts around this subject - Only your electricity provider will get in touch with you direct either via your energy app or by email. The amount will be credited automatically and you will not need to do anything.

[Deleted User]

So they've decided to extend what they were doing in Northern Ireland to the rest of the UK.  I suppose that's sensible.

400ixl

This is what was announced a week or so ago. Some day they will actually say when and how those who who are on sub meters etc will also be able to claim.

Will then be interesting to see what the electricity suppliers do, will it get a mixed response like we have now with some applying it to the account, others paying it back to the customers account.

ccluedo

400ixl said:

This is what was announced a week or so ago. Some day they will actually say when and how those who who are on sub meters etc will also be able to claim.

Will then be interesting to see what the electricity suppliers do, will it get a mixed response like we have now with some applying it to the account, others paying it back to the customers account.

I must have missed the announcement so was happy to see it in my mail today. Let's me get on with ordering if it's going to my electricity acct. I'll be asking BG to repay to bank acct as I don't use much electricity. 

dunstonh

This has been covered in the oil section of the board but it will be interesting to see how it gets done as I doubt the electricity providers know who uses oil and who does not.

mmmmikey

Reading some of the other threads on this, it has the potential to be either controversial or expensive so I suspect it might be some time before this moves forward (but I'm only guessing of course). This payment is described as an alternative fuel payment, which will certainly include LPG and presumably solid fuel.

Who will get the payment? Will there be some kind of eligibility scheme whereby you have to prove a certain level of expenditure and/or reliance on an alternative fuel for your heating, and what kind of proof will be needed? Who will review the proof and decide if you're eligible - it's hard to see the electricity suppliers doing this as they are simply not equipped? Fine for electricity suppliers to make the payment, but unless it's universal for everyone who doesn't have gas, will they really be in charge of enforcing what will probably be quite complex rules?

For example, if you use LPG, how much do you need to use (either in absolute terms or as a percentage of your overall use?) If you buy it in bulk from Calor or Flogas, easy enough to assume you'll qualify, but what if you buy it in bottles from whoever is cheapest at the time - e.g. the 47kg red propane bottles you see by many remote house round here? How many do you need to buy? And if you buy it in smaller quantities, say 15kg butane bottles for cabinet heaters, does that qualify you? And this is just a few questions for one fuel - LPG. How will you handle people who use solid fuel - coal, logs, biomass or whatever? So lots of very detailed rules will be needed.

Or you just say that everyone who doesn't have gas gets the payment, which is expensive because everyone gets it (although maybe cheaper than running some kind of administration to assess eligibility?) And if you do this, how do you distinguish people for whom electricity is their main form of heating (and therefore already subsidised for their heating), or do you make that distinction at all?

This whole thing has all the hallmarks of something that seems reasonable in principle but in practice could be very difficult to administer. One way or the other I fear it may all end in tears, but who's crying really is anyone's guess.

ariarnia

the simplest option and the way i think they did it in NI was to pay it to people without a gas account. means anyone that has there gas and electric with different people might win. i wouldn't begrudge all electric getting it given how much more expensive that is that gas anyway for heating. 

mumf

ariarnia said:

the simplest option and the way i think they did it in NI was to pay it to people without a gas account. means anyone that has there gas and electric with different people might win. i wouldn't begrudge all electric getting it given how much more expensive that is that gas anyway for heating. 

What if you heat with electricity? No oil,no solid fuel? 

Spoonie_Turtle

mumf said:

ariarnia said:

the simplest option and the way i think they did it in NI was to pay it to people without a gas account. means anyone that has there gas and electric with different people might win. i wouldn't begrudge all electric getting it given how much more expensive that is that gas anyway for heating. 

What if you heat with electricity? No oil,no solid fuel? 

That's what they meant by "i wouldn't begrudge all electric getting it".

matelodave

How do you identify someone without a gas account if you have separate suppliers for gas and leccy and the payment is made to the leccy account.

TBH I can't see why oil consumers should get £100 extra - if everyone with an electricty account gets the £400 payment, its to help with  the extra cost whether you use gas or oil, so why should oil consumers get even more.

AFAIK oil hasn't yet overtaken the cost of gas (my mate has just refilled his tank at 85p litre = 8.5p/kwh, which is still cheaper than gas) - its those who use electrictiy for heating that could do with a bit more help - even those with heatpumps

ariarnia

Spoonie_Turtle said:

mumf said:

ariarnia said:

the simplest option and the way i think they did it in NI was to pay it to people without a gas account. means anyone that has there gas and electric with different people might win. i wouldn't begrudge all electric getting it given how much more expensive that is that gas anyway for heating. 

What if you heat with electricity? No oil,no solid fuel? 

That's what they meant by "i wouldn't begrudge all electric getting it".

yes. those with only electric will be paying lots more than those with gas (and probably those with oil) so i have no problem with people heating with electric also getting the extra 100 if it works out that way.

the people i would feel sorry for would be the ones like the mil who have gas for cooking but electric heating (we have looked to get her radiators installed but no one available until at least spring) as they will probably not be able to be identified (they could do it for people who use less than x amount of gas a year or based on other evidence but that would be only a very small number of people and unlikely)

but she will do okay with the 400 plus winter payment and we can help if she needs it (oh has her permission to have a glance at her bills when we are there to help with other things because he set up her online account so we can always make top up payments)