MSE News: £200 Alternative Fuel Payment to be paid 'in the New Year'

MattMattMattUK

Subzero2698 said:

dunstonh said:

kar999 said:

What a farce .. I last bought oil in 2021 and running on vapour now.....

The form can't be completed without uploading a receipt.

There must be many people who had sufficient oil and have held off topping up until now.

This needs fixing urgently.

Oil is cheaper than it was this time last year and at a level that is within its normal range.   The AFP is largely a windfall bonus for oil users (although not for taxpayers).

So, nobody should be holding off because of this windfall payment, and anyone claiming to is being disingenuous (or has money problems due to other reasons).

How is it fair that the majority of oil users get the £200 regardless of when they bought oil, yet those of us who haven't been in the right postcode have to supply proof?

What has "fair" got to do with anything? The AFP does not actually make sense anyway, fuel oil and LPG is quite a bit cheaper per kWh that mains gas and has been throughout all of this, depending on the point in time between 20% and 40% cheaper, whilst heating via electricity at standard rate is three times more expensive and heating via electricity on E7 is either twice the price of gas or slightly cheaper, but on parity with oil and LPG depending on one's region and supplier. 

kar999

MattMattMattUK said:

Subzero2698 said:

dunstonh said:

kar999 said:

What a farce .. I last bought oil in 2021 and running on vapour now.....

The form can't be completed without uploading a receipt.

There must be many people who had sufficient oil and have held off topping up until now.

This needs fixing urgently.

Oil is cheaper than it was this time last year and at a level that is within its normal range.   The AFP is largely a windfall bonus for oil users (although not for taxpayers).

So, nobody should be holding off because of this windfall payment, and anyone claiming to is being disingenuous (or has money problems due to other reasons).

How is it fair that the majority of oil users get the £200 regardless of when they bought oil, yet those of us who haven't been in the right postcode have to supply proof?

What has "fair" got to do with anything? The AFP does not actually make sense anyway, fuel oil and LPG is quite a bit cheaper per kWh that mains gas and has been throughout all of this, depending on the point in time between 20% and 40% cheaper, whilst heating via electricity at standard rate is three times more expensive and heating via electricity on E7 is either twice the price of gas or slightly cheaper, but on parity with oil and LPG depending on one's region and supplier. 

It's not fair that for example someone who has a second home off grid & not heated at all in winter has already received £200 with no proof required.

This AFP is, quite literally a postcode lottery where fairness doesn't prevail.

Toosher

Just joined!
Thanks to this thread, have now submitted my application successfully.
 I started buying oil in 500 litre loads last year rather than the usual 1000 litres due to the high price of oil last year, which was too expensive to do  (£1.15 per litre at the time of buying!) So had a recent bill to submit.
Have to wait and see how long Wiltshire council take to process this...not expecting anything rapid of course.

MattMattMattUK

kar999 said:

MattMattMattUK said:

Subzero2698 said:

dunstonh said:

kar999 said:

What a farce .. I last bought oil in 2021 and running on vapour now.....

The form can't be completed without uploading a receipt.

There must be many people who had sufficient oil and have held off topping up until now.

This needs fixing urgently.

Oil is cheaper than it was this time last year and at a level that is within its normal range.   The AFP is largely a windfall bonus for oil users (although not for taxpayers).

So, nobody should be holding off because of this windfall payment, and anyone claiming to is being disingenuous (or has money problems due to other reasons).

How is it fair that the majority of oil users get the £200 regardless of when they bought oil, yet those of us who haven't been in the right postcode have to supply proof?

What has "fair" got to do with anything? The AFP does not actually make sense anyway, fuel oil and LPG is quite a bit cheaper per kWh that mains gas and has been throughout all of this, depending on the point in time between 20% and 40% cheaper, whilst heating via electricity at standard rate is three times more expensive and heating via electricity on E7 is either twice the price of gas or slightly cheaper, but on parity with oil and LPG depending on one's region and supplier. 

It's not fair that for example someone who has a second home off grid & not heated at all in winter has already received £200 with no proof required.

This AFP is, quite literally a postcode lottery where fairness doesn't prevail.

What has "fairness" got to do with it though? Fairness could be that everyone gets the same amount of subsidy, or the subsidised to the same cost, anywhere in between or many alternatives. Fairness could be that there should have been no AFP as the cost per kWh is already below the cost of mains gas and has consistently been since the prices rose. 

As for the way the system works, there had to be a reasonable estimation, it would have been impossible to manually process all the payments so a level of automation was needed, that meant that some people who did not use alternative fuels got the payment. The example of a second home owner under the scheme makes no sense, second homes are entitled to the payment.

Fairness is irrelevant because it is subjective not objective. 

kar999

Have just spoken to the Portal helpline.

They are being inundated with people who have bulk bought in advance in line with common practice & who can't provide later receipts.

I was advised to leave feedback on the portal after applying. 

Davidt5000

I wonder if they are prepared for the volume of applications as well? 

The_Unready

Toosher said:

Have to wait and see how long Wiltshire council take to process this...not expecting anything rapid of course.

I work for Wiltshire Council (although not in the AFP department, if there is one 🤔), and that is a wise approach to take with regards to your likely payment schedule 😁!

kar999

Perhaps try lobbying Grant Shapps and/or Dept of Energy here for some answers.

https://twitter.com/grantshapps/status/1633033375500910592?t=KQTiAOAIRh0vcFKGBHUDQg&s=19

https://twitter.com/energygovuk/status/1633044984768221186?t=GKrG7I8G6D1PWu5tCs1jxw&s=19

Tahlullah.H

Usually pay over the phone and don't get a receipt which incorporates all they need to know.  So, will be contacting Calor and asking if they can supply this to cover since Sept 22.  2 purchases will provide what they need, but I am certain Calor will be inundated by requests such as mine.  I cannot believe this has been fully thought out by the Government, and what impact it have on suppliers.  Do suppliers have the time or inclination to go back through their records to send details to all their customers so they can access the payment?

CCW007

Rather frustrated - our post code is included on the Xoserve spreadsheet but our supplier has confirmed that we are not on their list to be paid so we need to apply.  And like many others on here, we bought oil in August last year and were planning on topping up over the summer. 

Am concerned that if we apply using August receipt we may have our application refused.  If we were to buy now, will that even be accepted?  Also we would be looking to buy 1000L next time we buy so it is possible the £200 could be reduced / offset when comparing the cost now to the cost in the summer.  Ugh, what a mess!