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

Apodemus

MattMattMattUK said:

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.

The example of a second home owner under the scheme makes no sense, second homes are entitled to the payment.

Matt, you are wrong on this point.  All the documentation makes it clear that you can only apply for your main, permanent, home.  Which is as it should be.  There will, of course be some individuals who get the AFP for their second home paid to them under the automatic scheme and a smaller subset of these may also have had a payment for their main residence.

mandarin6

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.

Agree the AFP was a lottery. All our neighbours including the house next door (attached) received the payment automatically. Eon paid next door but excluded us. Now it looks like we won't get the gov payment as we filled up last summer. What a shambles.

kar999

Apodemus said:

MattMattMattUK said:

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.

The example of a second home owner under the scheme makes no sense, second homes are entitled to the payment.

Matt, you are wrong on this point.  All the documentation makes it clear that you can only apply for your main, permanent, home.  Which is as it should be.  There will, of course be some individuals who get the AFP for their second home paid to them under the automatic scheme and a smaller subset of these may also have had a payment for their main residence.

Incidentally the automatic payments were just that... Automatic. Second home owners didn't need to apply or do anything. If the postcode was eligible, they got the payment regardless. The electricity supplier doesn't know if it's a main residence or not. 

However, for these manual applications it has to be your main residence.

Apodemus

kar999 said:

Apodemus said:

MattMattMattUK said:

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.

The example of a second home owner under the scheme makes no sense, second homes are entitled to the payment.

Matt, you are wrong on this point.  All the documentation makes it clear that you can only apply for your main, permanent, home.  Which is as it should be.  There will, of course be some individuals who get the AFP for their second home paid to them under the automatic scheme and a smaller subset of these may also have had a payment for their main residence.

Incidentally the automatic payments were just that... Automatic. Second home owners didn't need to apply or do anything. If the postcode was eligible, they got the payment regardless. The electricity supplier doesn't know if it's a main residence or not. 

Yes.  And these second home owners would be amongst many other unintended recipients, such as people with heat pumps, or storage heaters, or those on local LPG or biogas grids, or even a few with mains gas where the majority of the postcode are not on the grid.  It's simply a shot-gun approach, intended to pay as many as possible as quickly as possible, then mop up the rest in a more considered manner.

Spoonie_Turtle

Apodemus said:

kar999 said:

Apodemus said:

MattMattMattUK said:

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.

The example of a second home owner under the scheme makes no sense, second homes are entitled to the payment.

Matt, you are wrong on this point.  All the documentation makes it clear that you can only apply for your main, permanent, home.  Which is as it should be.  There will, of course be some individuals who get the AFP for their second home paid to them under the automatic scheme and a smaller subset of these may also have had a payment for their main residence.

Incidentally the automatic payments were just that... Automatic. Second home owners didn't need to apply or do anything. If the postcode was eligible, they got the payment regardless. The electricity supplier doesn't know if it's a main residence or not. 

Yes.  And these second home owners would be amongst many other unintended recipients, such as people with heat pumps, or storage heaters, or those on local LPG or biogas grids, or even a few with mains gas where the majority of the postcode are not on the grid.  It's simply a shot-gun approach, intended to pay as many as possible as quickly as possible, then mop up the rest in a more considered manner.

That would not happen because postcodes at all on the gas grid were excluded from the off.

LPG and biogas are alternative fuels, and thus intended recipients.

The only unintended recipients were second homes, and those with electric heating in an off-gas area where the predominant forms of heating were not electric.

mandarin6

kar999 said:

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

I have emailed martinlewis@itv.com with a question for GS. The show is tonight, I suggest others in the same situation ie receipts for fuel since September do the same.

kar999

mandarin6 said:

kar999 said:

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

I have emailed martinlewis@itv.com with a question for GS. The show is tonight, I suggest others in the same situation ie receipts for fuel since September do the same.

Already done.. and tweeted Grant Shapps and told him to be prepared to justify this nonsense on air tonight!

Even Martin's MSE website recommends this... (that is coming sense to anyone),  for when to buy oil....

 " The situation in Ukraine has massively affected prices right now, but as a general rule:  

Summer's usually the best time to buy as low demand drives prices down. Higher demand in winter means December is often the priciest. "

kar999

[Deleted User] said:

dunstonh said:

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).

Heating Oil hit £1.80 per litre at this time last year. Any one who had to fill up at that time would have needed to find £900 for a minimum order. There are many people living near me, for whom that would have represented a major crisis - one they are still feeling the effects of. Oh how they'll be celebrating their £200 windfall... 

Quite agree and it's still much higher now than before the current crisis at over 50% higher than the previous pre-crisis spring/summer.

CCW007

Just checked my previous orders - September 2021 paid 44p (I recall that the week before I ordered it was below 40p but I missed the order cut off), August 2022 paid 83p. 

Thankfully I managed to avoid the peak (I did see a rate of over £2 at its highest) but still a huge increase - and that's with watching the prices every week, guessing when the price was at its lowest and buying through the oil club.

kar999

CCW007 said:

Just checked my previous orders - September 2021 paid 44p (I recall that the week before I ordered it was below 40p but I missed the order cut off), August 2022 paid 83p. 

Thankfully I managed to avoid the peak (I did see a rate of over £2 at its highest) but still a huge increase - and that's with watching the prices every week, guessing when the price was at its lowest and buying through the oil club.

If like me you need to apply manually for the Alternative Fuel Allowance those receipts wouldn't count.

Sheer nonsense! Martin briefly said to Grant Shapps last night that the manual application needs a few tweaks... a major rethink and common sense check more like!