Alternative Fuel Payments

Cleopatra

Hello. I wondered of anyone knew any more about this scheme because I can't find any detailed information about it.  I bought this house 3years ago, complete with a big log burning stove (installed about 20 years before) which heats up the radiators (if I put the pump on) and the hot water.  There is no gas supply to the house. If I want extra warmth then I plug in a freestanding heater. The prices of logs has increased along with everything else so I am trying to find out whether I am eligible for the Alternative Heat Payment and, if so, where do I go to apply for it? I see that it is paid into a person's electricity account by their supplier, but how will my supplier know that I use wood to keep warm? All they know is that I do not have a gas supply with them.  Thankyou to anyone who can help me here.

MSE_James

Our MSE news colleagues published this update today:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2022/12/northern-ireland-p600-energy-support-payment/ 

Spoonie_Turtle

Cleopatra said:

Hello. I wondered of anyone knew any more about this scheme because I can't find any detailed information about it.  I bought this house 3years ago, complete with a big log burning stove (installed about 20 years before) which heats up the radiators (if I put the pump on) and the hot water.  There is no gas supply to the house. If I want extra warmth then I plug in a freestanding heater. The prices of logs has increased along with everything else so I am trying to find out whether I am eligible for the Alternative Heat Payment and, if so, where do I go to apply for it? I see that it is paid into a person's electricity account by their supplier, but how will my supplier know that I use wood to keep warm? All they know is that I do not have a gas supply with them.  Thankyou to anyone who can help me here.

The exact details don't seem to have been published yet, how they will determine automatic eligibility nor how anyone who doesn't automatically get it will prove their eligibility when they apply.  Although we do know it won't be until February.

From https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vital-help-with-energy-bills-on-the-way-for-millions-more-homes-across-great-britain-and-northern-ireland

"Most households eligible for the AFP support in Great Britain, will receive payment automatically via their electricity supplier in February, with no need to take any action. Those households who will need to apply for the AFP, for example because they do not have a relationship with an electricity supplier, will be able to do so in February, through the same GOV.UK portal as the one that will be used to apply for support under the EBSS Alternative Funding scheme."

Spoonie_Turtle

Hi @Cleopatra details have just been released today

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/domestic-alternative-fuel-payment-afp-scheme-in-great-britain-guidance-for-electricity-suppliers

Customer eligibility
3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 BEIS produce a list of Meter Point Access Numbers (MPANs) which BEIS has determined (see paragraphs 3.5-3.6 below) correspond to households who – if otherwise eligible – should be paid the Alternative Fuel Payment automatically through their electricity supplier.

BEIS will in early February provide to each electricity supplier a subset of MPANs for which each supplier is responsible.  Suppliers will receive MPANs for consumers with whom they have an existing relationship. Each MPAN will be provided to only one supplier.

Suppliers are responsible for determining which MPANs correspond to an eligible customer, where eligible customer means a domestic customer who is party to a Domestic Supply Contract or a Deemed Contract for electricity supply which relates to a domestic premises at 00:00 hours on 1 February (the qualifying date), with only one Domestic Customer per Domestic Supply Contract or Deemed Contract per Domestic Premises being an eligible customer. 

Suppliers are not responsible for paying any customer who does not correspond to a provided MPAN, regardless of their relationship with this customer.

Data matching
3.5 The following sets out the basic approach followed by BEIS in matching the various data sets and extracting the relevant list of MPANs for each supplier, identifying consumers to receive automatic payments for the AFP:

a. Off gas grid postcodes. Xoserve have published a list of GB postcodes where there is no active gas meter point connection. Gas connection record as of 13 December 20221.

b. Postcode look-up. ONS’s National Statistics Postcode Lookup is used to map active GB postcodes to Lower layer Super Output Areas (LSOA). Data published on 24 November 20222.

c. Census data on heating type. Provided by ONS and is used to identify the LSOAs that are eligible for automatic payments. BEIS will use this data to eliminate LSOAs that have been identified as predominantly having houses which heat their homes via electricity, as houses which are primarily electrically heated are not in scope of the Alternative Fuel Payment. Households which are primarily alternatively fuelled but have been eliminated through this process are eligible for the AFP Alternative Fund (see paragraph 1.6). 

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So in other words they'll be looking at electricity meters in areas without gas, and in houses without electric heating.  Anyone who falls through the cracks should be able to apply online once the portal is open (it's supposed to open this month for the people not currently receiving the £400 - we'll see!).