Government energy discount scheme and houses of multiple occupancy

jonah0146

Hi, my daughter has a room in a house of multiple occupancy. She pays for her electricity with an old fashioned coin meter (I must admit I thought these went out with arc but this looks like a digital version 😳). She has had nothing from the government energy discount scheme that I found odd.
l could find lots of vehicles for means to get this if you had your own supplier , smart meter or smart pre payment meter but zero info for those who pay by coin meter. After a 30 min wait and being put on hold for another 10mins they told me  that if the landlord had a commercial account with his supplier she wouldn’t get anything and if his supply was via a domestic contract he would receive any discount as it was payed “per household”… I find this situation and the answer rather strange as a scheme that was created to protect those most vulnerable does not in this case… In the meantime she carries on feeding the somewhat ravenous coin meter. Any advice or info out there? 

Spoonie_Turtle

jonah0146 said:

Hi, my daughter has a room in a house of multiple occupancy. She pays for her electricity with an old fashioned coin meter (I must admit I thought these went out with arc but this looks like a digital version 😳). She has had nothing from the government energy discount scheme that I found odd.
l could find lots of vehicles for means to get this if you had your own supplier , smart meter or smart pre payment meter but zero info for those who pay by coin meter. After a 30 min wait and being put on hold for another 10mins they told me  that if the landlord had a commercial account with his supplier she wouldn’t get anything and if his supply was via a domestic contract he would receive any discount as it was payed “per household”…  Any advice or info out there? 

That's correct.  The £400 in monthly £66/67 payments is for people with a domestic electricity account with a supplier.  She does not have this.

There are plans for alternative funding, administered by local authorities.  Applications are due to open this month (but I haven't seen anything yet).

"Online applications will open in January for households in England, Scotland and Wales who are eligible for the £400 EBSS Alternative Funding to submit their details, alongside a helpline for those without online access. Payments to households that meet the eligibility criteria – including people who get their energy through a commercial contract or who are off-grid – will be made by local authorities in Great Britain."
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vital-help-with-energy-bills-on-the-way-for-millions-more-homes-across-great-britain-and-northern-ireland

pochase

Welcome to the forum.

The info you received is correct. Only the households who have a domestic account with an energy supplier receive the £400 at the moment.

There should be an application based payment starting this month for those who do not qualify, e.g. park home residents who pay the park owner and have no energy supplier.

I am not sure if the situation of your daughter would qualify here as the £400 is for an household and not per person in a household. We don't know the application process, so no idea if it would at least pay for the household and for the occupants to share.

jazzchilli

I'm trying to find a similar answer for our cleaner, who is in a house split into 13 studio flats...!

When she approached the landlord to ask about the energy discount he said she wasn't entitled to it. She has her own meter but I don't think she has an account. Oddly, he then responded further by complaining that she has two cats, when he apparently will only allow one. I know that she cleans up after them daily so there's no smell in the property but someone else with a cat in another one of the flats, doesn't

It seems strange that he would be so defensive as to bring this up when asked about the energy discount. She isn't sure that the house is registered as an HMO, and that he is trying to keep her quiet. I haven't seen the property or met the landlord so couldn't comment.

I advised her to speak to Citizens Advice if she is concerned about anything, is that correct or is there anything else she can do?

macman

If she has her own meter and an account, then she is entitled to the £400. Whether it is an HMO is not relevant. If it's a self-contained studio flat then it's not an HMO.
If she doesn't have an account, then the most likely situation is that she has a private sub-meter, for which she is billed by the LL. Surely she must know which is the case? If it's a private sub-meter, she has no entitlement to the £400, and the LL will be on a commercial tariff. If so, he can resell only at cost.
Please don't wast the time of CA with this, there's nothing they can tell you that you can't discover for yourself.