Alternate Fuel Payment £200

Spoonie_Turtle

Somersetjen said:

Considering it is to support payments for fuel already made, it is also not helpful to turn the urgent support into "credit" for future use of a different system of energy. At least the late appliers will get the payment in their bank accounts, albeit in six week's time.

The idea is that for most people they can either request it back as a credit refund, or if not then it frees up that £200 they would have otherwise spent on electricity.  (The latter one is debatable in its effectiveness though, especially for low electricity users.)

Parrotman6

British Gas added the £200 to my account so I was over £200 in credit. When I asked for the money to be transferred to my bank they reset my bill & said they could only transfer the balance of £129. Surely this is wrong as it is an alternative fuel payment.

MattMattMattUK

Parrotman6 said:

British Gas added the £200 to my account so I was over £200 in credit. When I asked for the money to be transferred to my bank they reset my bill & said they could only transfer the balance of £129. Surely this is wrong as it is an alternative fuel payment.

It is allowed under the scheme.

Greenboard

I had the same experience with British Gas (electricity) in that they insisted on applying an up to date bill to my account before agreeing to a "refund of credit" in their terms (I came away with £167 - to pay for heating oil). Looking on Twitter (hashtag alternative fuel payments) some energy providers have paid the full £200 straight across into customer bank accounts e.g. EDF, Octopus (if on a DD payment scheme).  I was quoted that the BG approach was government policy, so I'd be interested to know whether this is BG interpretation or written into the "scheme".

dunstonh

Parrotman6 said:

British Gas added the £200 to my account so I was over £200 in credit. When I asked for the money to be transferred to my bank they reset my bill & said they could only transfer the balance of £129. Surely this is wrong as it is an alternative fuel payment.

If your account is not in a position to support the repayment to your bank account (i.e. insufficient credit balance or you are in arrears) then they can withhold some or all of it.

So, whilst you may be in credit, you would need to be more than they would expect for this point in the year.

I had the same experience with British Gas (electricity) in that they insisted on applying an up to date bill to my account before agreeing to a "refund of credit" in their terms (I came away with £167 - to pay for heating oil).

That is a systems thing due to how their billing works.  They need to generate a bill before they can look at potential refunds.   Then depending on the state of your account, they may not pay the full amount.

 I was quoted that the BG approach was government policy, so I'd be interested to know whether this is BG interpretation or written into the "scheme".

it is not Government policy but it is allowable.

Falanthiot

The portal for claiming the £200 allowance has now failed three times to verify my bank details and the application is then terminated.  My details are as printed  on my debit card and I have banked with the same bank for 20 years.  On one attempt I was offered the option to upload a bank statement so I downloaded one but then had to restart the application.  This time the option to upload a statement was not offered.  
I have completed the feedback form - first time 10 days ago - but no change.  
As it stands I have no way of claiming this allowance.  
Has anyone else had the same issue?

Falanthiot

Turns out you have to enter your first name and your last name all in lower case and then it works!  Bizarre!

mrmcc

I'm confused about this payment, is it by postcode or area, I live in a small village and we're not connected to gas, so use storage heaters but i received a voucher for £200. my cousin lives approx 50m down the road in the next village, they also do not have gas and also have storage heaters but they didnt get a voucher. due to an anomaly with postcodes my village has half a dozen where as theirs only has one.  

Spoonie_Turtle

mrmcc said:

I'm confused about this payment, is it by postcode or area, I live in a small village and we're not connected to gas, so use storage heaters but i received a voucher for £200. my cousin lives approx 50m down the road in the next village, they also do not have gas and also have storage heaters but they didnt get a voucher. due to an anomaly with postcodes my village has half a dozen where as theirs only has one.  

It's both.

The automatic eligibility was twofold:
Postcode off the gas grid.
AND
In a census area where the predominant form of heating is not electric.

Gary1963

I've applied online as I'm served by a geothermal network. 
No idea if I'll get anything 🤔