Alternative Fuel Payment & Solar panels

cazza0104

Hi

Everyone in my postcode has received the £200 AFP via their electricity supplier except us. We are with Octopus as are several of our neighbours. We are the only house with solar panels but we don’t use them for heating which is oil fired. Could the government be disqualifying us because of our panels? We’ve been with Octopus for 18 months. They can’t tell us why we weren’t on the list of customers to credit as it comes from the government. Can anyone help shed any light on this? 

Krakkkers

Help with your energy bills: If you use alternative fuels for heating - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

ariarnia

dont no why you didn't get it via octopus but i think you can apply manually/directly in the next couple of weeks. 

more info here: https://www.gov.uk/get-help-energy-bills/alternative-fuels

(nothing there about solar panels)

Spoonie_Turtle

cazza0104 said:

Hi

Everyone in my postcode has received the £200 AFP via their electricity supplier except us. We are with Octopus as are several of our neighbours. We are the only house with solar panels but we don’t use them for heating which is oil fired. Could the government be disqualifying us because of our panels? We’ve been with Octopus for 18 months. They can’t tell us why we weren’t on the list of customers to credit as it comes from the government. Can anyone help shed any light on this? 

Shouldn't be, the automatic eligibility is done on an area basis not individual household.  Weird that you've not received it.  Applying manually is probably your best bet, but do you have it in writing that Octopus say you weren't on the list, just in case?

Apodemus

Have you checked that the supplier is using your correct postcode?  A simple mis-type of a postcode digit is surprisingly common and it is easy to not notice this on your billing, especially if it is all done online. 

EDIT:  Also, applying manually might not be easy - I would guess that the first thing the recipient of your application will do is check whether the postcode was already included.  If it was already on the list and you have an account with an electricity supplier, then they will surely assume that you should already have received it.  This sounds like an Octopus glitch and it is probably for them to sort - they know the list of eligible postcodes and are the ones who have left you off the payment.

cazza0104

Octopus don’t want to know - they’re saying it’s not their problem. It would help if I understood the process. Is it actual addresses which the government give the suppliers or just the postcodes which they then have to apply to their customer list?

Mstty

cazza0104 said:

Octopus don’t want to know - they’re saying it’s not their problem. It would help if I understood the process. Is it actual addresses which the government give the suppliers or just the postcodes which they then have to apply to their customer list?

If I were you I wouldn't spend wasted time with suppliers on this. Just put in an application, says below open early March so not much time to wait

https://www.gov.uk/get-help-energy-bills/alternative-fuels

pochase

You don't mention what type of heating you are using?

The automatic payment will pay if there is no gas for your post code and most use oil or LPG and you will get it even if you use electricty for heating.

ariarnia

pochase said:

You don't mention what type of heating you are using?

The automatic payment will pay if there is no gas for your post code and most use oil or LPG and you will get it even if you use electricty for heating.

the op says oil heating. 

Apodemus

Mstty said:

cazza0104 said:

Octopus don’t want to know - they’re saying it’s not their problem. It would help if I understood the process. Is it actual addresses which the government give the suppliers or just the postcodes which they then have to apply to their customer list?

If I were you I wouldn't spend wasted time with suppliers on this. Just put in an application, says below open early March so not much time to wait

https://www.gov.uk/get-help-energy-bills/alternative-fuels

I really don't see how that will work.  If the OP's postcode area met the Government's conditions for the automatic payment, then it would seem unlikely that they will authorise an additional specific payment to the OP (which would still be routed through the electricity supplier).  At the very least they would need proof that it hadn't been paid in the way that it should have been - and it is often difficult to prove a negative. 

Clearly there must be an error in the system somewhere.  Either the OP is wrong about his neighbours being at the same postcode or about his postcode being included or the Supplier has missed him off that postcode's list - most likely because they have an error in the postcode that they hold.  

There are possibly other unlikely reasons, such as this being a property which has not had its address properly registered for a postcode - in that case, I guess it might be possible that the MPAN number might not align with the postcode that the supplier's billing service holds for the property - but we are talking a very unlikely set of circumstances here!

ariarnia

Apodemus said:

Mstty said:

cazza0104 said:

Octopus don’t want to know - they’re saying it’s not their problem. It would help if I understood the process. Is it actual addresses which the government give the suppliers or just the postcodes which they then have to apply to their customer list?

If I were you I wouldn't spend wasted time with suppliers on this. Just put in an application, says below open early March so not much time to wait

https://www.gov.uk/get-help-energy-bills/alternative-fuels

I really don't see how that will work.  If the OP's postcode area met the Government's conditions for the automatic payment, then it would seem unlikely that they will authorise an additional specific payment to the OP (which would still be routed through the electricity supplier).  At the very least they would need proof that it hadn't been paid in the way that it should have been - and it is often difficult to prove a negative. 

if the op has a bill (with the house address) with no payment in the period and an email from the supplier saying there not eligible then that seems quite easy to prove? 

personally id go to the supplier and say if there not interested in helping then ask for a deadlock letter and take it to the ombudsman who will look at the criteria and instruct its paid or explain why not.