Shropshire MP welcomes £400 energy bill support payments for households
Households with no direct relationship to an energy supplier can now apply for a £400 boost in paying their energy bills.
People who may be eligible include residents of park homes, boats on a permanent residential mooring, those off the mains grid or in care homes.
South Shropshire MP Philip Dunne has welcomed the opportunity being made available.
Mr Dunne said: “I have been pressing the Energy Minister before Christmas to ensure that those households who have missed out up until now will receive the £400 help towards reducing energy bills this winter to ensure they receive equivalent support.
"I know this has been incredibly complex to ensure payments can be made to those eligible while avoiding the risk of fraud.
"I know there are many constituents living in park homes, caravans, farmhouses where the bill is paid by the business and a small number in remote properties who are neither on the gas or electricity grid who have missed out."
Households can now apply online to receive the support as a one-off, non-repayable grant under the ‘alternative funding’ route of the Government’s Energy Bills Support Scheme.
To ensure payments are provided quickly and accessibility payments will be delivered to constituents' bank accounts following cross checking from Shropshire Council.
To date over £7.2 billion has been provided so far to 97 per cent of households across UK through monthly instalments, which most households receive automatically in the same way they pay these bills.
A telephone helpline is also available from today for people without access to the internet to apply for the payment.
The Government has also introduced a separate Alternative Fuel Payment of £200 to support households who use alternative fuels, such as heating oil, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), coal or biomass, to heat their homes.
These households will be able to apply via the same gov.uk portal as the one that will be used to apply for support under the EBSS Alternative Fuel scheme in March.
The phone line for applicants is open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm on 0808 175 3287.
The link to apply on is gov.uk/apply-energy-bill-support-if-not-automatic.
