Customers of all major energy suppliers are being offered up to £1,700 which they don’t need to pay back by the British Gas Energy Trust.
The Trust is making grants of up to £1,700 available to customers of EDF, E.ON, OVO, Octopus Energy and, of course, British Gas as well as Utilita and others. The scheme, which gives money to customers in need, is called The Individual And Families Fund.
The money is offered to customers who have between £50 and £1,700 of debt on their prepayment meter account and could see those eligible for the scheme getting their debt paid off by the British Gas Energy Trust.
To be eligible, you must live in England, Wales or Scotland and earn less than just over £20,000 a year. Customers who don’t have prepayment meters won’t be eligible.
The British Gas Energy Trust says about its eligibility criteria: “This fund is open to prepayment meter customers of any energy supplier.
“Prepayment customers must owe between £50 and £1,700 in energy debt.
“British Gas customers – your account balance will be verified with British Gas at the time of assessment and if they exceed the total combined arrears threshold of £1,700, your application will be declined. Please continue to maintain your payment arrangement whilst your application is in progress.
“You have not received a grant from the British Gas Energy Trust within the last two years.
“You have a household income of less than £20,328 or someone in the household is registered disabled and receives a disability benefit or receives Carers Allowance or has 3+ children.
“You are seeking a grant to clear outstanding debt on a current energy account in your name and place of residence. We cannot consider applications for closed accounts (I.e. if you have moved home or changed supplier).”
A previous scheme, the British Gas Energy Support Fund, which gave British Gas customers up to £2,000 to help wipe energy debts, has now closed.