Fuel poverty charity National Energy Action (NEA) is calling on vulnerable households across Britain to ensure they don’t miss out on essential energy crisis support.
The plea comes as the Warm Home Discount scheme opens for applications, starting on Monday, 16th October.
Last year, changes to the scheme resulted in over 800,000 low income and vulnerable households missing out on the £150 rebate.
According to the charity the Warm Home Discount scheme alterations created complexities that left around 500,000 eligible individuals unable to access the £150 rebate directly off their energy bills.
Additionally, a further 300,000 households missed out as they were required to prove their eligibility but faced confusion due to the new scheme’s intricacies.
These combined factors meant that more than 800,000 vulnerable households did not receive the support they desperately needed.
A few days ago, NEA, alongside more than 140 other organisations, called upon the UK Government to provide targeted support for this winter and explore longer term measures, such as a social tariff.
Peter Smith, Director of Policy and Advocacy at NEA said: “The Warm Home Discount won’t be enough to help millions of vulnerable households. The rebate has only increased by £10 in ten years, despite energy bills now being £800 per year higher than they were at the start of the energy crisis.
“The cost of living payments are being eaten up daily by wider negative budgets. Across the UK millions of vulnerable households are facing this winter without any government support and their bills are likely to rise again in January.”
