New figures reveal which suppliers are meeting their responsibilities and who needs to do more to deliver £400 government energy bill support for prepayment meter customers.
Households across Great Britain are now able to see which suppliers are doing the most - and the least - to ensure prepayment meter customers are receiving £400 of support with their winter energy bills, as the government today (23 January) publishes figures showing how many vouchers have been used across suppliers.
For the first time, figures released today reveal voucher redemption rates for the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS) broken down by supplier. E Gas and Electricity are at the top with an 85% success rate and Bulb coming in second with 79%. Those with the fewest redemptions include Good Energy, Utilita and Scottish Power, with the government calling on them and others to make sure they are doing all they can to ensure their customers with prepayment meters know what to look out for and exactly how to redeem their vouchers.
Administered by energy suppliers, EBSS is designed so customers receive the discount in the same way they pay their energy bills, such as via direct debit, credit, smart meters and traditional prepayment meters. Most people will receive the support automatically, with no action necessary. However, people who use traditional prepayment meters are sent monthly vouchers by their supplier via text, email or post with suppliers having contacted customers in advance of the scheme launching in October to advise how the discount would be applied.
Yesterday, the Business Secretary pledged to crack down on the mistreatment of energy users by suppliers, following reports showing some aren’t doing enough to support vulnerable customers. As part of this he committed to publishing a list of supplier redemption rates for Energy Bills Support Scheme vouchers – showing who is meeting their responsibilities and who needs to do more.
Business and Energy Secretary Grant Shapps said:
The public have a right to know which suppliers are leading the charge with getting this help to them, and that’s why I’m holding energy companies to account to make sure they are doing everything they can to support their customers at this time.
We’re ramping up efforts so consumers know exactly what they need to do to redeem these vouchers, but we need suppliers to do much more and I want to see these numbers rise.
Today’s figures show nearly £5.7 billion of support has now been provided to 99% households across Great Britain through the Energy Bills Support Scheme to help with their winter energy bills, provided in monthly instalments that began in October and will continue until March.
71% of vouchers have now been redeemed since the scheme launched, up from 65% following continual engagement with energy suppliers and consumers throughout the delivery of the scheme. However, ministers want to see this rise as figures show 99% of vouchers have been issued.
The government is furthering campaign activity to reach eligible customers with additional advertising rolling out from today (Monday) across community radio, social media and national magazine titles.
Suppliers will tell customers where to redeem vouchers, which will be at a Post Office branch or a PayPoint shop, and must make several attempts to contact customers who have not redeemed their vouchers.
