Government support with energy costs
SUPPORT FOR DOMESTIC ENERGY COSTS
It has been well publicised that the cost of energy is rising globally, which will be of concern to many households. To combat this, HM Government has introduced substantial measures of financial support for every household across the UK.
Energy Price Guarantee (EPG)
The Energy Price Guarantee limits the unit price of gas and electricity. In Northern Ireland the scheme was launched on 1 November, with savings for October’s energy use backdated in bills from November.
This Energy Price Guarantee has been automatically applied to your bill, meaning you do not need to contact us or take any further action. For customers on pre-payment meters, the Energy Price Guarantee has been automatically applied to the rate you pay for each unit of energy at the same rate as for all other customers, so the money you put on the meter will last longer than would otherwise have been the case.
Under the scheme, every Click Energy domestic tariff was discounted by 19.908 pence per kWh (ex. VAT) until 31 December 2022. From 1 January 2023 to 31 March 2023, the level of support provides a discount of 13.608p per kWh.
From 01 April 2023, Government EPG support is being reduced to a discount of 3.7697p per kWh.
Your exact bill will continue to be dependent on how much energy you use.
Details of how this is being applied to Click Energy’s tariffs can be found here. For more information on the Government’s EPG scheme, visit Gov.uk.
£600 energy support payment
The UK Government is providing a single £600 payment to households to help with energy costs this winter. This includes £400 under the Energy Bills Support Scheme and £200 as part of the Alternative Fuel Payment.
Click Energy will be passing this payment automatically to domestic customers from January 2023. You do not need to contact us to receive this support, and please also be aware of scam messages suggesting that you need to apply or provide bank details.
For Direct Debit customers, the £600 will be paid directly into your bank account.
For Keypad customers, you will receive a £600 voucher from mid-January in the form of a letter containing a barcode. You can then redeem the voucher at a Post Office branch.
The Post Office can deposit the £600 payment directly into your bank or credit union account if you provide your bank card or account details, or it can be paid as cash (subject to availability at your Post Office branch).
For further details on how to redeem the voucher, and a checklist of what you'll need to bring to the Post Office, visit: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/getting-household-energy-bill-support-in-northern-ireland#how-to-redeem-a-voucher
NOTE: Your personal data will be shared with the UK government to support administration of the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS) and Alternative Fuel Payment (AFP). These data consist of your meter point number, whether you have received and redeemed each EBSS and AFP payment, and data about your meter point including your billing cycle and how you pay your bill.
The legal basis for processing these personal data is public task. Processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest, under Article 6(1)(e) of GDPR and in the exercise of official authority vested in the Secretary of State for DESNZ. The specific public task is to allow for monitoring, assurance, fraud prevention and evaluation of the EBSS and AFP.
You can find more information on how the UK government will use your personal data in their privacy notice.
For additional information on Government support with the cost of living, please visit gov.uk/helpforhouseholds
ENERGY SUPPORT FOR NON-DOMESTIC CUSTOMERS
Businesses and other non-domestic customers, such as those in the voluntary and public sectors, will be supported this winter through HM Government’s Energy Bill Relief Scheme. This will be applied to energy usage until 31st March 2023 and backdated to 1st October 2022, ensuring support in Northern Ireland will be comparable to the scheme being rolled out in Great Britain.
Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS)
As with the domestic support schemes, the Energy Bill Relief Scheme for non-domestic customers will also be issued automatically, meaning you do not need to contact us to receive your discount. Discounts will be applied subject to the UK Government’s eligibility criteria.
Those on fixed rate contacts agreed on or after 1st December 2021, variable contracts and day-ahead contracts are all eligible for support under Energy Bill Relief Scheme. Those on fixed rate contracts signed before 1st December 2021 would not have been exposed to recent inflation of wholesale prices and are therefore ineligible for support under the scheme.
The level of support will be determined on a case-by-case basis using a Government-issued formula. This will be reassessed each month as it is possible for your eligibility to change during the course of the scheme depending on your contract.
The reduction in your bill will be calculated by comparing the estimated wholesale portion of the unit price to a baseline ‘government supported price’ of 21.10p/kWh, which is lower than projected wholesale prices this winter. In the case of variable and day-ahead contracts, a maximum discount of 34.5p/kWh applies, subject to a floor price of 21.10 p/kWh. Those on day-ahead contracts considering switching to fixed rate contracts are advised to get in touch.
The Energy Bill Relief Scheme will be reviewed in three months’ time to inform decisions on future support after March 2023.
Exclusions: The scheme is intended to be broadly applied but there may be very limited exclusions, for example businesses that use gas or electricity for the purpose of generating power they are selling back into the grid, such as power stations, pumped hydro or grid-level battery storage.
Further information can be found at GOV.UK
Treating fraudulent cases
If, in connection with the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, a customer has acted dishonestly, provided materially misleading information, or failed to take proper measures to prevent or report actual or anticipated fraud or corruption this will be treated with a zero tolerance approach.
If you believe that you are not eligible for support, or that there was an error with the support you have received, it is imperative that you contact Click Energy immediately.
WE ARE HERE TO HELP
We encourage our entire customer base to contact us directly if you are having any issues related to the services we provide. Our dedicated team are available online, on the phone and via social media to make it as easy as possible to engage with us if you require any assistance.
We are open Monday to Friday from 8am-8pm and Saturday from 9am-4pm.
You can get in touch with us directly through:
Freephone 0800 1 070 732
Live Chat on our website
Email chat@clickenergyni.com
Facebook @clickenergyelectricity
Twitter @clickenergychat