Six energy firms handing out free bill credit worth up to £250 to millions have been revealed. You can get temporary credit if you can’t afford to top up your meter. Your supplier might add this to your meter automatically when you run out of credit, or you might have to contact them and ask.
If you run out of temporary credit, explain your situation to your supplier. They might give you extra temporary credit if they agree you’re ‘vulnerable’. You might be vulnerable if you’re disabled or have a long-term health condition.
This includes hearing, sight and mental health conditions. You might also be vulnerable if you’re recovering from an injury. You might be able to get certain benefits, grants and help offered by the government and energy suppliers, too.
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And you might be able to get a fuel voucher. This is a code given to you in a letter or in a text message or email. You can use it to add credit to your gas card or electricity key. If you don’t have one of these, contact your supplier to get one.
British Gas – £250
Thousands of British Gas customers can get up to £250 in free credit if tjhey customers who pay for their energy bills through a prepayment meter. It is a discretionary payment of credit up to £250 for those struggling with energy costs.
It is a discretionary payment, which means British Gas decides who gets the help. The majority of eligible customers will get £250, but some will get £100, depending on their level of income and vulnerability. Customers don’t need to contact the company to apply for the help. Instead, those eligible will be identified and contracted directly by British Gas.
If you are on a smart pre-pay meter, then you will get it automatically added to your energy account. If you are on a traditional prepay meter, you will be sent a voucher to redeem.
Octopus energy – up to £20
Octopus Energy offers £10 emergency credit on electricity and £20 on gas for pre-payment customers. Those with traditional prepayment meters can get £10 on their electricity meters and £20 on their gas meters.
If you have a smart prepayment meter, the emergency credit can be activated on the home display. If you have a traditional prepay meter, you can get the help if you are down to your last £1 of electricity or £2 of gas. You will need to insert your electricity key or gas card to activate the emergency credit.
Scottish Power – £30
Scottish Power offers an emergency credit option for prepayment meter customers. It says: “Your meter has £10 emergency credit built in (£30 in Winter for traditional gas meters.) This is to help keep your energy supply on until you’re able to top up or this credit runs out. Once you run out of emergency credit, your supply may self-disconnect until you’re able to top up your meter. You must repay any amount of emergency credit used plus standing charges, and any payments you are making towards an outstanding balance (if applicable). It’s important to also top up enough credit to cover the cost of the energy you’ll use.
“If you run out of credit during periods when it may be difficult to top up, your meter’s friendly credit hours will be activated,won’t turn off. If you have traditional electricity meter your friendly credit hours are from 6pm to 11am Monday to Saturday, all-day Sunday and bank holidays.”
OVO – £15
Last year, OVO Energy raised its emergency credit rate from £5 to £15. Each Pay As You Go meter has emergency credit for times when your balance is low and you’re unable to top up right away. Any emergency credit you use will be repaid from your next top-up.
If your balance falls below £1, your meter will offer you the option to use emergency credit. To activate, insert your top-up key into the meter. If the key is already in the meter, you may need to remove and re-insert it. You’ll receive a confirmation message that emergency credit has been activated and how much of it is left on the meter. Top up as soon as you can to avoid losing power when it runs out.
Utilita- £100
Utilita cusomers could get up to £60 of gas and £40 of electricity credit and can choose how to pay it back. Utilita explained: “Get £15 Emergency Credit when your meter balance gets low. Simply accept the notification on your Smart Display to activate this emergency fund. Your available Emergency Credit can be seen on your home screen on My Utilita – nice!
“You can download My Utilita from the App Store or Google Play Store. Friendly Credit hours mean you won’t go off supply at key times. You won’t lose supply from 2pm – 10am* even if you’ve run out of credit. If you’ve been a Utilita customer for over three years, Friendly Credit Hours also extend to all day Monday – Great!
“You can view within My Utilita when you’re in Friendly Credit Hours. Apply for a POWER UP of up to £60 on gas and £40 on electric when you’ve run out of credit and need to get back on supply. Pay it back on your terms as a % of your future top-ups – easy!”
EDF – £10
EDF’s pre-payment customers can get access to £10 of emergency credit. EDF said: “We never want you to be without an energy supply, so we put £10 of emergency credit on your electricity prepayment meter. This gives you some extra time to get to the shop and top up.
“You can use your emergency credit when the balance on your electricity meter drops to 50p or less. This is when your meter will give you a warning beep and you’ll see a flashing ‘e’ on the screen. To start using your emergency credit, just take your key out of the meter, then put it back in.”