Nearly a million households can now begin applying for government help on their energy bills, which have been promised to get them through the winter.
Most households have been receiving £400 in energy support since October, paid in monthly installments.
But those living in parking garages, care homes and off the grid haven’t seen a penny yet. Some say they feel “forgotten”.
The Government knows this is a difficult time for families.
It says it is working to cater for these additional households.
But it could still be weeks before those households receive the payment.
- The thorny £400 energy rebate causes fear
Sue Marshall has lived in her car park near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, for nine years. She is one of 85,000 car park owners in the UK.
She lives in her home year-round and pays council tax in the usual way, but when it comes to her energy bill, she pays through the owner of the parking garage and has no direct relationship with the supplier. That means she has to apply for the discount and didn’t get it automatically.
“I feel like we’ve been forgotten,” says Sue. “It has come to fruition at all.”
John Halfpenny and Linda King are also residents of the compound. They say they were originally told they could apply in December, but are only now submitting their applications for their rebates – five months after the first automatic payments began.
The government’s online portal is now open for the likes of Sue, John and Linda to apply for £400 alternative funding for the Energy Bills Support Scheme.
Around 900,000 households can apply, including those that live in houseboats or have a municipal power supply.
It will be open until the end of May and payment will be received in one lump sum, although it may take up to six weeks.
The BBC understands that once an application has been made, the information will be sent to the local council for review, which could include a home visit.
“Everyone else has theirs, it just feels like second rate,” says Linda.
The money was promised to help households through the winter, but as John points out, “we’ve already paid for our winter.”
Sue adds that if the site residents had received the discount sooner, they wouldn’t have worried as much about using the stove or gas.
“People who are alone and sick need the heating, but they don’t dare because they are afraid of the high bills,” she says.
And there are others who are still owed money.
Patrick Raven lives in the heart of Chesterfield, but his house doesn’t have gas. Instead, he uses bottled gas and the price for it is not capped.
“The price a year ago was £105 for two [bottles of liquid petroleum gas]now it’s £168,” says Patrick. “It lasts about four weeks in the winter.”
As residents like Patrick pay more for their energy, households using alternative fuels such as heating oil, LPG or biomass will have to pay an extra payment of £200.
It should appear as a credit on their electricity bill, but if it doesn’t, households will have to apply on the government’s website.
Patrick’s payment hasn’t arrived yet. “[I feel] a bit annoyed. I think it’s crazy. Most likely we’ll get it eventually, but it may be summer when we need it the least because we need it now. We needed it in winter for the cold spells.”
The alternative fuel payment application on the government website is due to open by the end of February.
A Government spokesman said: “We know this is a difficult time for families, which is why the Government paid half of a typical household’s energy bill this winter.
“These are complex systems to manage and require a separate approach from the Energy Bills Support Scheme.”
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