One in four vouchers for prepayment meters unredeemed in Britain
Nearly a quarter of energy vouchers, designed to help the most vulnerable households with their gas and electricity bills, still have not been redeemed, according to the latest government figures.
Failure to receive the energy support payment could “be the difference between having a warm home, keeping the lights on, eating a warm meal or not”, according to the charity Citizens Advice.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) data showed that 24% of vouchers for consumers on prepayment meters (PPM) in Great Britain remained unclaimed.
This is despite increased uptake of the vouchers, which hit its highest level in January, with 1.7m used last month alone, up 130,000 from December.
The energy bills support scheme aims to ease the burden of rising energy costs over the winter.
The government’s energy price guarantee reduces bills for people on direct debits. The vouchers, targeted at households that have a prepayment meter, are worth £400, paid in six monthly instalments of £66. However, a significant number of the vouchers still have not been redeemed, with many lost, delayed or unclaimed.
The 1.9m unredeemed vouchers mean that households have missed out on £125m of support since the scheme launched.
Gillian Cooper, head of energy policy at Citizens Advice, welcomed the increase in redemptions, but said too many people were still not benefiting. She said: “Suppliers must make it as easy as possible for people to get the help they’re entitled to. This includes reissuing vouchers that haven’t been received and ensuring anyone without online access still receives help in a way that’s convenient for them.”
The Guardian revealed at the start of December that as many as 500,000 of the UK’s most vulnerable
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