Getting household energy bill support in Northern Ireland
Find out about the Northern Ireland Energy Bills Support Scheme and Alternative Fuel Payment and how you can benefit.
Applies to Northern Ireland
Households in Northern Ireland will receive a single non-repayable payment totalling £600 to help with their energy bills, regardless of how they heat their home.
The payment is made up of the Energy Bills Support Scheme (£400) and the Alternative Fuel Payment (£200), and will be provided by the UK government through electricity suppliers.
The payment is automatic. If you get a message asking for your bank details or personal information, or to phone a number or click on a link, this could be a scam. You can report messages you think are suspicious.
If you pay by direct debit or use a keypad meter, suppliers should have all the information they need to get your payment to you.
Eligibility
All households with a domestic meter (T01) and electricity contract are eligible for the payment.
Households without a domestic meter or with a non-domestic electricity contract
Households without a domestic meter or with a non-domestic electricity contract will also receive a £600 payment this winter. This is made up of £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding and £200 Alternative Fuel Payment.
There will be a separate process for getting this payment. We will update this page with further details and timings soon.
These households include:
- residents of park homes
- some care home residents
- tenants in certain types of private and social rented homes
- homes supplied by private wires
- residents of caravans and houseboats on registered sites
- farmers living in domestic farmhouses without a domestic electricity connection
- households off the electricity grid
How you’ll get the payment
You’ll get the payment in different ways, depending on how you pay for your energy.
Customers with a domestic electricity meter point and a domestic electricity supply contract will receive the payment automatically from their electricity supplier.
You do not need to apply for the payment, and there’s no need to contact your electricity supplier.
Direct debit customers
If you’re a direct debit customer, £600 will be deposited directly into your bank account between 16 January and 28 February 2023. If you don’t receive the payment, please wait until after 28 February to contact your supplier.
If your supplier can’t complete a direct payment into your bank account, you will receive a voucher from them, see the instructions on redeeming vouchers for standard credit (bill pay) customers.
Voucher payments for customers without a direct debit arrangement
If you don’t have a direct debit arrangement, you will receive a voucher for £600 from your electricity supplier.
Voucher delivery will be phased from 16 January 2023 onwards, and we expect all customers to receive their voucher by 28 February 2023.
You should redeem the voucher at the Post Office as soon as possible after you receive it, preferably into a bank account - see How to redeem a voucher.
If you are on your supplier’s Customer Care Register, your voucher delivery will be prioritised.
If you need large print or Braille, your electricity supplier should be aware of your needs, and your voucher will arrive in the appropriate format.
If a voucher is lost, it can be reissued.
Customers with a standard credit (bill pay) account
Your voucher will be in the form of a letter containing a barcode, addressed to the named account holder.
If you receive a voucher with the incorrect name, you should contact your supplier who will cancel the incorrect voucher and re-issue a new voucher in the correct name.
Customers with a prepay (keypad) meter
Your voucher will be in the form of a letter containing a barcode, addressed to ‘the Occupier’. You do not need to get it updated to the named account holder.
If your landlord is the named account holder, but you top up the keypad meter yourself, then you are the intended recipient. The payment is to support energy costs for the household.
How to redeem a voucher
You can only redeem the voucher at a Post Office.
The Post Office can either:
- deposit the payment directly into your bank account if you provide your bank card. This is the preferred option as it is most secure. Post Offices can make deposits into most major banks apart from Monzo and the Nationwide Building Society
- provide cash, subject to cash availability at your Post Office branch. Please note that if you take the payment as cash and it is then stolen or lost, the payment will not be repeated
You need to provide verification to redeem the voucher (see the checklist and acceptable forms of verification below).
Checklist of what you need to take to the Post Office
1. The letter containing the voucher.
2. Proof of address - this must show your address and be dated between 1 January 2022 and 1 January 2023. Acceptable proof of address includes (but is not limited to):
- utility bill such as phone, water, electricity, TV licence
- bank statement
- rental or mortgage agreement
- letter from a UK government or Northern Ireland department
3. If you are requesting payment into an account - your bank card and / or account details.
4. Photo ID - only required if you are redeeming your voucher as cash.
Your ID must be valid at the time you redeem your voucher, and must be one of the following:
- passport
- UK or EU / EEA photo driving licence
- Armed Forces ID card or Police Warrant card
- Northern Ireland Electoral Identity Card
- Translink SmartPass (senior / 60+ / war disabled / blind person)
- Asylum ID card
If you do not have photo ID, you should either:
- obtain photo ID - see how to apply for an Electoral Identity Card
- open a bank account to receive this payment
If you are unable to do either, contact your electricity supplier to identify alternative options.
5. Keypad customers only also need to bring their keypad app or top up card, in addition to the voucher and proof of address. If you are not able to provide your top up card or app, you will not be able to redeem the voucher for the keypad.
Nominating someone to redeem the voucher on your behalf
If you are unable to take your voucher to the Post Office, you can nominate someone to redeem it on your behalf.
You must complete the template on the back of the voucher to provide written authorisation for the person you have nominated to redeem your payment.
To be able to redeem the payment on your behalf at the Post Office, the nominated person must take:
- the voucher with completed authorisation
- your photo ID and proof of address
- their photo ID
- your bank account details if the payment is being made into your account
- if you are a keypad customer, they must show your keypad app or top up card
If you pay for your electricity as part of your rent
Your landlord may be reselling the electricity to you based on your usage, in which case they must comply with the regulations which require third party intermediaries such as landlords to pass the support through in a just and reasonable way to end users such as tenants.
See the guidance on pass-through requirements.
Background information
The differences between Energy Bills Support Schemes in Northern Ireland and Great Britain
EBSS Northern Ireland differs from the comparable scheme for Great Britain due to the different nature of the NI and GB energy markets.
As opposed to GB households who are receiving £400 in instalments over 6 months, Northern Ireland households will receive a single non-repayable payment totalling £600, regardless of how they heat their home. This comprises the Energy Bills Support Scheme (£400) and the Alternative Fuel Payment (£200).
Unlike in GB, Northern Ireland consumers will receive this as a payment, so that the money can be used towards electricity and / or heating costs.
Northern Ireland energy users will be the first in the UK to receive the total payment package offered through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.
Why Northern Ireland consumers are receiving the Alternative Fuel Payment as well as the Energy Bills Support Scheme payment
The Alternative Fuel Payment is going to all NI households as most NI households (68%) use alternative fuels and need support now.
Trying to target only those households using alternative fuels would delay payment until after winter.
Why the UK government is delivering the Northern Ireland Energy Bills Support Scheme
In the absence of a functioning Executive, and in consultation with Northern Ireland Ministers, the UK government committed in August to develop and deliver a scheme comparable to that being delivered in Great Britain.
Additional help
The Energy Price Guarantee (EPG), which caps the unit cost of energy, started protecting households in Northern Ireland from the significant increase in wholesale prices on 1 November. Under the EPG, energy suppliers have reduced bills in Northern Ireland by up to 20p/kWh for electricity and 4.8p/kWh for gas. The Guarantee means to date (December 2022) the average household in Northern Ireland has saved £65 on electricity and an additional £75 if using gas.
Further support in direct payments is being provided to vulnerable households this year, including cost of living payments for pensioners, people receiving disability-related allowances and those on means-tested benefits.
The Household Support Fund provides additional assistance for those most in need and £26 billion worth of targeted support will help protect the most vulnerable in the next financial year.
Last updated 12 January 2023 + show all updates
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Payments will begin on 16 January and should all be made by 28 February 2023.
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Verification and identification requirements clarified.
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Added details of voucher payments and how to redeem them.
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First published.