Energy Bills Support Scheme
The Energy Bills Support Scheme was a scheme for homes to get a £400 discount on their energy payments from the government. It ended on 30 June 2023. Here's everything you need to know about how it worked.
What support was available
Every home in Britain with electricity was entitled to a £400 discount from the government, to help with the cost of energy over 6 months. (This broke down to £66 in both October and November, and £67 for each month in December, January, February, and March).
The discount was paid by your electricity supplier and was on top of the Energy Price Guarantee.
It's all part of the government’s wider support with the cost of living, Help for Households.
There was no need to apply for the discount and there’s no need to pay it back.
Check what support you're getting
Use our tool to keep track of your energy discounts and other financial help.
How the discount worked
The way we paid you the discount depended on how you paid for your energy at the time.
If you paid by Direct Debit
We would have paid the discount straight into your bank account as a refund 3 to 5 working days after your Direct Debit cleared.
You would have paid your full Direct Debit amount as normal. We then added the discount to your energy account as credit and refunded that to your bank account.
If you paid when getting your bill
We would have added your discount to your energy account balance in the first week of each month from October to March – even if you weren’t receiving monthly bills.
You should still see confirmation of any discounts on the bill that followed.
Smart Pay As You Go meters
We would have added your monthly discount straight onto your electricity smart meter as a credit in the first week of each month.
We’d also have been in touch with you to confirm that we added the credit.
If we weren’t able to do this, we'd have posted you a voucher to use at your local PayPoint store instead.
Traditional Pay As You Go meters
You would have received vouchers in the post by the 11th working day of each month.
These could be taken to the PayPoint store to top up your electricity or gas meters – or both. You would have had 90 days to redeem each voucher from the date it was issued or until 30 June 2023.
Finding the discount on previous bills
The £66 or £67 discount will be labelled “Energy Bills Support Scheme” in the “Summary of charges section” on any bills you had for the duration of the scheme.
If you pay by Direct Debit, the refund to your bank account will be displayed under “Your balance”. Your payment could be delayed if you cancel your Direct Debit or it fails to go through.
Be aware of scams
Some customers have been sent scam emails or text messages.
We’ll never ask for bank details for these discounts, so don’t share them.
And we only send vouchers by email or post – not text message.
If you get a suspicious message, make sure you report it.
Be aware of scams
Some customers have been sent scam emails or text messages.
We’ll never ask for bank details for these discounts, so don’t share them.
And we only send vouchers by email or post – not text message.
If you get a suspicious message, make sure you report it.
Data privacy
The following information would have been shared with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, who monitor the Energy Bills Support Scheme:
- Your meter point number
- Whether you've received and redeemed each discount
- Information about your meter point – including your billing cycle and how you pay your bill
For details, read the government's privacy notice.
Further government support
The government has also set up some other cost of living support schemes that aren’t directly applied to your energy bill.
More support with payments
Energy Price Guarantee
Everything you need to know about the government’s additional support for energy bills.
Check what you're paying
Read our tips on keeping track of your energy and checking your meter.