By Lucy Ashton
Only 60% of people have claimed their first Energy Bill Support Scheme (EBSS) voucher in October, the Post Office has found.
From 1 October, eligible households were able to start receiving the first instalment of the government’s scheme, which provides a £400 non-repayable discount to help with energy bills over winter.
The Post Office, the UK’s biggest voucher processor, said its branches had started processing eight million EBSS vouchers, which it expected to be dished out over the next six months.
PayPoint added that only a little over half (53%) of the 800,000 vouchers it had issued had been redeemed so far.
But, as the weather begins to get colder, the Post Office wants to ensure customers know how they can claim their additional £66 of energy credit for October as November’s vouchers start being issued.
Households will then receive £67 in December, January, February and March.
Millions of people with a prepaid meter will receive the voucher by email or by post to take to their local Post Office to redeem the financial support.
They are valid for 90 days.
Customers of British Gas, Bulb EDF, E.ON, E.ON Next and Good Energy can claim their vouchers at the Post Office.
For households that pay via direct debit, or who have smart pre-payment meters, this money is taken off automatically.
