Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Fund (EBSS AF)
The EBSS AF is intended to support those households who do not have a direct relationship to a domestic energy supplier as they do not hold a domestic energy contact themselves or the intermediary who provides their electricity has a commercial energy contract, such as a landlord.
Eligible homes
You may be eligible to apply if your main home is:
- a residential park home
- on a boat on a permanent residential mooring
- on a permanent Gypsy and Traveller site
- part of a heat network without an electricity meter
- in social or private rented accommodation which has a business energy connection or a communal electricity supply
- off the mains electricity or gas grid
- in a care home or assisted living facility and you pay for some or all of your care (directly or through loss of pension or other benefits)
- in a separate domestic home within a non-domestic property (such as a farmhouse or a flat above a shop)
Before you start
You will need:
- an email address and phone number (if you have one)
- your bank account details (a UK current account in your name)
If you’re not registered for Council Tax
You’ll need to upload proof of address (such as a bank statement or tenancy agreement) as part of your application.
If you live in a care home
You’ll also need to upload either:
- an invoice for your care home fees from the past 3 months
- an official document from the care home including your name and address, a funding statement and the name and address of the care home
For those without online access, the contact centre helpline can be reached on 0808 175 3287 for applicants, where a representative will guide them through the application process. The helpline is open 8am to 6pm on Monday to Friday.
You cannot apply if you’ve already had Energy Bills Support Scheme payments. This is 6 automatic monthly payments or prepayment meter vouchers of £66 or £67 from your energy supplier, from October 2022.
The EBSS alternative funding scheme is open to all eligible households until 31 May 2023.
If you use alternative fuels for heating
You may be eligible for a £200 Alternative Fuels Payment (AFP) if both the following are true:
- your household is not connected to the mains gas grid
- you use alternative fuels as your main form of heating
This is on top of the £400 from your electricity supplier.
You’re eligible for this payment if the main way you heat your home uses:
- tank or bottled gas
- liquid petroleum gas (LPG)
- oil
- wood
- solid fuel
Most homes eligible for this payment will get it automatically as a credit on their electricity bills from February 2023.
You may not get the payment automatically if your home is either:
- in an area which is mainly connected to the gas grid
- not connected to either the gas or the electricity grid
If you do not get this payment automatically
You may have to apply for this payment through the AFP Alternative Fund if you do not get it automatically - for example, because you do not have a contract with an electricity supplier.