oil payment

  • mackem41's Avatar
    Level 1
    How do E-ON know that i am using Oil for heating /hot water
    Last edited by mackem41; 01-12-22 at 09:46. Reason: i use E-ON for electricity only
  • 16 Replies

  • Best Answer

    DebF_EONNext's Avatar
    Community Team
    Best Answer
    Hey everyone, we have an open thread on Alternative Fuel Payment about this which I will be keeping updated as soon as there's any news! I am keeping an eagle eye on this topic as I am personally waiting for updates too as we rely on wood/coal for our heating 😀
    Last edited by DebF_EONNext; 27-01-24 at 22:01.
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  • retrotecchie's Avatar
    Level 92
    @mackem41

    They don't. So I asked my local MP, who is pushing to get this moving how this might work. His take?

    Initially, they triage customers by whether or not they have a MPRN for a gas meter. If the property has no gas meter, they then check against the database of properties not physically connected to the gas grid. So that would narrow the field down to people likely to have alternate heating arrangements. From that point, he suspects there will need to be proof of buying alternate fuels. Possibly proof of an account with an oil supplier or tanked gas supplier, or maybe photographic evidence of gas bottles or an oil tank, or something.

    However, because they haven't worked out the methodology yet, that's why we are still waiting for anything to happen.
    Don't shoot me, I'm only the piano player. I DON'T work for or on behalf of EON.Next, but am willing to try and help if I can. Not on mains gas, mobile network or mains drainage. House heated almost entirely by baby dragons.
  • gbhxu's Avatar
    Level 12
    All I know is that, what the Government is calling "The Alternative Fuel Payment" of £200 will be paid by electric companies in February next year.

    No doubt the Government is using some cack-handed way to determine who gets the payment just like they are doing with The Warm Home Discount

    (Still not got my WHD yet!)
  • retrotecchie's Avatar
    Level 92
    @gbhxu

    No, they seem to have settled on kicking the can further down the road. The easy way to do it is check with suppliers to see who isn't on mains gas, and then ask those customers for evidence of using alternate fuels. An invoice from an oil supplier or Calor would do it. Why it even needs to be done as a credit on the electric is beyond me. I pay for my oil up front in advance...a credit to my already low electricity usage won't help pay my oil depot's invoice.
  • retrotecchie's Avatar
    Level 92
    @gbhxu

    Very few people have had the WHD. The data from the VOA on High heating cost homes has not yet been fully processed.

  • gbhxu's Avatar
    Level 12
    WHD payment should have been triggered when letters are issued
  • meldrewreborn's Avatar
    Level 91
    @gbhxu

    unless people are on pension credit , the second stage is being in a home with assessed high energy costs, and the third is how far each suppliers allocated funds reac down the list.

    the number of benefitting households is much greater this time, and the system will apply to future years too. While you can complain about not receiving it yet, most will be grateful for the extra help they will get, paid for by all energy customers (including themselves).
    Current Eon Next customer, ex EDF, Zog and Symbio. Don't think dual fuel saves money and don't like smart meters. Chronologically Gifted. If I offend let me know by private message, but I’ll continue to express my opinions nonetheless.
  • retrotecchie's Avatar
    Level 92
    WHD payment should have been triggered when letters are issued

    As @meldrewreborn says, it's a very different system this year. An automatic payment is not triggered by the letter from the DWP as that is just confirmation that you have fulfilled the income/benefit requirements of the scheme. Unless you are in receipt of pension credit (Core Group).

    The second requirement for the 'Broader Group' is that you live in a 'high heating cost home. This will likely rule out people in more modern energy efficient properties that are already well insulated or built to modern building requirements. The sort of properties that will be considered by the Valuation Office Agency will be those with a larger floor area, off the main gas grid, built before a certain time, e.g. Pre-War, or properties that have particular issues because of location or construction.

    That is to say if you live in a modern flat in a well designed block with an efficient heating system, you are less likely to qualify than, say, someone who lives off the gas grid, needs an alternative fuel for heating such as oil or solid fuel, has solid walls with limited scope for insulation to current standards. There will also be an element of geography involved. If you live in a sheltered area surrounded by other properties you will be less likely to qualify than a property 1000 feet above sea level in an exposed rural area.

    So WHD is automatic for the Core Group, you need to Qualify on High Heating Costs for the 'Broader Group'. If you do qualify, then you go into the scheme. However, this to some extent is dependent on the 'pot' that each energy supplier has. If all qualifying payments are made to the Broader Group an there are still funds available from the supplier, then an number of 'discretionary places' may be available. On the flip side, if the pot has already run out, there are some who would perhaps qualify had the pot been bigger but who may be unable to receive the discount.

    It's a complex system, but far more people will qualify than in previous years. Rather than automatically give the discount to one specific group who may not even need the benefit, it is a more targeted approach. Whether it works or not and how and when the discounts are made available remains to be seen.

    What the qualifications are have not been explicitly defined, but the VOA will be looking at the UK housing stock 'in the round', choosing a level for which they deem the 'high heating cost' applies, then everything one side of that line will qualify, and anything the other side won't qualify.
  • gbhxu's Avatar
    Level 12
    I know the ins and outs of the WHD scheme

    The cackhanded part is that you're told you're getting it but don't ask you who you're electric supplier is.

    And those of us eligible for the AFP needed the money before winter to buy the fuel we use rather than afterwards
    Last edited by gbhxu; 25-12-22 at 09:39.