Support available for households who use alternative fuels for heating

07 Mar 2023

West Suffolk households who heat their home using alternatives fuels to the gas mains, and who haven’t already received a £200 payment, can now claim it.

The Alternative Fuel Payment (AFP) is a government scheme which offers payments of £200 to households that use alternative fuels to the gas grid as their main source of heating. This includes households that use tank or bottled gas, liquid petroleum gas (LPG), heating oil, wood or other solid fuel.

The money is intended to ensure that households using alternative fuels are not left with a higher percentage increase to their heating costs compared to those using mains gas who are supported by the Energy Price Guarantee. 

Most households on alternative fuels will have already received this payment through their electricity supplier in February. But there are a small number of households that don’t have a direct contract with an electricity supplier as so they will need to make a claim under the AFP Alternative Funding scheme that has been launched by the government this week.

The government has advised that provided they can provide sufficient proof of address, fuel receipts and are not otherwise ineligible, households eligible for AFP Alternative Fund may include:

• park home residents
• housing association, social and private tenants, and leaseholders, supplied via a landlord with a commercial meter
• households in house boats on residential moorings
• households on a private electricity network, for example those supplied by a heat network
• off-grid households
• traveller households on authorised sites
• households in temporary/supported accommodation.

People will need to submit a claim on the Government website at Help with your energy bills: Apply for alternative fuel bill support if you do not get it automatically.

The government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) will then carry out checks to confirm that the households isn’t on the gas grid and hasn’t received a payment through their electricity supplier. West Suffolk Council and Anglia Revenues Partnership will then complete final checks and make payments.

Residents can claim for both the AFP Alternative Funding and the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS) Alternative Funding scheme launched last week, providing they meet the government criteria and haven’t already been paid these. For more on the EBSS Alternative Funding scheme see www.gov.uk/ebss-alt-funding

Cllr Sarah Broughton, Cabinet Member for Resources and Property at West Suffolk Council said: “Both of the Alternative Fuel Payment and the Energy Bills Support Scheme are about getting money out to help households, including vulnerable residents, with their increased energy costs. We are encouraging residents who think they are eligible for either or indeed both of these schemes, to claim at the government website.”

Applications for both schemes will close on 31 May 2023.

There is also a government helpline open from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday for anyone who requires help and support to make a claim or progress a claim. The helpline number is 0808 175 3287.

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