What is a Social Tariff?
A social tariff is there for those that need help to pay their fuel bills.
With fuel prices gobbling far more of people’s home budgets than ever before, rules are now in place which try and make it clear who is needy and how the energy companies should respond.
The regulator of the Office of the Gas and Electricity Markets, Ofgem, has set some quite strict guidelines.
But, firstly, who qualifies for the help? It is those people that are deemed vulnerable customers and those that are seen as fuel poor customers (defined as spending on energy more than one tenth of their income).
After some confusion when the idea of social energy tariffs were first introduced, Ofgem stepped in to clarify the situation, now demanding that social tariffs should be equal to the energy provider’s most competitive (cheapest) tariff. It was thought unfair in many quarters that those having a hard time to pay their energy bills, were those that were, ironically on the most expensive deals.
So following Ofgem’s stance, the energy companies had to commit to a spend of £225 million between the years 2008 and 2011 on social tariffs.
One of the U.K.’s largest energy companies, British Gas, was the first to introduce a social tariff, having recognised the concept of fuel poverty way before many of its competitors.
The British Gas social tariff, known as The Essentials Tariff, is currently the largest in the U.K. It has the laudable aim of reducing the energy bills of over 750,000 of British Gas’s most needy customers.
These include people with Pay-As-You-Go electricity and gas meters, those without a bank account and the ones who have signed up to the British Gas Winter Rebate plan. For many of these customers, the new guidelines will make a meaningful difference to the prices of their electricity and gas.
And there are other ways to get help with your fuel bills, including grants and schemes, which tend to be grouped under the heading of the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme.
It depends in which part of the U.K you live to who administers the scheme and who sets the eligibility criteria.
In England, it’s called the Warm Front Scheme and in Wales, the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme. You are eligible if you are on a wide number of benefits.
For more information have a look at the EAGA website at www.eaga.co.uk or phone 0800 408 0694. Details about home energy efficiency schemes, and how to apply, are available by calling your local Energy Efficiency Advice Centre on freephone 0800 512 012. For other grants, contact your local authority or energy supplier and find out if they have any information.
You can also phone the Energy Saving Trust on 0845 727 7200 to ask about grants and schemes in your area.
In Scotland, it’s called the Warm Deal Scheme; for more information visit: www.scotland.gov.uk. In Northern Ireland, its called the Warm Homes Grant and have a look at the EAGA website at www.eaga.co.uk.
On a general basis, a home energy efficiency grant is not something to be sniffed at. They range from £500 to a very significant £5,000; so there’s no excuse not to try and use the grant system to keep warm.
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