Martin Lewis shares important update on £200 cost of living payment for homes with no mains gas

Martin Lewis has given an update to households still waiting to receive a cost of living support payment from the government to heat their homes this winter.

Households that are not on mains gas are eligible for a one-off £200 alternative fuel payment to help them cope with rising fuel costs.

The payment is for homes that use heating oil, have an LPG boiler, biomass boiler or use a similar alternative fuel, providing households with equivalent support to those that use mains gas and are eligible for a discount on rates under the government’s energy price guarantee scheme.

The one-off payment was initially meant to be £100 but this was then doubled to £200 in Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement. At the same time, the government confirmed that it would provide this payment to all Northern Ireland households in recognition of “the prevalence of alternative fuel usage” in the country.

A fixed payment of £150 will also be made to all UK non-domestic consumers who are off the gas grid and use alternative fuels, with additional ‘top-up’ payments for large users of heating oil based on actual usage.

When will households get the payment?

Details of when and how the alternative fuel payment will be issued to households has not yet been confirmed, but Mr Lewis told viewers on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday (14 December) that he finally had an answer from the government on the payment rollout - although he admitted “it’s not a great answer”.

He said: “I finally have an answer, but it’s not a great answer - it’s AN answer. What I’ve now heard is payments will be made as soon as possible in the New Year. So we have confirmation you will not be getting payments in December. We don’t know when it will be coming through.

“Now this is £200 promised to those who have LPG or heating oil instead of mains gas in their homes. The payment will come via your electricity firm.”

The Money Saving Expert then went on to explain why there has been a delay in rolling out the payment to households. Reading out a statement from the government, he added: “There is no central register in Great Britain or Northern Ireland of people who do not use mains gas for their heating.

“Therefore, we, the government, are working at pace with stakeholders to identify the best method of identifying eligible customers and making payments to them in a way that’s as easy as possible.

“So the issue here is, £200 has been promised but they don’t know who should get it. And that’s what’s causing the delay. I hope this will be sorted in the New Year.”

Payments to be made through electricity suppliers

Households that are eligible for the payment should receive the money automatically from next year via their electricity supplier. This will most likely appear as bill credit on your electricity bill.

Mr Lewis warned that a small number of households will not be able to get the payment automatically, such as those who do not have a direct relationship with their electricity supplier. In these cases, it is expected that households will have to apply for the money, but full details of how this will work is yet to be confirmed by the government.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has said previously that it will appoint a designated body to provide the grant to such households.

The £200 payment is in addition to the £400 energy bill support scheme all households with an electricity supply get.