How to claim energy support vouchers if you use a prepayment meter

The government has urged Londoners with prepayment meters to claim energy support vouchers, after revelations that 650,000 of them are still yet to be used as of April 1.

Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps issued an appeal to people in the capital this week, saying: "Claim what you are owed. Still time to do it - but people do need to take action."

Recent figures suggested that in four people who use prepayment energy meters are missing out on vouchers they are entitled to receive.

More than £780 million in EBSS (Energy Bills Support Scheme) vouchers have been sent to households but only £620 million have been claimed. Nearly 20 per cent of households have still not accessed the support available to them via the government scheme.

Data revealed that the fewest households making use of the support are in London, where more than a third of vouchers remain unclaimed. In Scotland and the South East of England, about 26 per cent of vouchers have not yet been used.

PayPoint, which process the vouchers, revealed that around one in five people did not redeem the £66 energy support voucher they were sent in November.

If you are on a prepayment meter, here's what you need to know about accessing all available support.

Last winter, households in Great Britain were promised £400 in payments to help them with energy bills.

For most households, this amount was taken from their direct debits, but customers with prepayment meters have to redeem monthly £66 vouchers.

You will either be given vouchers, or an automatic top-up, in which case you should top-up your prepayment as usual.

If you get vouchers, you will need to use them at a top-up point, such as a Post Office branch or a PayPoint shop.

Your energy supplier should make it clear where the vouchers can be used.

You might need to use photo ID to claim the vouchers, so make sure to take a driving licence or passport with you to the top-up point.

Vouchers expire 90 days after being issued.

If you are on a traditional prepayment meter and have not received your vouchers, or are unsure how to redeem them, you should get in touch with your supplier.

People who haven't redeemed their prepayment meter vouchers are urged to redeem them now, with the scheme remaining open until June 30.

Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps has pushed suppliers to do more to help vulnerable customers access support.

Out of the hundreds of thousands of vouchers sent out, nearly 80 per cent had been redeemed before they expired.

Mr Shapps called on energy companies to "redouble their efforts".

He said: "The help we’ve put in place means we are covering around half of most households’ energy bills this winter — this is an unprecedented level of support.

"But many households are yet to redeem the vouchers they are entitled to and I want energy companies to redouble their efforts to get the support to those who need it."