Energy Secretary Grant Shapps today (12 April) announced that those wishing to apply for the Alternative Fuel Payments scheme (AFP) can use receipts of fuel purchase from as far as June 2022 – a three-month extension.
Announced as part of the UK’s Energy Bills Support Scheme last December, the AFP scheme grants consumers that use alternative fuels such as heating oil, biomass or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to heat their homes, £200 towards their energy bills.
Around 2 million people in the UK use alternative fuels to heat their homes, with the vast majority (1.7 million) using heating oil, according to government data.
Shapps explained that this extension was to ensure households that purchased their fuel in bulk before winter 2022 are not penalised.
“We have already stepped in and paid half of a typical household energy bill, but we also always want to make sure support gets to those who need it, said Shapps.
“That’s why today we’re again stepping in to make sure those households using heating oil, LPG, biomass and more, can submit receipts for fuel purchases as far back as June 2022, because we recognise many households will have bought ahead of winter.”
The need for greater support for people struggling to pay their energy bills was prevalent throughout last winter.
Research published by Citizens Advice at the start of this year revealed that 3.2 million people were cut of from their energy supply due to being unable to pay their bills in 2022.
