More than £160m in energy support vouchers remains unclaimed

More than £160 million in energy support vouchers remains unclaimed, with little over two months to go before the scheme slams shut.

That equates to 2.5 million vouchers issued to customers with old-style prepayment meters (PPM) that have yet to be cashed.

With the deadline to redeem the vouchers set for 30 June, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the Fuel Bank Foundation have launched separate awareness campaigns in a last-ditched attempt to make people aware of the support available.

As part of the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS), vouchers have been issued to old-style PPM customers on a monthly basis via suppliers since October 2022. The final vouchers were issued in March, with customers given 90 days from the time of issue to redeem their vouchers.

Customers can still claim for support issued longer than 90 days ago, however they will have to contact their supplier to reissue unclaimed vouchers.

Government data reveals that of the 11.7 billion total vouchers issued, 9.2 billion have been redeemed.

Utilita customers have the lowest redemption rate of all suppliers with just 72% of vouchers issued having been redeemed, according to government figures.

Bulb customers have the second lowest redemption rate with 75% of vouchers having been cashed. However, Octopus – who acquired Bulb in December 2022 – has one of the highest redemption rates, with 86% of vouchers issued.

Octopus is in the process of transferring Bulb accounts on to its own systems and recently moved over its one millionth former Bulb customer.

British Gas customers have redeemed 79% of vouchers, however there remains almost 600,000 unclaimed vouchers which have been issued to the supplier’s customer base – the most of all suppliers.

Of all suppliers with customers on old-style PPMs, E (Gas and Electricity) has the highest redemption rate, with 88% of all vouchers issued having been claimed.

The government has previously been accused of “lashing out” at energy retailers for naming and shaming those with low redemption rates of EBSS vouchers.

A spokesperson for PPM specialist supplier Utilita argued that its figures are not a fair reflection as it has a small number of customers with traditional meters. The spokesperson added that the government’s figures are only an approximation and do not include exemptions including vacant properties (voids) and change of tenancies, where an account contact has not been provided by the new occupier.

The spokesperson added: “While we are a specialist smart prepay supplier, we do have a small number of customers with legacy meters. We have provided vouchers to 99.89% of this cohort.

“However, not all these customers – who are typically less engaged than those with smart meters in their home – have redeemed all their vouchers. We are committed to getting through to them to ensure they do not miss out.”

Meanwhile the chief executive of industry trade body Energy UK, Emma Pinchbeck, said suppliers were “making repeated efforts” to ensure vouchers are delivered and to encourage customers to redeem them.

She added: “There may be different reasons why some customers will have received their vouchers but not redeemed them yet so the industry has been working with partner outlets like Paypoint and Post Office, as well as consumer groups like Citizens Advice, to raise awareness.

“Suppliers are using the full range of communication channels to try and reach customers, including phone calls and home visits, reissuing vouchers when required and also taking on board feedback from the scheme to improve their effectiveness still further.”

When broken down by region, old-style PPM customers in London have by far the lowest redemption rate with just 66% having claimed vouchers issued to them. Around 26% of vouchers in both Scotland and the South East of England are also yet to be used.

In contrast, those living in the East Midlands have the highest redemption rate with 80% of vouchers redeemed.

Consumer energy Minister Amanda Solloway has urged anyone who has not yet redeemed their prepayment meter vouchers to do so now, with the scheme remaining open until 30 June. She said: “Even as the warmer weather sets in I urge anyone on a traditional prepayment meter to act now if they haven’t redeemed their voucher.”

Matthew Cole, head of Fuel Bank Foundation, added: “Prepayment meter customers were unfairly disadvantaged because the EBSS payments weren’t paid directly into their bank account, as with direct debit customers. We want to give people every possible chance of redeeming the vouchers by giving them all the information they need to do so.”