Ofgem checks risk exclusion from insulation help, EUK warns

Struggling households could be denied support for energy efficiency upgrades due to irrational eligibility checks, Energy UK has warned.

In particular, the trade body has criticised the need to provide council tax bills when applying for support under the government’s flagship Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS). It warns that this extra check risks excluding households from receiving energy efficiency help.

Under the rebadged ECO+ scheme, suppliers will be expected to provide at least 20% of measures to low income households, which includes those on means-tested benefits and living in the least energy efficient homes.

In a bid to broaden support to other poor households, who may not necessarily be on benefits, suppliers will be able to offer energy efficiency measures to a general pool of households that do not match these low-income criteria.

In England, owner occupied and privately renting households will be eligible for this general pool if they live in a property in the Band A to D council tax valuation bands with a SAP energy efficiency rating of Band D to G.

To check eligibility for measures, Ofgem’s consultation proposes that suppliers should be able to provide a council tax bill, addressed to the customer at the address which is receiving the measures.

It says the regulator may ask to see these council tax bills when carrying out routine compliance checks or full audit.

In its response to the regulator’s consultation on the administration of the rebadged ECO+, Energy UK says it strongly disagrees with Ofgem’s proposed approach to verifying eligibility.

“Suppliers should not be required to collect council tax bills from households in the general eligibility group, and we do not recognise the rationale behind Ofgem requiring this document,” it says, adding that council tax letters provide no additional information or validation to what can be obtained through public databases.

A screenshot from, or link to, the relevant page on the Valuation Office Agency or Scottish Assessor’s Association website should be sufficient, says the response.

It adds: “We have serious concerns that requiring a copy of the letter risks excluding customers from the scheme. It is likely that many people do not retain a copy of their council tax letter and are unwilling to obtain another copy from the council.”

Noting that the additional administrative burden on councils of having to reissue letters should be avoided, it says: “The current approach could result in a scenario where a struggling household, who is greatly in need of insulation, could be turned away simply because they don’t have a copy of a letter, which provides no additional information to what can be gathered elsewhere.”