Double blow as 1,000s of families miss out on price cap and £400 energy bill rebate

Chris Harris at Millennium Apartments 

1,000s of British families are facing a double energy bills blow after finding they are not eligible for the £400 rebate, plus not being protected by the price cap, too.

Why is this the case? Households which don't have their own electricity meter and are supplied by a private supply meter won't get the discount.

These households are already facing a bigger than average rise in bills because they are classed as commercial users rather than domestic, so aren't covered by the price cap.

The new issue has been highlighted by bosses at Birmingham-based Ginger Energy, who launched a petition earlier this year calling for the price cap to be more far-reaching after finding that up to half a million UK households were not protected.

Lisa Gregory, a director with Ginger Energy, said: “To say it’s unfair is an understatement. These are the customers who need this rebate the most, yet they're missing out. So they could be paying up to 300% more for their electricity this year.

“The news that as taxpayers, they'll now be contributing to a £400 rebate that other households who are already protected by the price cap receive, will be a bitter pill for them to swallow.

“We are urging the government to review and consider its position regarding private supply electricity consumers, who are missing out on the rebate and are indeed the ones that need the help.”

Chris Harris is one of the residents who are affected. He lives at Millennium Apartments in Newhall Street, Birmingham, where electricity is supplied via a private supply.

Retired Chris, 72, a director of the Millennium Apartments Management Company, said: “Our contract renewed on July 1 and we've seen bills shoot up. My payments have gone from around £145 a month to £220 and we're all braced for another rise later in this year when we renew again.

“We don’t have the protection of the price cap,  so it was very disappointing to find out we aren't eligible for the rebate either.”

He said neighbours in the 70-apartment block were all dismayed and angry at the news and were all fearing a further big rise later this year.

He went on to say: “All residential customers should be treated the same.  Just because we're wired up differently doesn’t mean we should miss out.”

Stephen Knight, who is a director of Heat Trust, the national consumer champion for heat networks, said: “Ginger has rightly identified an injustice facing these energy customers. The government promised every household would get the £400 energy rebate this autumn, but as it stands, those on communal electricity circuits won’t see a penny, as the payment will only be made via domestic electricity suppliers.

“We have called on the government to find a way to get the rebate to this group of residents, who already face the injustice of not being protected by the price cap or having access to the Warm Homes discount scheme.”

Lisa went on to point out that it appeared Ofgem and the government had begun to take notice of the issue, thanks, partially, to Ginger's campaign.

The latest consultation document from the government's Energy Bills Support Scheme states: "The government recognises households without a domestic supply contract do not benefit from the same consumer protections as households with one. Government will work actively to address this at the next opportunity.”

Lisa added: "We don't know what this will entail yet, but they now acknowledge the situation is a situation. It's good that our open letter started it all off because they didn’t recognise it at first."

To sign Ginger Energy’s petition, go to https://www.change.org/Gingerenergy