Millions of pounds worth of prepayment meter vouchers are going unclaimed as the government’s energy bills support package rolls out.
Households across Britain are eligibile for a £400 non-repayable discount to help with their energy bills this winter, with the first installment of £66 being automatically taken off residents’ October bill.
However traditional prepayment meter users will need to redeem equivalent vouchers, but many have not yet done so.
Payment company PayPoint told the Standard it expected to process 800,000 vouchers in October, worth a total of £52.8m, but the business said only £27m had been redeemed so far.
While PayPoint does not have a specific number of household customers yet to redeem vouchers, it estimates only around 51 per cent have so far.
With vouchers only valid for 90 days, customers are being urged to check their post in case they have missed the delivery.
The vouchers, which suppliers are sending out by post, email or text, can also be redeemed with the Post Office and at PayPoint stores.
More than four million people have a prepayment meter, and around half of those are the older, non-smart type of meter, according to the energy watchdog Ofgem.
The government’s support package is being applied to household electricity bills over six months. Households will get £66 in October and November and £67 in December, January, February and March.
All households with a domestic electricity connection in England, Scotland and Wales are eligible for the discount.
The energy grant is not to be repaid and is part of the £15bn government support package announced in May to tackle the cost-of-living crisis.
Meanwhile ministers announced an “unprecedented” lifeline for businesses and the public sector which they said would reduce bills to “less than half” than feared this winter.
Market experts Cornwall Insight estimated the cost of the business support package could be £25 billion.
