Cost of living: Households have just 1 day left to apply for £400 free cash to help towards energy bills

Vulnerable households have just days left to apply for £400 support towards energy bills. The deadline to apply for the “alternaive fund” of the Energy Bill Support Scheme is this Wednesday (May 31) - a date which campaigners have urged the Government to extend.

The fund is for people without a direct relationship to an electricity supplier. This might including people living in park homes, care homes or on a boat.

The £360 million cash boost was supposed to benefit 900,000 households who missed out over the winter but, according to the Mirror, just 13 per cent of eligible households have applied for the support.

Fuel Poverty Action have since slammed the “badly managed and badly advertised scheme” and called on ministers to extend the deadline by six months. The group added: “This is horrendous. A lot of people are relying on that money.”

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “This is an application-based scheme. We have worked through a variety of means of communication.”

Who is eligible for the Alternative Fuels £400 payment?

You may be eligible to apply if your main home is:

• a residential park home
• on a boat on a permanent residential mooring
• on a permanent Gypsy and Traveller site
• part of a heat network without an electricity meter
• in social or private rented accommodation which has a business energy connection or a communal electricity supply
• off the mains electricity or gas grid
• in a care home or assisted living facility and you pay for some or all of your care (directly or through loss of pension or other benefits)
• in a separate domestic home within a non-domestic property (such as a farmhouse or a flat above a shop)

How do I apply for the Alternative Fuels £400 payment?

You can apply if:

• you pay for the energy your household uses
• you’re applying for your main, permanent home

You will need:

• an email address or phone number (if you have one)
• your bank account details (a UK current account in your name)

To apply, visit the Gov.uk website.