If we got energy vouchers for our prepayment meter we have to use them by 30 June
Time is running out if we have unused vouchers for our prepayment energy meter as we only have until 30 June to redeem them.
The vouchers are worth £66 or £67 and our supplier would have sent us one every month over winter in the post or by email or text.
Each household was given £400 of support over six months. If we have a prepayment voucher this came as a monthly voucher between October 2022 and March 2023.
The scheme closes soon, on 30 June. After that we’ll lose any vouchers we haven’t redeemed.
Redeeming them is simple. We just need to take the vouchers to a post office or PayPoint shop (it will say which on the voucher) and we can use them to top up our meter.
We may need ID, like a bill, bank statement or driving licence, that matches the details on our voucher and meter key/card.
And if our vouchers are lost or have expired, our provider can send us new ones. But again, we’ll have to be quick. Vouchers that are resent still have to be used by 30 June.
If we’re not sure who our supplier is, we can check our top-up receipts. Or we can visit UK Power Networks and use the ‘search’ tool under ‘FAQs’.
Energy voucher confusion
Latest figures showed nearly two million vouchers worth £130m have not been redeemed.
It’s thought there might be some confusion about what to do with the vouchers. This is because other energy customers (who don’t use prepayment meters) had the money taken off their bills automatically.
Only prepayment customers had to take action to benefit from the support. If this is us, we were supposed to take the voucher to a post office or PayPoint shop (wherever we usually top up the meter) to spend it.
Vouchers expire after three months. If this has happened to us we can get them resent by our energy supplier.
The same applies if we think we may have lost vouchers.
Some suppliers are resending them automatically if they notice we’ve redeemed other vouchers. That shows them that they have the correct contact details for us.
Don’t leave it too late!
Lastly, if we’re saving vouchers for colder weather we should take care. Not only will the vouchers be worthless after 30 June, but many meters can only take around £250 of credit at one time.
So the best advice is to use them up now.
We can always put a few quid aside from what we save on this month’s energy for topping up when the weather gets colder.
For more information, visit the Help For Households website and click ‘Energy Bills’.
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