Energy payment: More Northern Ireland homes can apply for £600

Some homes in Northern Ireland that were previously ineligible for a £600 energy support payment can now apply.

At this stage applications are only open to those in County Fermanagh in postcodes BT74, BT75, BT77, BT78, BT92, BT93 and BT94.

The scheme is designed to help those who have not yet received support.

It includes people living in a caravan park, a care home, a farm or a private rented home where the landlord has a business connection to the power grid.

After people apply, the UK government's Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy will check if they live at the address they apply for.

They will be told about the progress of their application by email or letter and should get a response within six weeks.

Those eligible will get a one-off payment.

Further details on who is eligible can be found on the government's website.

• Your £600 energy payment scheme questions answered

The government initially announced a £400 support payment last May to help homes struggling with the rising cost of living pay their energy bills.

An additional £200 was then announced to account for the high proportion of homes in Northern Ireland that use home heating oil.

The £600 payments started being issued to 500,000 homes in Northern Ireland last month.

It was issued either in the form of a voucher sent by post or paid automatically into people's bank accounts, depending on how they paid for electricity.

The rollout has been staggered with all vouchers due to have been received by the end of February.

The scheme works differently in the rest of the UK, where households received support every month from October 2022 to March 2023.

While payments in Northern Ireland started later, the lump sum nature of the scheme means it is expected that those households will have received the full amount first.