Energy support payment: More NI households now eligible

More than 28,000 households who were not originally eligible for the £600 energy support payment are now able to apply, the UK government has said.

An online portal was launched on Monday for households who do not have a direct relationship with a domestic electricity supplier.

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

The majority of households have already received their payments from domestic energy suppliers.

Among those included in the "alternative funding" scheme are:

• care home residents and others in care facilities or sheltered accommodation

• park home residents

• houseboats and caravans residents that can provide proof of address

• social and private tenants who pay for energy through a landlord on a commercial supply

• homes on a heat network/private wire

• off-grid homes

• farmhouses used for wholly domestic purposes

Amanda Solloway, a minister at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, said: "This online portal is the final piece of the puzzle to make sure the final few who don't have a direct relationship with an electricity supplier can apply for their £600 of support."

Payments will be delivered directly into bank accounts by the government's finance delivery partner, UKSBS.

The date at which eligible households receive their payment will depend on when the application is made.

A phone line will be made available to assist those without access to the internet.

To check eligibility under the scheme, people need to search for "Apply for energy bill support if you do not get it automatically in Northern Ireland" in the search bar on GOV.UK or in an internet search engine.

• 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 roll-out 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.