Residential Park Home owners & the Energy Bills Support Scheme

chiarieds

All households with a domestic electricity connection will be automatically eligible for the £400 grant.

However, most residential Park home owners, like myself, pay for our electricity directly to the Park site owner, who has a business account, billing ourselves quarterly after reading our meters. Some also pay the site owner for their gas, whereas others like myself pay directly for their LPG.

Unfortunately we then don't qualify, & many Park Home owners are elderly; some like myself with a disability.

You don't have to be a residential Park Home owner to sign the following petition, so if any would like to sign, it would be much appreciated. I'm not one for petitions, but this will be important to some disabled people. Thank you for reading.

The petition: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/617700

woodbine

I'm not sure it's correct to say "most residential park home owners" pay directly to the site owner, do you have a link to that @chiarieds ? Because the figures from the Park home groups I am a member of suggest it's the minority. I agree it's annoying but the govt. seem unwilling to sort this problem out,  and it's true to say that the Park owners are commercial re-sellers of electricity, and it also has to be said that in the last few months residents have benefitted from lower prices.
However all that said all park home residents will have benefited from the £150 council tax payment, all the retired ones will get the £300 extra and disabled people £150 , so it really isn't the end of the world.
It's worth noting that I also live in a residential park home.

Just to add that after about 3 weeks the petition has 5,600 signatures there are around 200,000 park home residents in the UK.

chiarieds

Hi @woodbine - I saw this mentioned here: https://www.change.org/p/ensure-park-home-residents-receive-the-400-energy-grant?redirect=false    where they actually used the word 'majority', which I changed to most.

I'm aware that you also live in a Park Home but do not pay your site owner for electricity. A neighbour came around this morning asking if my son (who also has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) & I would sign the petition. My son & his wife are the youngest here; most are 60+ years old.

I thought to put it on here after talking to another neighbour who is our Town Mayor. Here there are 80+ Park Home residents who will be affected. Unfortunately we've seen a rise in our electricity prices since February this year, so your comment is incorrect as far as we're concerned.

From the government's website here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/energy-bills-support-scheme-explainer

''If I live in a park home, will I get the £400? Or if I pay for energy in my rent, how do I make sure my landlord passes on the reduction?

We recognise that there are certain situations where a third party will be responsible for the bill (and be named on it). In these situations, any charges should then be passed onto the end user, typically through all-inclusive rent (landlord or tenant) or ‘pitch’ charges (for example park homes). 

We are exploring this issue as we continue to develop the policy and we have gathered more evidence through the consultation.''

So it seems we will have to await any possible outcome. We do not pay our electricity with our rent, rather separately.

The other monies/benefits you mention are not in question, but are totally separate from this issue. Ineligibility to this £400 is not 'annoying,' it would rather be very helpful, if not 'the end of the world;' a rather glib comment, if we don't receive it.

poppy123456

@chiarieds i've heard a lot of people complaining about this and rightly so. I signed the petition for you also.

chiarieds

Thank you @poppy123456 - this is much appreciated. I only just heard of this petition today.

woodbine

There are no circumstances where the park owner will have a choice about passing on the £400 because he simply won't get it as he is a commercial not a domestic customer.

From the petition website;

At 10,000 signatures...

At 10,000 signatures, government will respond to this petition

At 100,000 signatures...

At 100,000 signatures, this petition will be considered for debate in Parliament

There simply won't be time for this to be debated in parliament I wish not were different and that we were all going to get the £400, it seems unlikely.

Biblioklept

@chiarieds sorry to be stupid but would the park site owner not get the £400 off his bill so then wouldn't charge you that? Or is that wishful thinking? 

Lots of students that pay via their landlord or those in shared homes will also miss out I guess. Since even the super rich or MPs with their second and 3rd and however many homes will get it for each, it seems unfair any one at all should miss out.

chiarieds

Hi Biblioklept - the park site owner has a business account with the electricity supplier, & this scheme is just for those that have a domestic/personal account. (Even if he got £400 it wouldn't go far shared out between the 80+ park home owners on this site!)

I've emailed Rishi Sunak, but other than an automated response, have had no reply as yet.

Biblioklept

oh I get you now I missed that part!! That does seem horribly unfair   I've signed too

chiarieds

Thank you very much @Biblioklept - your support is appreciated.

chiarieds

I've had a written reply from Rishi Sunak, which didn't really say more than I already know, but included a reply he'd had from Greg Hands who is the Minister directly responsible in this matter. Greg Hands states households without a domestic electricity supply contract, such as residents of Park Homes, are not eligible for the Energy Bills Support Scheme, but they are exploring options for other ways we may receive similar support. This matter was raised in a consultation, & the Government response will be published 'later in the summer.'

Meanwhile, the petition currently has 6250 votes, & the more people that vote, surely the better. Please see: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/617700

woodbine

I suspect that it might be like the WHD for park residents, who didn't get for a few years after it started and it proved difficult to put into place, I'm a member of a number of park home forums etc and whilst all would love to see this £400 go to all they admit the likely outcome is on balance that it won't. Of course it also means that anyone who's rent includes their electric/gas bill won't get the £400.
But on reflection the vast majority of domestic customers will get the £400 payable in six payments of £66.66 from Oct-Mar.

chiarieds

I did say that households without a domestic electricity contract aren't eligible. However, & I quote from Rishi's letter,

'...the Government recognises that there are certain situations where a 3rd party will be responsible for the energy bill. In these situations, any charges should then be passed onto the end user, typically through all-inclusive rent, in the case of a landlord or tenant...' 

Yes, on reflection the majority of households will get this £400, but that's not what this post is about; it's that some Park Home owners may not. I'm pleased you will receive it however.

calcotti

chiarieds said:... I'm pleased you will receive it however.

I think woodbine has said before that he will not get the £400.

chiarieds

Sorry for the late reply @calcotti - woodbine has previously said he has a domestic electricity contract, so will get the £400, whereas myself & some other Park Home owners are not eligible as we pay our electricity quarterly to our Park Home owner (who has a business account).

calcotti

I’ve misremembered then - apologies.

yanni

An update from NAPHR but no date for payments yet....

https://www.naphr.co.uk/park-home-residents-news/#:~:text=How will park home residents,a reasonable and proportionate way.

December 20th – Utility Grant + Benefit Update

Energy Support – Park homes GUIDANCE

 Update – December 2022

The government has already announced that it will provide a £400 discount to park home residents to help with their energy bills.

Details of the discount and other ways in which park home residents will be supported were made available in the November guidance.

This document provides a brief update on the delivery of the payment.

————————————————————————————————————–

How will the payment be delivered?

• The government has worked through a number of alternative delivery options and has concluded that the best way to deliver the scheme is through Local Authorities, who are best placed to process applications and carry out verification checks.

What is the process for claiming the money?

• All eligible households will be required to apply for the payment. They will be able to fill out a short form on GOV.UK with a few simple details, including their name and address. Much of this data will be verified up-front to reduce burdens on Local Authorities, who will then verify the address and administer the payment.

When can households apply ?

• The government is currently finishing and testing the application model, including verification and anti-fraud measures, to ensure that it functions as intended before it can go live.
• The scheme will open for applications in January 2023, and the government is committed to delivering the payment to households this winter.
• The government will be publishing further detail about eligibility shortly.

Why is this taking so long?

• This is a critical and complex task.
• Whilst the government understands that speed is of the essence, it must do all it can to prevent errors that could result either in households not receiving the support they need, or in a loss of public money.

When will households get the money?

• The Alternative Fuel Payment of £200 and the Energy Bill Support Scheme Alternative funding of £400 will be delivered as soon as possible in the new year.
• The exact date that an eligible household will receive support will depend on when the application is made and when the payment can be processed by the relevant Local Authority.

woodbine

The latest I have been told is that the £400 will be paid to those who buy electric from park owners will be paid via the local council in the New Years, the additional £200 for those who use oil or LPG because they are not on the main gas grid will be paid via electric accounts in the new year, it's very confusing and 3 letters from my MP convince me of only one thing...he hasn't got a clue.

chiarieds

The following government web page (19 Dec 2022) seems to confirm that those eligible for the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBBS) Alternative Funding will be able to apply online 'via the government’s GOV.UK pages, with the application portal due to open in January.

A dedicated customer helpline will be available to assist customers who do not have online access, with further details to be released next month.

Once customers have applied to receive support and their applications have been processed and verified, eligible customers’ details will be shared with local authorities across England, Scotland and Wales, who will deliver the one-off, non-repayable support this winter.'

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vital-help-with-energy-bills-on-the-way-for-millions-more-homes-across-great-britain-and-northern-ireland

This page also states about the Alternative Fuel Payment (AFP),

'The vast majority of households eligible for the Alternative Fuel Payment scheme in Great Britain will receive payment automatically via their electricity supplier with no need to take any action.

For the small number of customers who are unable to receive the funding automatically, for instance households in Great Britain without a direct relationship with an electricity supplier [they] will be able to [apply] in February, through the same GOV.UK portal as the one that will be used to apply for support under the EBSS Alternative Funding scheme.'

I think that's fairly clear, & also clear that I 'might' just receive both payments before the end of winter!

chiarieds

The portal for applications for the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBBS) Alternative Funding is now open on the gov.uk website. From their website,

'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
• in a separate domestic home within a non-domestic property (such as a farmhouse or a flat above a shop)'

You can start the application here: https://www.gov.uk/apply-energy-bill-support-if-not-automatic

poppy123456

Thanks @chiarieds good to hear they've finally opened the applications for this. I'm sure there will be a lot of people waiting to apply, yourself included.