Q) I’VE been chasing British Gas for my energy bill vouchers.
I’m owed three months of help, worth £199. Can you help me?
1
Mirza Tanveer, Birmingham
A) Like thousands of others, you are struggling to pay your bills.
That’s why you’ve been trying to contact British Gas to find out where your missing energy help vouchers are.
Every household is entitled to a £400 reduction on their bills this winter. The help has been paid out in instalments over a six-month period, which ends in March.
For customers who are billed by their supplier, the discount is taken off what they owe and for those with a pre-pay smart meter it is also applied automatically.
But if you have got a traditional pre-payment meter, your supplier is supposed to send you vouchers via post, email or text. There have been many problems and one in four vouchers have gone unclaimed, meaning people such as yourself are missing out.
You had a hunch your vouchers might have gone missing because of difficulties registering your address correctly with British Gas, as your flat is in a converted office block.
But you thought you had sorted this issue with it previously.
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After chasing British Gas five times by email and even taking to Twitter to seek its help, you turned to me for assistance.
Your suspicions were right – British Gas had the wrong address for you, so the vouchers went missing.
It has now corrected the address and sent out new vouchers. Your details have been changed, and they are now with you.
Charities warn that in other cases where vouchers have gone unclaimed, it could be because customers are unaware the scheme exists or are worried that it is a scam.
Or they might have missed emails, texts or letters in the post. Vouchers expire after 90 days. But don’t panic if you haven’t cashed yours in before the deadline.
Get your energy supplier to send a new one out. Some companies, such as Shell and Octopus, are making home visits to customers who have not cashed in vouchers to make sure they get the help.
Check your supplier has the right contact details and look at the spam folder in your email.
