Exact date energy customers can apply for up to £1,000 bill help

ENERGY bill prices are sky high and plenty of households are struggling to keep up.

Big name providers have stepped in to help, with grants that hard-up bill payers can take advantage of, to tide them over.

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The British Gas Energy Trust is one that helps people with financial advice, energy efficiency advice and measures.

But particularly for hard-up households, the trust provides funding help for families and bill payers who can’t cover the cost of their electricity and heating.

Its £6million fund gives British Gas customers grants between £250 and £750 if they’re struggling with energy costs.

But it also runs a fund which anyone access – meaning you don’t have to be a British Gas customer to get the help.

The grants available are worth up to £1,000.

Luckily eligible applicants won’t have to wait long to claim as the fund is set to open on July 1.

But even though you don’t need to be a British Gas customer specifically to apply, there is still a strict criteria you’ll have to meet before you can get your hands on the cash.

That’s as well as waiting two months for the fund to be available.

You can’t have received a grant from the British Gas Energy Trust within the last two years to be in line for this bout of money.

And you must have an energy debt you’re looking to clear off.

Another thing the energy provider will look for to assess your application will be that you’ve sought help from a money advice agency.

You won’t be successful if you’ve got savings above £1,000 though.

Other energy providers have their own customer trust funds, so it’s worth checking with your own supplier first to see if they can support you in a similar way.

Other help you can get

If you are struggling with your bills then there are a number of charities and organisations which may be able to help, on top of the providers that offer their own grants.

Try chatting to these organisations as they may be able to help you piece your finances back together:

There’s also set to be a £200 energy rebate due to help lower bills in the Autumn.

It’ll have to be paid back, but in the short term it’s designed to help bill payers will the rocketing costs.

British Gas announced it was topping up its own fund by handing out an extra £2million to help customers with their bills, just over a month ago.

But the grants are the only way to get financial help amid the cost of living crisis – we round up seven ways to save almost £7k with all the bills going up.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk