MILLIONS will not get the £400 discount direct to their bank account, instead they will receive a bill discount.
The discount will be paid automatically and made up of six instalments, starting from October 1.
Almost 30 million households are eligible for the discount off their energy bills.
However, the way you’ll be paid the £400 discount will vary depending on who your energy supplier is, as well as the way in which you’re billed.
British Gas, EDF Energy, Ovo Energy and Scottish Power will credit the discount to customer bank accounts for those paying their bills by direct debit.
Bulb, E.ON and E.ON Next, Shell Energy, Octopus Energy, So Energy, Utilita and Utility Warehouse will not pay the discount into customer bank accounts.
Here’s a list of how these energy suppliers plan to pay their customers the £400 discount.
Bulb
Bulb customers will receive the discount automatically and their direct debits will be adjusted accordingly.
Those on smart prepayment meters will have the amount credited to their electricity account.
E.ON and E.ON Next
E.ON has confirmed how its 3.8million customers will get their hands on the £400 energy bill discount.
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Those who pay by direct debit that are on a fixed energy tariff will see the rebate amount deducted from their monthly payment amounts.
If a customer’s payments are less than £66/67, the firm will reduce payments to £0 and add the extra as an account credit.
Customers on the standard variable tariff that pay by direct debit will see the rebate added as a credit on to their account each month.
Any excess credit will be carried over to the following month.
Those on smart prepayment meters will also receive the payment as a split credit to their gas and electricity meters.
Shell Energy
Shell Energy‘s 1million customers will see the six discounts deducted from their bills before their direct debit is taken.
Non-direct debit payers will see the discount appear on their bill as an extra payment, so they’ll also owe less than they normally would.
Smart prepayment meter customers will receive the monthly payment direct to their meters as a credit.
Octopus Energy
Octopus Energy customers will get an automatic monthly credit of £66 in October and November and then £67 between December and March.
The credit should automatically reduce customer monthly payments.
If a customer’s direct debit payment is less than £67, the firm will look to apply a payment holiday (reducing certain direct debits to £0) and credit their account with the remaining amount.
For smart prepayment customers, the discount will be added directly onto their meter as a credit.
So Energy
Fixed direct debit customers will get the monthly discount as credit on their So Energy account, typically in the first week of the month.
The firm will also include the discount when they review your monthly direct debit payments. This discount will then be used to set your monthly Direct Debit £66/£67 lower than it otherwise would be.
Those paying by variable direct debit or on receipt of bills will have the discount applied as a credit on to their So Energy account.
Smart prepayment meter customers will see the discount applied to their So Energy account, typically in the first week of the month. This credit will then reduce the amount customers will need to top-up.
Utilita
The six payments worth £66-67 will be automatically added as a credit to your account. That means the cash will reduce your overall bill.
Those on smart prepayment meters will be credited automatically.
Those on traditional prepayment meters will get the discount in voucher form.
Utility Warehouse
Like Shell Energy, Utility Warehouse customers on fixed energy tariffs and the standard variable tariff will see the discount come off their bill.
Customer direct debits will be adjusted before each monthly bill to reflect that the customer has received the discount.
Customers on smart prepayment meters will receive the discount remotely through a credit on their device.
We’ve contacted Octopus Energy, Ovo and Scottish Power to ask how they’ll ensure their customers will get the £400 energy bill discount.