Energy advice for Winter

If you need extra support from your energy supplier

If you find it hard to deal with your energy supply you could get extra help from your energy companies, such as moving your prepayment meter if you find it difficult to get to or making your call a priority when you contact them.

You'll normally be able to get priority services from your energy companies if you're disabled or have a long-term health condition. This includes hearing, sight and mental health conditions. Your supplier might also agree to sign you up for priority services if you:

• Have reached your State Pension age

• Would struggle to answer the door or get help in an emergency

• Are recovering from an injury

• Have no sense of smell, or would struggle to smell gas

If your situation isn't listed, you might still be able to sign up for priority services for other reasons - for example, if you're recently bereaved.

You can sign up by going to thepsr.co.uk and entering your postcode - this will provide links to the forms you need to complete for both your gas and electricity supply.

If you’re struggling to pay your bills

If you’re struggling to pay your gas and electricity bills, there is help available.

Speak to your supplier as soon as you can. Your supplier has to help you come to a solution - putting you on a repayment plan that takes into account how much you can afford to pay.

Getting help to pay your energy bills

There are a range of support options available if you need help paying your energy bills.

Look out for:

• Winter Fuel Payment: This is an annual one-off payment to help you pay for heating during the winter, if you were born on or before 27 June 1960. Most people will receive payments automatically. Check if you need to apply for Winter Fuel Payment on GOV.UK.

• Warm Home Discount: If you get benefits, you might be able to get £150 off your electricity bill or £150 added to your prepayment meter. You’ll get the payment by 31 March 2027. If you're eligible, you should get paid automatically. Check if you can get the Warm Home Discount on GOV.UK.

• Cold Weather Payment: If you get certain benefits you might get a Cold Weather Payment when it's very cold. If you're eligible, you'll get paid automatically into the same bank or building society as your benefit payments. Check if you can get a Cold Weather Payment on GOV.UK.

If you have a prepayment meter

If you’ve run out of gas or electricity, your energy supplier might add emergency credit to your meter automatically - if they don’t, you should ask for it as soon as you can. You can contact your supplier to find out how to get emergency credit.

If you run out of emergency credit and are still struggling to top up, some suppliers may be able to give you additional support credit if you ask them.

You will have to pay any emergency or additional support credit back.

Check if you can get a fuel voucher

Your local council might be able to help you get a fuel voucher - find your local council on GOV.UK.

You'll get the voucher as a code in a letter, text message or email. You can use it to add credit to your gas card or electricity key.

Make sure you check your fuel voucher to see when it expires, as you might need to use it within 15 days. If you have problems using your voucher, contact the organisation that gave it to you, not your energy supplier.

If you’re still not sure if you can get a voucher, get help from an adviser.

Get help to pay off energy debt

Energy arrears are a ‘priority debt’. Priority debts are debts that can cause serious problems if you don’t do anything about them. If you have more than one debt, find out which debts to pay first.

If you owe money to your energy supplier, you might be able to get a grant to help you pay off your debt. This could be from your energy company or a charitable trust.