The Energy Bills Support Scheme alternative funding (EBSS AF) closed to new applications on 31 May 2023, ending the route by which households without a direct relationship to a domestic electricity supplier could claim support1. The scheme had opened to applications across Great Britain and Northern Ireland on 27 February 2023, when the government launched an online portal and a telephone helpline1.
In Northern Ireland, more than 28,000 households were identified as eligible for a £600 lump sum under the alternative funding route, including park home residents, people living in care homes and households supplied through a commercial contract1. The payment followed the main roll-out of £600 energy support payments, which reached most Northern Ireland households in January and February 20231. Households that had already received support automatically through the main Energy Bills Support Scheme Northern Ireland were not eligible under the alternative funding route and did not need to apply1.
Eligible households listed by the government included care home residents and others in care facilities or sheltered accommodation, whether wholly or partly self-funded; park home residents; houseboats and caravans able to provide proof of address; social and private tenants paying for energy through a landlord on a commercial supply; homes on a heat network or private wire; off-grid homes; and farmhouses used for wholly domestic purposes1.
"The EBSS alternative funding scheme is open to all eligible households across Great Britain and Northern Ireland until 31 May 2023."
A separate scheme, the Alternative Fuel Payment (AFP), paid £200 to households using fuels such as kerosene heating oil as their main source of heating3. The oil heating trade body UKIFDA said the domestic AFP scheme would end on 31 May, and that applicants needed proof of address, bank account details and proof of heating oil purchases worth £200 or more dated between May 2022 and the end of the application window3. One supplier page states the AFP scheme closed on 30 June 2023, a date that does not match the 31 May cut-off given by UKIFDA and by the same page's own account of the alternative funding closure3.
| Scheme | Payment | Closing date for applications |
|---|---|---|
| EBSS alternative funding | £600 in Northern Ireland; £400 in Great Britain | 31 May 20231 |
| Alternative Fuel Payment | £200 | 31 May 20233; one source says 30 June 20232 |
Why it matters for households
Both routes existed for homes that sit outside the standard billing relationship, where support could not be applied automatically to an electricity account. That includes park home residents and households on a commercial supply, and homes heating with oil or other off-grid fuels. For those households, the payment depended on an application rather than arriving on its own, and the deadline has now passed.
The closures also mark the end of the crisis-era direct payments that ran alongside the Energy Price Guarantee. The £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme instalments ended on 31 March 2023, and the guarantee itself ceased to determine prices once Ofgem's July price cap fell below its £2,500 level2. Northern Ireland's £600 payment combined £400 under EBSS NI and £200 under the AFP, and went to all households there regardless of how they heated their home2. Households in Northern Ireland remain on a separate market and support structure from Great Britain.
What happens next
No further application window for either scheme has been reported. Households that applied before the deadline had their applications checked and verified by the government's contracted delivery partner, with payments made directly into bank accounts by UKSBS; the date of payment depended on when the application was made1. For households now facing arrears, the British Gas Energy Trust and the Energy Debt Relief Scheme are separate routes, and Northern Ireland households have their own debt and bill help arrangements.
Sources4 cited
- Thousands more households in Northern Ireland on course to benefit from £600 government help with energy bills - GOV.UK, gov.uk
- Understanding the Energy Price Guarantee | Sainsbury's Energy - Electricity and Gas supply in the UK. Save on your energy bills, sainsburysenergy.com
- Last chance to claim £200 Alternative Fuel Payment - UKIFDA, ukifda.org
- Find out more about air source heat pumps, eonnext.com