Energy Bills rebate: How to claim £200 discount on bills – and when you’ll have to pay it | Personal Finance | Finance
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Energy prices are going up by eye-watering amounts for everyone in the UK. In an effort to take the sting out of rising costs, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a £200 rebate for every household in the UK – but this comes with some conditions. How can you access the rebate? And when will you have to pay it back?
Mr Sunak announced the Government would give a £200 million discount to 28 million households in the UK to help with rising energy costs.
However, the £200 loan will need to be repaid to the Government over a span of five years.
Domestic electricity customers will get the £200 discount from October, when the Government will foot the bill for the £9.1 billion pound Energy Bills Rebate.
Mr Sunak said: “Right now, I know the number one issue on people’s minds is the rising cost of living.
“That’s why the Government is stepping in with direct support that will help around 28 million households with their rising energy costs over the next year.”
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When will you have to pay the Energy Bills Rebate back?
The Treasury said energy suppliers will apply the £200 discount from October for customers in England, Scotland and Wales.
Customers will then have to pay this £200 back in instalments of £40 over the next five years, starting in 2023 when “global wholesale gas prices are expected to come down”, according to the Treasury.
This measure from the Treasury followed Ofgem, the energy regulator, confirming an increase to the energy price cap.
What does the Energy Bills Rebate mean for house sharers?
The rebate is applied to a household, so if you share a house with other renters you will only receive a £200 rebate as a household, not as individuals.
However, if you move to live on your own after previously being a sharer, you will have to pay back the £40 instalments by yourself on your new home’s energy bills.
This works the other way around too, so if you live on your own when you receive the £200 discount, but later share your home with a partner or sharer, you’ll pay the repayments as a household, not as individuals.
So if one person was paying the £40 instalments on their £200 rebate, and they decided to move in with another single person paying £40 instalments, their shared bill would remain £40 and not increase to £80.
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