WWYD alternative fuel payment paid but not eligible?

[Yorkshiredolls]

Had a pleasant surprise just now, checked my online electricity account and Ive been automatically credited £200 for HM
government alternative fuel payment.

I neither applied for this or expected it.
I didn’t think we were eligible for anything other than the £400 gov grant that was given to everybody. Its probably because we don’t have gas, We use electric heating (air source heat pump) so no solid fuel either.

We do have solar PV and a home battery and we are as frugal as we can be with energy, The £200 is unexpected but nice and our account in a healthy credit going into spring. Although our fixed rate ends March and we go onto a fairly substantially more expensive
tariff

What would you do?

For me there would be two choices.

Contact them and ask if there has been a mistake. You sleep easy if they say yes, but you risk losing it.

Keep it. Stay as frugal as ever so if it's an error and they demand it back, you're actually no worse off. If they don't come back to you, and they really probably won't - even if it's an error, you've got a nice bonus further down the line.

If you don't use gas, you're eligible. It's cheaper to administer if they assume anyone not on mains gas uses alternative fuel, rather than work out each individual house.

So enjoy! If you do feel a bit guilty, you could always donate some of it to a charity.

They know you only use electric...so no mains gas then you are eligible

It's a payment for those who don't have gas. Do you have gas? No? Then it is legit.

(That's what my electric company told me, anyway.)

No we don’t have gas but the eligibility criteria is for users of solid fuel, which we don’t use either

No it's not, people on oil or other non solid fuel are definitely entitled too. I believe it is every home with no access to gas and therefore not benefiting from fuel cap

If you are off the gas grid you are entitled.

We have ground source heating no gas so may get it then

We have no gas in our village OP and we received it. It's yours and legit.

The rules say that you should not get this payment:

You’re eligible for this payment if the main way you heat your home uses:
tank or bottled gas
liquid petroleum gas (LPG)
oil
wood
solid fuel
Houses which are primarily electrically heated are not in scope of the Alternative Fuel Payment.

The problem comes from the way homes have been processed for the payment. The first pass selected all homes that did not have a gas meter as at 13/12/2022. These homes were then processed using census data from 21/03/2021 (for England and Wales, 27/03/2011 Scotland) to supposedly eliminate homes heated by electricity.

If you were not heated by electricity at census date (according to what the census says about your property), but have since installed a heat pump, you could have fallen through the cracks in the system, otherwise somebody has simply messed up.

I can't find any information about what to do if you have been paid the AFP in error.

I’ve had mine today too-we live rurally so no gas so therefore we’re entitled to it as well

Lots of people who are all-electric have got the payment, bulb has apparently told a relative to stay quiet because it's all a mess anyway. Surely anyone on economy 7 tariffs should have been discounted from the payment database if electrically heated properties aren't eligible.

I don't have a gas connection (oil and wood)... no payment as yet (Eon Next appears to have sent payments in the last few days so I'm guessing it's not coming to me automatically) so clearly whatever system they have isn't working too well 🙄

I have an economy 7 meter but am heated by oil. I'm not sure how the economy 7 meter is a good indicator?

@HesDeadBenYouCanStopNow economy 7 tariffs were designed for storage heaters, I would hazard that you are an exception not the rule (happy to accept if that is incorrect if there is a furry of E7 users who use alternative off grid fuel) the majority of E7 users do not have an alternative off-grid fuel and use electricity overnight to charge storage heaters. In your case, yes the AFP is correct as you use oil for heating but It seems that a lot of all-electric properties have been paid it when the rules say they shouldn't.

Whatever system they've used hasn't worked well- no system could or would be perfect but I wonder how much has been spent on properties ineligible that could have been restricted by knocking off E7 properties and asking users like yourself to apply via the portal at the end of the month.

The economy 7 tariff was done away with last year-I’m with bulb but just have plug in electric heaters.our bill was £755 in dec and £580 last month.I’ll happily take the £200 because as far as I can make out I am entitled to it.

Wish ours would arrive but no sign yet and it's still so cold and we're flying through oil!

you can always give it to a charity which supports those in financial need

Got ours this morning

I also received the Alternative Fuel Payment from the energy supplier that provides my gas and electricity.