North East Lincolnshire Council’s Trading Standards officers are urging people to be on their guard as energy bill discount scams spread across the country.
Households across Great Britain will receive a £400 non-repayable discount off their electricity bills, via the Government’s Energy Bills Support Scheme in six monthly instalments, starting in October.
There is no need to apply for the scheme. You will not be contacted by the Government or Ofgem asking you to share your bank details in order to benefit.
Your electricity supplier will apply the £400 discount automatically if you pay your electricity bills by direct debit, standard credit, payment card or smart prepayment meter. You do not need to do anything.
If you are on a traditional prepayment meter, it is important to ensure your electricity supplier has your contact details so you can receive the discount via vouchers issued from the first week of every month from October to March. Vouchers will be issued by your electricity supplier via SMS text, email or post along with information on where to redeem them. This will usually be a PayPoint or Post Office branch.
Do not give out private information (such as bank details or passwords). Do not reply to text messages, download attachments or click on any links in emails from unknown sources.
For more information on the Energy Bills Support Scheme, see the Explainer on Gov.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/energy-bills-support-scheme-explainer Government guidance on scams can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/report-suspicious-emails-websites-phishing
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