People urged to redeem £67 energy voucher before next month as more than £50m goes unspent in Scotland
dailyrecord.co.ukThe latest UK Government figures suggest that almost a third of Scottish households with a prepayment meter have not yet redeemed their energy rebate vouchers.
More than 867,000 vouchers were issued in Scotland under the government’s £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS) between October and December last year.However, more than 273,000 have not been redeemed, meaning as much as £54 million in vital support has been left unclaimed.
Edinburgh and Glasgow had some of the lowest redemption rates across Great Britain, at 59 per cent and 62 per cent, respectively.The statistics released by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) suggest that around 1.9 million vouchers issued across Scotland, England and Wales remain unclaimed.
This is despite increased uptake of the vouchers, which hit its highest level in January.Almost one in five households in Scotland use prepayment meters for their gas or electricity.Most households are having the £400 EBSS automatically applied to their electricity bills either as a credit or a discount in six instalments between October 2022 and March 2023.However, those on a traditional prepayment meter need the vouchers to get the discount and once received either by post or email, they are only valid for 90 days.December’s vouchers must be claimed by March 8.If a voucher does expire, customers can ask their provider to re-issue it.
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