Are There Any Cheap Gas And Electric Tariffs For The Disabled?

If you are wondering whether there are any cheap gas and electric tariffs for the disabled, you will find the answer to this question through this blog post. While we will mainly explore the potential discounts that disabled individuals can claim on their energy bills, we will also discuss the grants and discounts that they can get if they claim disability benefits.

Are There Any Cheap Gas And Electric Tariffs For The Disabled?

While there may not be a cheap gas and electricity tariff for the disabled, there are several grants and discounts that they may be able to avail of; based on their disability.

Individuals who live in England, Scotland or Wales and claim certain disability benefits can get a one-off £150 discount on their energy bill under the Warm Home Discount scheme. This is in addition to the $400 energy bill grant that they can claim between October 2022 and April 2023.

Below is a list of some of the other ways, disabled individuals can find government support for their gas and electricity bills:

£900 cost of living payment split into instalments of £301 in Spring 2023, £300 in Autumn 2023 and £299 in Spring 2024
£150 Disability cost of living payment due in the summer of 2023
£200 payment for individuals who live off the grid and use coal or heating oil
Winter Fuel Payment between £100 and £300 to pay your heating bills
Cold Weather Payment of £25 for every 7 days for individuals claiming certain benefits and living in areas where the average temperature is 0 degrees or below for 7 consecutive days

In addition to this, if you need to charge medical and disability equipment at home due to a disability, you can apply for (if you haven’t done so already) an Economy 7 tariff. This tariff works with Economy 7 meters and charges different prices per kWh for the day and night so that electricity is cheaper for users at night.

If someone uses an oxygen concentrator at home, they can apply for a rebate for the energy it uses. You can apply for a rebate that supplies the oxygen concentrator.

If you or someone you live with has a disability, you can apply for social tariffs for your energy supply. These are regulated tariffs that allow disabled individuals to pay no more than a company’s lowest available plan.

Disabled individuals who have unpaid energy bills and are in debt can seek grants through the following sources:

British Gas Energy Support Fund
Scottish Power Hardship Fund
Ovo Customer Support Package
E.ON Energy Fund
E.ON Next Energy Fund
EDF Energy Customer Support Fund
Bulb Energy Fund
Octopus ‘Octo Assist Fund’
Shell Energy Support Fund

How Can You Claim The Energy Bill Grant If You Are Disabled?

You will not have to do anything to avail of the £400 grant under the Energy Support scheme. It will be provided to you in the form of a £66 credit every month on your electricity account between October 2022 and April 2023.

Your supplier can choose to make this grant available to you in any of the following ways:

credit the amount to your bank account
add the amount to your energy account
add credit to your prepayment meter
send you a time-limited voucher

You can avail of this grant even if you do not have a contract with an energy supplier and live in a park home, houseboat or care home.

How Can You Claim The Warm Home Discount If You Are Disabled?

You can get the Warm Home Discount if you are disabled and claim any of the following benefits:

Universal Credit
Pension Credit Savings Credit
Housing Benefit
income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
income-related Employment and Support Allowance
Child Tax Credits and Working Tax Credits
Income Support

The Warm Home Discount allows you a £150 discount on your electricity bill. The amount is added to your prepayment meter without you having to apply for it.

How Can You Claim The Cost Of Living Payment If You Are Disabled?

If you are disabled and claiming disability benefits such as Personal Independence Payment or Attendance Allowance, you can get the Cost of Living Payment. These payments are scheduled as follows:

people on an eligible low-income benefit are to be paid £301 during spring 2023
people on an eligible disability benefit are to be paid £150 during summer 2023
people on an eligible low-income benefit are to be paid £300 during autumn 2023
pensioner households are to be paid £300 from winter 2023 to 2024
people on an eligible low-income benefit to be paid £299 in spring 2024

Eligible individuals will receive these payments along with their benefits claim and will not have to apply for them.

How Can You Claim The Disability Cost Of Living Payment?

The Disability Cost of Living Payment is a one-off payment of £150 given to claimants of the following disability benefits:

Attendance Allowance
Disability Living Allowance
Personal Independence Payment
Scottish Disability Benefits (Adult Disability Payment and Child Disability Payment)
Armed Forces Independence Payment
Constant Attendance Allowance
War Pension Mobility Supplement

The Disability Cost of Licving payment is assessed on an individual basis. You can check your eligibility for the claim from this factsheet.

Conclusion:

The above discussion helps to conclude that while there are no cheap tariffs for disabled individuals when it comes to their gas and electric bills, there are several discounts and grants that they can avail of if they are claiming disability benefits.