UK Bill Help

In an effort to battle fuel poverty, npower has contributed hundreds of vouchers to the Gloucester centres which are part of the new charity Fuel Banks that are being created across the UK. The programme is being created on a trial basis in many cities and will be operating similar to how a food bank does.

This latest donation in August 2015 of over 200 vouchers is for families local to Gloucester. It will provide them as much as £49 to help them pay their electricity bills and keep their power on. It is for households that have a meter, and the vouchers will top them off. If a customer has had their power turned off, the relief is immediate. They can normally get their electricity back on within an hour or two.

Npower is not the only supplier donating to the Fuel Banks. Other companies such as British Gas as well as EDF Energy have also contributed to this scheme. They too have donated hundreds of vouchers to also assist hundreds of customers.

The amount of credit being provided of £49 will not pay the entire energy bill. It is not a solution in itself as it will usually only provide one free top-up of a meter. It will generally allow a customer to keep their power on for one to two weeks time.

But what it will do is provide families time to find other, more permanent solutions. They can explore additional energy assistance programmes from npower and also review the many utility bill schemes administered by the central government.

The vouchers are not limited to npower customers or any fuel supplier. All households can use the services of a Fuel Bank, provided there is one in their area. It is for all suppliers, including British Gas, EDF Energy, E.ON UK, and others.

While the number of Fuel Bank locations continue to increase, as of June 2015 they are open in Gloucester, Kingston, Wirral, and County Durham. It is expected that over 15 additional centres will be open in another parts of the UK throughout the balance of 2015. Even if an individual is not local to those areas, if they live near them they can drop in at a Fuel Bank to apply for assistance.

The Fuel Bank programme is being run by a charity organisation known as National Energy Action. Another not-for-profit, which many families are familiar with, partnering on the scheme is the Trussell Trust. They are using their expertise in setting up centres across the UK to help the trial programme get up and running.

The 220 vouchers being provided in August will make only a small dent in the fuel poverty in Gloucester. But his generous donation from npower is greatly appreciated by many families living in poverty. Not only that, the supplier is a major force behind trying to get this programme operating in even more parts of the UK.