£100 prepaid card for eligible home heating oil users announced in response to soaring energy costs in the province
A £36.4million support package for home heating oil users in Northern Ireland has been announced by the Department for Communities.
Communities Minister Gordon Lyons has secured Executive agreement for the initiative allowing eligible households to apply for a £100 prepaid card that can be used at heating oil suppliers.
In a statement on Thursday, (April 16), Mr Lyons said: “With roughly two thirds of homes in Northern Ireland relying on oil heating, recent price increases of nearly 100% in just a few weeks have been especially punishing here.
“This measure will deliver targeted support to more than 300,000 households to help hard-pressed working families and vulnerable people struggling to meet essential heating oil costs.
Eligible groups identified as most vulnerable to increased heating oil costs include:
- Households in receipt of income-related means tested benefits, namely Pension Credit, Universal Credit and Income Related Employment and Support Allowance;
- Households in receipt of Disability benefits;
- Pensioner households not in receipt of Pension Credit with income below £30,000;
- Households on incomes below £30,000 and not in receipt of income related benefits.
Support for the scheme includes £17.2million allocated by the UK Government and an additional £19.2million from the Executive.
The minister continued: “My officials will work at pace to open the scheme and I will announce further details as soon as possible.
“With 24% of households already living in fuel poverty before the recent surge in oil prices, it is clear that the situation has only deteriorated. Alongside this new measure, I will reform my Department’s Discretionary Support Scheme to ensure grant assistance is available to those in need, regardless of the type of home heating they rely on.”