Welcome to the British Gas Energy Trust online application form. The British Gas Energy Trust operates two energy debt write-off funds, which are open for applications; these are the Individuals and Families Fund and the British Gas Energy Support Fund.
Before continuing to create an account to apply, please read the information below, which explains the criteria for the fund and the documents you will need to complete the application form.
The British Gas Energy Support Fund
You must be a British Gas customer to apply for this fund.
To be considered for a grant you must meet the following criteria. If you cannot tick all of the below, your application will not progress to assessment :
• You are a British Gas customer;
• You are a credit or pre-payment meter customer living in England, Scotland or Wales;
• You have not received a grant from the British Gas Energy Trust within the last 12 months;
• You must be seeking a grant to clear an outstanding debt on a current or open gas, electricity or dual fuel energy account in your name and the energy account must relate to your main residence. We cannot accept applications for closed accounts, (i.e. if you have moved home or changed energy supplier). If your application is successful, your energy account will be credited with the grant. Please note the British Gas Energy Trust does not award cash payments;
• Pre-payment meter customers must have a total combined energy debt outstanding between £50 - £2,000. Credit account customers must have a total combined energy debt outstanding between £250 - £2,000. The British Gas Energy Trust will only consider clearing arrears in full, partial payments cannot be considered. Your account balances will be verified with British Gas as part of the application process and if they exceed the total combined arrears threshold of £2,000, your application will be declined;
• You must be in or facing Fuel Poverty; and
• You have received money advice/ guidance within the last 6 months.
The Individuals and Families Fund
The Individual and Families Fund is open to credit and pre-payment meter customers. You do not need to be a British Gas customer to apply for this fund - you can be a British Gas Customer, or a customer from another supplier with arrears of up to £1,700. However, we want to ensure that grants go to people who cannot access energy debt help from their own provider.
The following suppliers - OVO, Boost, Eon, Eon Next, EDF, Scottish Power, Octopus, Shell Energy, SSE and Utilita have their own funds to support their customers. If you are a customer of one of these energy providers, please apply to them directly. The British Gas Energy Trust cannot consider any applications from these suppliers, even if you do not meet your energy companies' eligibility criteria.
To be considered for a grant you must meet the following criteria. If you cannot tick all of the below, your application will not progress to assessment –
• You are a credit or pre-payment meter customer living in England, Scotland or Wales;
• You have not received a grant from the British Gas Energy Trust within the last 2 years;
• You have a household income of less than £18,723 or someone in the household is registered disabled and receives a disability benefit or receives Carers Allowance or has 3+ children.
• You must be seeking a grant to clear an outstanding debt on a current or open gas, electricity or dual fuel energy account in your name and the energy account must relate to your main residence. If your application is successful, your energy account will be credited with the grant. Please note the British Gas Energy Trust does not award cash payments;
• Pre-payment meter customers must have a total combined energy debt outstanding between £50 - £1,700. Credit account customers must have a total combined energy debt outstanding between £250 - £1,700. The British Gas Energy Trust will only consider clearing arrears in full, partial payments cannot be considered. For British Gas customers, your account balances will be verified with British Gas as part of the application process and if they exceed the total combined arrears threshold of £1,700, your application will be declined;
• You must be in or facing Fuel Poverty; and
• You have received money advice/ guidance within the last 6 months. If you have not received money advice/ guidance, please use our trusted partner's self help Benefit Calculator tool at https://www.askbill.org.uk/benefits-calculator/. It only takes 5 minutes and will help you identify missing income whilst providing you with budgeting advice and energy saving tips.
To enable you to submit your application for either scheme, you must provide the following:
• Proof of all household income dated within the last 6 months;
• Proof of money advice or money guidance received in the last 6 months (e.g. a letter confirming that advice or guidance has been provided, or a standard financial statement, or Personal Action Plan or equivalent evidence of an income and expenditure budget exercise). If you have not received money advice/ guidance, please use our trusted partner's self help Benefit Calculator tool at https://www.askbill.org.uk/benefits-calculator/. It only takes 5 minutes and will help you identify missing income whilst providing you with budgeting advice and energy saving tips. You can then upload your budget summary to you application to evidence you have now received money advice/ guidance from Ask Bill. Please ensure the document you upload shows your full name, we cannot accept documents where no name is displayed. Alternatively, please visit https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/money-troubles/dealing-with-debt/debt-advice-locator to find your nearest money advice or guidance agency. Your application will be declined if you cannot evidence you have received money advice/ guidance so please do not apply.
• British Gas customers - a meter read for your gas and/or electric account (unless you have a smart meter). If you are unsure how to read your meter, please read the following guide https://www.nea.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/HOW-TO-READ-GAS-AND-ELECTRICITY-METERS.pdf
• Individuals and Families Fund only – Non-British Gas customers must submit a bill based on actual readings dated within the last 4 weeks, showing your name, account number or supply address OR an email from your energy supplier dated within the last four weeks that confirms your name, account number, supply address, outstanding balance and confirmation the balance is based on actual readings. If you are unsure whether your bill is based on actual readings, please click on the following links for a guide on how to read your bill.
• Electric bill https://www.nea.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/How-to-read-your-electricity-bill-2019.pdf
• Gas bill https://www.nea.org.uk/get-help/resources/how-to-read-your-gas-bill-national-energy-action-leaflet/
Please ensure you have the above documents ready to upload when completing your application. You will not be able to submit your application without attaching these documents. Applications submitted with insufficient information will be declined.
Further information on how to stay updated with the progress of your application, assessment time and more will be available once you have submitted your application.
The British Gas Energy Trust reserves the right to close the application portal with little or no notice once funds have been expended.
Please note, the British Gas Energy Trust does not enter into correspondence around grant decisions, a grant decision is final.
