British Gas increases support for customers struggling with bills

British Gas Energy is putting an additional £2 million into its Support Fund to help its most financially vulnerable customers who are struggling to pay their bills.

The £6m British Gas Support Fund, the biggest in the UK, has been set up in response to the increasing cost of living and rising inflation. Through the fund thousands of British Gas customers are provided with grants between £250 and £750 to help pay towards their energy bills.

Applications are through the British Gas Energy Trust and any British Gas energy customer with less than £1,000 in savings who is struggling to pay their energy bill is eligible to apply for a grant.

Over 2,500 grants have already been given out with an average grant of over £550. Over a third of the recipients are on disability benefit and many are families – 30 per cent are single parents and a quarter have children under 5 years old.

Chris O’Shea, Chief Executive of Centrica, said:

“We hear from customers every day who are struggling with rising household costs and we want to do everything we can to support them during this difficult time. The extra funding adds to the financial support and advice we already offer and ensures grants will be available for our customers as we go through the year.

I’m proud of the way our colleagues want to help our customers, and we want all of our customers to know they shouldn’t be struggling alone. In addition to helping as many as we can financially, we will also point them in the direction of the right debt services and support that provides them with longer term help.”

The company has a long history of supporting its customers in a number of ways financially and providing advice on how to make their homes more energy efficient to manage their bills.

The British Gas Energy Trust delivers advice and support services for all consumers and last year provided almost £2 million of debt relief, emergency fuel vouchers, and grants to replace boilers, with several million additional funding provided to other organisations who offer advice and financial support.

See announcement on Centrica website.