Households don't have long to claim cost of living voucher for household bills

05 March 2024 , 10:55

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The scheme opened on March 4 and will run until march 22 (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Households can claim a one off voucher to help with energy and water bills - but there's not long to claim.

The utility vouchers are being offered to residents living in Warwickshire through the council's Household Support Fund. The support - which is under the council's Local Welfare Scheme - is the final part of the council's funding before the nationwide scheme closes on March 31, 2024. Households can apply for the funding if they are struggling to cover their utility costs with the vouchers able to cover all types of payments including pre-payment meters, direct debit or on receipt of bills.

This scheme is open to anyone in financial difficulty apart from those entitled to benefits and free school meals. This is because they have already been offering this help before. The council has not confirmed how much you could but Warwickshire Council noted that it is unable to support those who have "sufficient income or savings".

The scheme opened on March 4 and to apply for help you can contact Warwickshire Council's Local Welfare Scheme on 0800 4081448 or 01926 359182 by March 22,2024. Once you've called, an advisor will look at the details of your circumstances and decide based on this. This includes your finances, access to other forms of financial support, circumstances and reasons for the claim, preventative measures taken by the applicant, and the impact of making or not providing the voucher.

The Local Welfare Scheme is open from Monday to Thursday from 9am to 5pm and on Friday from 9am to 4:30pm. If you need more information you can access the Cost of Living support page on Warwickshire Council's website here.

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Warwickshire County Councillor Heather Timms, Portfolio Holder for Environment, Climate and Culture, said: “The cost for household energy continues to present significant challenges for households struggling with the increased costs of living. This fund will offer some small relief at a crucial time, and we urge Warwickshire residents to get in touch as soon as possible to find out more about making an application and enquire about other support that may also be available.”

If you are not a resident of Warwickshire you will not be able to claim this help however your local council may still be offering support of its own. To find out what this is you should go to your local council's website. Usually, they will have a separate cost of living tab which details the help on offer.

However, you should be aware that the Household Support Fund is only running until March 2024. Under the rules of the scheme, all councils have to have spent all their funding cash by this point. If anything is left over, it has to be returned to the central Government. This means councils may have used up their funding.

Ruby Flanagan