OVO Energy has opened its support package for those struggling with energy bills this winter.
The energy supplier will be giving out over £1million worth of free, energy-saving products to help reduce your energy consumption as part of its Customer Support Package. Items available through the support package include electric blankets and mattress toppers, LED bulbs and SMART sockets, and free boiler servicing.
OVO is also offering payment support and emergency top-up credit or temporary payment reductions to eligible customers. Overall, OVO will be putting £40million into this year's scheme. The scheme has opened today (October 30) and you can apply for help or support through the supplier's website if you are an OVO or Boost Energy customer.
OVO says the application takes around five minutes and that you will need to provide details on your yearly income, monthly disposable income - so your income after you’ve paid tax, rent or mortgage payments, and essentials like utility bills - and up-to-date meter readings.
Other details you will need to supply include, how many people are in your home, what is the main type of heating in your home, and how you pay for your energy. You can also make an application on behalf of someone else.
Alongside this, OVO will also provide £500,000 to key charities on the frontline of the cost of living crisis including StepChange and Money Advice Trust.
Raman Bhatia, CEO of OVO, said: “We have a responsibility as an industry to address the challenge households face right now. Our £40million support package provides help to those who need it most this winter. But there’s more to do. We continue to campaign for long-term, sustainable support for all UK households, including a social tariff for the most vulnerable and the abolition of the standing charge for all.”
OVO Energy is also calling on the Government to remove the standing charge for households who need the most support this winter. It comes after the OVO did not pass on the permitted standing charge increase to customers in October when the new Ofgem price cap came into place.
The supplier has urged the Government and Ofgem to scrap the standing charge this winter for vulnerable customers who need support this winter. Going forward, the supplier is also pushing the Government to introduce a social tariff. A social tariff would be targeted at those customers who are most financially vulnerable with the aim of preventing and reducing increasing levels of fuel poverty in the UK.