@DMGM congratulations on finally getting your payment, unfortunately our ‘saga’ is ongoing! I have been onto OVO for several weeks now, simply asking them to confirm they have us listed as eligible and when the payment might be received. OVO’s first line CS agents have unfortunately covered themselves in no glory, by basically providing totally irrelevant responses and passing me from pillar to post and the lack of continuity with their communications is just is beyond belief. The most recent development is that they directed me to the Government portal, stating I had to make my application there, so I did. Last week I got response from BEIS saying my application was unsuccessful because their records show that my payment ‘is being paid automatically via my electricity provider’ so to contact them. Needless to say I have been given no choice to escalate this matter both within BEIS and OVO in an attempt break the out of this perpetual loop, that the government and OVO have managed to create!

Despite my postcode being on the acceptable “list”  and not receiving the payment automatically I applioed manually using the government provided form.  Now, several days into week 6 since submitting the application, I have not heard anything.

I am curious as to whether or not others have or are having the same experience.

Yes, exactly the same experience. I emailed my local council six weeks and a day after applying asking for an update, including the reference and a copy of the acknowledgement from gov.uk. I had a response a day later reading:

“Thank you for contacting the Benefits Team by e-mail. Please accept this as confirmation we have received your enquiry.

 “We are currently dealing with an exceptional number of enquiries. This means that it is likely to take longer than usual to respond to your enquiry, but we will reply as soon as we can.”

Just like being in the army: hurry up and wait. Give your patience muscle a workout 🙂

Just to follow up: 

Six weeks and a couple of days after submitting an application on the Apply for alternative fuel bill support if you do not get it automatically page at gov.uk, £200 dropped into my bank account.

I was worried that my application had been rejected because I stocked up in August 2022, but the application form only asked for proof of purchases after 1 September 2022. So, for anyone in the same situation - don’t worry, the staff at the BEIS EBSS office are clearly human. I had an immediate response to my enquiry sent to alternativefunding@ebss.beis.gov.uk, so that’s where to send any concerns you may have. My local council denied all knowledge, saying that they just pass on whatever the government sends them. 

The £200 has already been spent on sustainably-sourced logs for my wood-burning stove.

Still trying to sort this out, got my application rejected first time, called them and a new application was created, from that I gather there was an issue with my address (we live in Wales so the house name is in Welsh for the local authority and in English on OVO) OVO chat lines just say no no. So now trying to get OVO to amend my address, and to amend my application. As we are on the priority register this is so much effort.

Addresses can cause issues generally. 

For example here is one where the national database of meter details needed updating.

Easy to get caught out if Royal mail data is different to the national database of meters, is different to what local authorities, OVO etc  hold.

If you post how you get on i am sure it will help other customers. 

I’ve given up chasing answers … OVO didn’t deliver on any of my enquiries, other than to direct me to the government portal to make an application, which was rejected because BEIS said that I should be getting it automatically via my electricity supplier. So to try and break this vicious cycle I’ve now escalated it with BEIS, but many weeks on and way beyond the 10 working days they quote, I’m still waiting on a response to my escalation and I’ve not been given a date/deadline for a response, other than being told that payments could be made as late as June 2023 … it’s all a bit of a farce, but I remain patient 👍😉😉🤐

Into week 8 since my application. 2 weeks ago BEIS acknowledged the application was still in the system “Local Authority teams actively work on clearing all backlogs and complete all remaining checks on your application”

I really cannot understand why their is such a delay.  Is it the BEIS teams or some  other bottleneck?   

The local council is the last link in the chain. So long as they can confirm that you are who you say you are, living where you say you live, the funds should be passed by them to your bank account, assuming they know its details. This would normally be the one you pay your council tax from. You could ask them what’s holding the payment up.

(I got an email from BEIS telling me that my application had been successful - a week after the £200 had arrived in my account.)

Despite applying for the Alternative Fuel Payment in February 2023, the payment has still not materialised.  I did contact the gov.uk helpline in April and was told that my application had been received and that there was a backlog which could take a few months to resolve.  Trying to get back in touch but the numbers which I was using have now been discontinued.  I have contacted my council (Powys) and am waiting for somebody to call me back tomorrow.  Are there still folk waiting or have we just been forgotten?