How to claim the £400 energy bill grant

The Chancellor has announced a set of emergency measures to help households struggling as the cost of living crisis spirals. The energy price cap is expected to rise again in October to an eye-watering £2800, having already increased by almost £700 to £1971 in April.

One of the measures of support unveiled on Thursday, May 26, was a universal discount on household energy bills. Initially, the reduction was worth £200 and in the form of a loan which had to be paid back for the government over five years. But since then, the crisis has worsened.

In response, Rishi Sunak confirmed the 'loan' had now been replaced by a grant, which doesn't have to be paid back. It's also been doubled to £400. Mr Sunak said: “Since then the outlook for energy prices has changed, I’ve heard people’s concerns over the impact of these repayments on future bills, so I’ve decided that those repayments will be cancelled.”

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“This support is now unambiguously a grant,” he said, adding “the £200 of support for household energy bills will be doubled to £400 for everyone”. The support will be funded by a new windfall tax on the profits of gas and oil firms, some of which have reported record figures in the first quarter of 2022.

Mr Sunak told MPs in the House of Commons: “The oil and gas sector is making extraordinary profits not as the result of recent changes to risk-taking or innovation or efficiency, as the result of surging global commodity prices driven in part by Russia’s war. For that reason, I am sympathetic to the argument to tax those profits fairly.”

The temporary one-off tax will be charged at 25 per cent, it was announced on Thursday. Mr Sunak said