The Welsh Government's Discretionary Assistance Fund (DAF)

The Welsh Government's DAF scheme has been in operation for a number of years already and pre-dates the current cost of living pressures; however, the scheme may be able to help in regard to some of these issues. 

UK Government lump-sum payments (financial year 2023/4)

You may be entitled to one or more lump-sum payments. These are:

• £300 Pensioner Cost of Living Payment for households that receive the Winter Fuel Payment. This is expected to be a top-up to your Winter Fuel Payment in November/December 2023;
• £900 Cost of Living Payment for households on means-tested benefits, such as Pension Credit/Universal Credit;
• £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment for those receiving disability benefits, such as Attendance Allowance. 

If individuals are eligible, they should be paid automatically and there'll be no need to apply. None of the above payments are taxable and they won't count towards the benefit cap or affect your benefit entitlement.

The payments are being spread across different periods to ensure consistent support throughout the year. They will broadly be as follows:

• £301 – First Cost of Living Payment – between 25th April and 17th May 2023.
• £150 – Disability Cost of Living Payment – during Summer 2023
• £300 – Second Cost of Living Payment – during Autumn 2023 
• £300 – Pensioner Cost of Living Payment – during Winter 2023/4
• £299 – Third Cost of Living Payment – during Spring 2024

Important: deadline related to recieving Pension Credit and the Second Cost of Living (CoL) Payment 

In order to qualify for the second CoL payment, you must have been entitled to a qualifying benefit – such as Pension Credit – between 18 August 2023 and 17 September 2023. It should be noted that due to backdating rules with Pension Credit, whereby you can ask for a claim to be backdated for up to three months, you may still be able to qualify for the second CoL payment, even if you're not getting Pension Credit yet. 10th December 2023 was the cut off point for this, so as long as you started a claim for Pension Credit by then and were found to be eligible – including that this eligibility would also have applied on the CoL qualifying date of 17 September – then you should still get the second CoL payment of £300.

Ofgem Price Cap on energy bills

The price cap applies to most households in Britain. It is a maximum amount that suppliers can charge per unit of energy.

From 1 October 2023, for 'typical' dual-fuel households paying by direct debit, Ofgem has set the annual price cap level at £1,923 (this is a reduction from the previous cap of £2,074, which was in place from July to September 2023). The cap is reviewed every 3 months, so it may change again in January 2024 – you can check the current price cap level on the Ofgem website using the link below.

It's important to note that bills are still based on your actual usage, so you may pay more or less than the price cap level.

Find out more about the energy price cap on the Ofgem website

Importance of meter readings if you don't have a smart meter

If you don't have a smart meter, it's a good idea to provide your supplier with meter readings for gas and electric on a regular basis and particularly so when changes in prices are announced (for example, if Ofgem have announced a price cap increase or decrease). This will ensure that the supplier knows exactly how much you used when the price changes, so that you're not charged too much for certain units used.

If you have not already done so, you may wish to send meter readings to your supplier as soon as possible, given that the Ofgem Price Cap was reduced on 1 October 2023. 

The UK Government's ‘Energy Price Guarantee’

The Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) provided support with energy bills from October 2022 to June 2023, by placing a limit on what energy suppliers could charge households for their energy while prices were particularly high.

Since July 2023, the government policy is for households to pay the lower of the Ofgem Price Cap or the EPG. At the time of writing (October 2023) this is the Ofgem Price Cap – see above (i.e. this is on the basis that the price cap level for a 'typical' dual-fuel household is currently set at £1,923, whereas from July 2023 until the end of March 2024 the EPG had been set at £3,000). 

The government has announced that the EPG will continue until March 2024, as it will act as a safety net, applying if energy prices rise again and thus the Ofgem cap goes above £3,000.

If an energy supplier goes out of business