Applying to the British Gas Energy Trust for a grant
Step 1: Find the right support for you
Millions of households are not claiming the benefits they are entitled to.
The Bounce Back Checklist details the main benefits, schemes and organisations available for those struggling with money and energy debt.
The Better Off Calculator is a tool to help you better understand your income and outgoings, and to provide access to any support schemes you may be entitled too.
The Lightning Reach portal makes it easy for people to find and apply for a wide range of personalised support in one place, including over 2,500 support schemes incorporating grants, benefits, help with bills and other vital resources.
Step 2. Get specialist money and energy advice in your local community
We fund local charities and advice centres across England, Scotland and Wales that specialise in money and energy debt. These specialist services include help with budget planning, resolving energy debt issues, and support with maximising income. This is also a great next step as your local advice centre can help you understand whether to apply for grants, and how to do it. Speaking to a friendly voice can help relieve the pressure and give you reassurance that you can take back control of your finances.
Step 3. Apply for a grant
If you’ve sought advice and still need help to get back on your feet, you may be eligible for a British Gas Energy Trust grant.
Our Grants
British Gas Energy Support Fund- now closed
The Energy Support Fund is currently closed to any applications. To be considered for a grant when the fund is open, you must meet the following criteria:
- You are a British Gas credit or pre-payment meter customer living in England, Scotland, or Wales
- You have not received a grant from the British Gas Energy Trust within the last 12 months
- You must be seeking a grant to clear an outstanding debt on a current or open gas, electricity or dual fuel energy account in your name or be a member of that household, the energy account must relate to your main residence
- Have electric and/or gas debt between £250 – £2,000
- You must be in or facing Fuel Poverty
- You have received help from a money advice or guidance agency
Individual and Families Fund- open to pre-payment meter customers only
The Individual and Families Fund closed to credit account customers as of 8th March 2024 but remains open to pre-payment meter customers- please read the below before applying.
To be considered for a grant you must meet the following criteria. If you cannot tick all boxes your application will not progress to assessment:
- To apply to this fund, you can be a British Gas Customer, or a customer from another supplier with arrears of up to £2,000. We want to ensure that grants go to people who cannot access energy debt help from their own provider. Energy suppliers Eon, Eon Next, EDF, Scottish Power, Boost, SSE and Octopus all have their own funds to support their customers only, so if you are a customer of one of these companies, please apply to them directly
- You have energy debt and use a pre-payment meter in your main residence and the energy account must be in the name of the applicant
- You live in England, Scotland or Wales
- You have not received a grant from the British Gas Energy Trust within the last 2 years
- You must be seeking a grant to clear an outstanding debt on a current or open gas, electricity or dual fuel energy account in your name and the energy account must relate to your main residence If your application is successful, your energy account will be credited with the grant. Please note the British Gas Energy Trust does not award cash payments
- You have electric and/or gas debt
- You must be in or facing Fuel Poverty
- You have received help from a money advice agency
Please note : if you are a UTILITA credit customer you will not be able to apply to our fund, but if you are a UTILITA PPM customer with outstanding debt you can still apply at BGET.
You can apply here: Apply Now.
Please note: The British Gas Energy Trust is an independent charity, funded by British Gas. Please do not contact us concerning British Gas customer enquiries or complaints as we have no information on British Gas accounts. This includes billing queries and Warm Home Discount queries.
- The Trust CANNOT make part payments towards an energy debt.
- You must provide evidence of receiving money guidance/advice: this includes: a letter confirming that advice or guidance has been provided, and that the applicant has completed either a standard financial statement and/or Personal Action Plan, or equivalent evidence of an income and expenditure budget exercise. This must have been received in the last three months, at the time of applying.
- Applications take up to four weeks to be assessed, you will be notified via the portal by logging in, or by text/email, if you have been successful.
- If successful, the payment to your energy provider can take up to two weeks to show on your energy account. Please note the British Gas Energy Trust does not award cash payments.
- Application updates – please regularly login to the application portal to check for application updates. If you have problems logging in, please contact office@bget.org.uk who will respond to your email within five days.
- Support with your application – if you are unable to access the online application, there is support for you by emailing office@bget.org.uk . Please supply a contact number for our team to get in touch. This can take up to five days for a response.
- If you are unsuccessful in your application, please look at our money and energy advice page for potential sources of assistance and support.
- If you have a complaint about the British Gas Energy Trust, please go to: https://britishgasenergytrust.org.uk/complaints-policy/ Please note we do not enter into correspondence around grant decisions, a grant decision is final.
- If you meet the application criteria, The British Gas Energy Trust will only consider clearing arrears in full, partial payments will not be considered.
- The British Gas Energy Trust reserves the right to close the application portal with little or no notice once funds have been expended.
- We cannot accept applications for closed accounts, (i.e., if you have moved home or changed energy supplier) or accounts where you have paid off the debt with a credit card, or loan from family or friends.
- Applicants with energy arrears over £2,000 will not be eligible to apply. If you are able to reduce your arears to £2,000, please do reapply.
Guidance for Money Advice services applying on behalf of, or supporting an application.
Please note that the British Gas Energy Trust is interested in funding applications where the applicant can show a sustainable position moving forward. We believe that it is rarely in the person’s best interest to seek a debt write-off, without dealing with the underlying problem of a deficit budget, due to this deficit budget’s will only be considered in exceptional circumstances, there is some allowance for marginal exceptions.
Please note where client’s would be eligible for a Bankruptcy or DRO, we expect this to have been explained to the client. Clients who are eligible for a DRO may not be successful in their application, as there is an alternative route to managing their debt.
The Trust expects that the money advice service who has supported the applicant, has ensured that all advice given and action taken by their agents or appointed representatives a) has regard to the best interests of the applicant b) is appropriate to the individual circumstances of the applicant c) is based on a sufficiently full assessment of the financial circumstances of the applicant.1
1 8.3.2 Consumer Credit Sourcebook, Financial Conduct Authority