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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
National
Lauren Harte

Cost of living: Government reveals how oil customers will receive £100 credit

The government has announced how a £100 payment will be paid to home heating oil customers in Northern Ireland.

The payment will be in the form of a credit to electricity bills.

In Northern Ireland, home heating oil is used by two-thirds of households - a significantly larger proportion compared to the around 5% across the whole of the UK.

Read more: Energy bill support for NI businesses - what you need to know

Read more: Northern Ireland community groups facing funding 'cliff edge' as EU money runs out and UK cash failing to replace it

The Government announced last month that home heating oil customers in Northern Ireland will receive a one-off payment of £100 to help with rising energy costs but many Northern Ireland politicians criticised it as being inadequate.

The smaller level of support for oil heating reflects how gas prices have risen more sharply than oil in the last year.

The Consumer Council in Northern Ireland suggests heating oil currently costs more than £520 for 500 litres, compared to around £220 a year ago.

The £100 will be delivered as a top-up to the £400 Energy Bills Support payment, which is going to all UK households.

The government issued an update on the scheme on Wednesday but it is still not yet clear when the £100 will be paid, with a statement only referring to "this winter."

"Households eligible for these payments will receive £100 as a credit on their electricity bill this winter," a statement said.

"The £100 payment has been calculated to ensure that a typical customer using heating oil does not face a higher rate of growth in their heating costs since last winter, in comparison to those using mains gas who are supported by the Energy Price Guarantee," it continued.

The statement added that the government "will continue to monitor the prices of alternative fuels, such as heating oil, and will consider further intervention if required to protect UK households from extraordinary fuel prices".

The SDLP previously called for a voucher scheme for 1,000 litres of oil for every home in Northern Ireland which relies on oil heating, and described the Government's proposed £100 payment as an "insult".

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said: "They have no idea what real people are going through."

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