Applications for the funding were supposed to open in January, but that date was delayed until late February. From February 25, almost a million extra households were able to apply for help from the Government towards their energy bills.
When Keith Gudgin, a 69-year-old boater who cruises continuously along 2,000 miles of canal in the UK, logged on to the Government portal to apply for the payment, he was taken by surprise.
“I found out I couldn’t get the money I needed,” he told Express.co.uk.
Among the list of people who weren’t eligible for the £400 rebate included those living “on a boat as a continuous cruiser,” as well as those “on a non-permanent caravan or mobile home site.” Both categories are currently under review, according to the Government’s website.
For Mr Gugdin, who lives exclusively off his £800-a-month state pension, it was yet another kick in the teeth in what has been a string of failures by the Government to support pensioners living off-grid.
He said: “It’s disgusting more than anything else. The fact that it’s only continuous cruisers who can’t get it, all other boaters can.
“If I was moored up permanently on a long-term mooring, I could claim it. But because I’m a continuous cruiser, I can’t. To me, that is disgusting discrimination.”
To make matters worse, Mr Gugdin hasn’t been told why he cannot claim the money. The Government hasn’t contacted him to explain the reason.
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He was in a similar situation when Express.co.uk visited him on his canal boat in late 2022, just before the Government announced it was extending its energy bills support to those living off-grid. At that time, most households in the UK had received at least their first energy support payment.
Back then, he and other boaters were faced with the news that the Canal and River Trust was planning on hiking the boat licence — something all boaters must have — by a total of 13 percent from the period April 1 2023 until September 30, 2023.
This was on top of price increases across the board due to inflation.
There are around 34,000 licensed boats on Canal and River Trust waterways. Over 5,500 of them are registered as continuous cruisers because they have no permanent mooring. Each of them will be affected by the Government’s decision to withdraw payment.
Others will similarly be affected by the change. Also included in the Government’s list are those who live:
- in purpose-built student accommodation;
- in a care home where all your fees are paid by the local council or NHS;
- in accommodation provided by your employer (such as seasonal workers, ‘service occupiers’, security guards, building caretakers);
- in a building where you are acting as a property guardian;
- in business premises, such as a pub or hotel, where your address is the same as the business address.
The website tells people who believe they should have been paid but have not to “contact your energy supplier.” But for Mr Gudgin and many others, this is impossible.
