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PayPoint and Citizens Advice raise awareness of Energy Bills Support Scheme

PayPoint and Citizens Advice raise awareness of Energy Bills Support Scheme

PayPoint today announced that it is working with Citizens Advice to support their current campaign encouraging prepay energy customers to make sure their details are up to date with their supplier ahead of the launch of the Energy Bills Support Scheme in October.

The £400 discount will be paid to consumers over six months with payments starting from October 2022, to ensure households receive financial support throughout the winter months.


Traditional prepayment meter customers will be provided with redeemable EBSS Energy Bill discount vouchers or Special Action Messages (SAMs) from the first week of each month, issued via email or post. Customers will be able to redeem these at their usual top-up point, including the 28,000 PayPoint locations across the UK, a network bigger than all banks, supermarkets and Post Offices combined. Customers with smart prepayment meters will either receive the discount directly or via vouchers.

The campaign will be promoted in all PayPoint locations via receipt advertising and social media channels throughout September. Information will also be sent directly to PayPoint’s retailer partners advising of the campaign and where to direct consumers for more information, including the dedicated Citizens Advice webpage.

“Our retailer partners continue to play a pivotal role in delivering vital community services across the UK, particularly in helping us distribute over £100 million in government support funds over the past year through our Cash Out service," said Steve O’Neill, Corporate Affairs and Marketing Director, PayPoint. "The upcoming Energy Bills Support Scheme will be another important service for the millions of consumers who use PayPoint regularly to top up and we’re delighted to be working with Citizens Advice to raise awareness of the scheme to ensure that funds reach the members of our communities that need it most.”

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A whopping ninety-one per cent of respondents to a survey conducted by the Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed) called for more police patrols on streets, while a similar number - 90 per cent - said that shoplifters should be handed harsher sentences.

Seven out of 10 respondents (72 per cent) said their stores had experienced shoplifting, break ins and damage to property, while they and their staff had been physically or verbally threatened.

Just under half of respondents (47 per cent) said they and their employees had been threatened or had suffered abuse and violence when asking for proof of age ahead of selling an age-restricted product.

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“Inadequate responses from the police and a slap on the wrist for offenders means that shoplifting is soaring, and offenders are becoming more aggressive and brazen,” said Fed National President Mo Razzaq.

“From the responses we received, it is clear that real action is needed by police, by courts and by the government to stem the overwhelming tide of crime against retailers and their staff. Everyone deserves to feel safe at work and for their businesses to be protected against criminals.

“Fed members are also sending a clear message that one of the catalysts for verbal and physical abuse in stores is asking for proof of age before selling an age restricted product. If the government presses ahead with its plans to phase out smoking and vaping through a progressive ban to gradually end the sale of tobacco products across the country, independent retailers will be subject to even greater levels of violence, abuse and theft.”

Calling for action from the government and not just words, Mr Razzaq continued: “Without effective deterrent, criminals and opportunistic members of the public will continue to commit crimes.”

According to Ministry of Justice statistics, during the year to March 2024, 431 fines were handed out for retail theft under £100, while Home Office statistics for the same period show that 2,252 cautions were accepted for shoplifting.

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