A Scottish Power Hardship Fund is an exclusionary scheme ran by Scottish Power which allows already existent customers to apply for a reduction of price in their current contract if any of the following applies:

  • With chronic or debilitating illnesses or conditions With mental health issues
  • Households experiencing other situations such as a medical dependency of electricity or be on their Priority Services Register or Special Needs group.
  • Families with young children
  • Who are older

Applying for the Scottish Power Hardship Fund

To determine whether your situation is applicable for this scheme you must make contact with Scottish Power via email or various helplines and demonstrate your ability to proceed with ongoing payments for at least three months. This will provide evidence for your case and authorise your application

You can call them directly on 0808 800 0128 or fill the application in online on https://www.sedhardship.fund. It can take up to a possible 5 days for you to get a reply.

How to Qualify 

If you qualified for the program then Scottish Power will either clear or reduce any debt by up to £3000 that have come through Scottish Power energy bills, however you must meet a specific criteria to occupy these benefits:

  • Income SupportJobseeker’s Allowance
  • Pension Credit
  • Employment and Support Allowance
  • Low household income (below £16,190)
  • Special Circumstances (e.g. wage reduction due to illness)

You only need to meet a few of the above criteria to be eligible however the more requirements you meet the larger the funding may be.

General Information about the Scottish Hardship Fund

The company set aside an initial £5.2 million throughout 2015 and 2016 to aid customers who were struggling to pay their energy bills. Social Enterprise Direct Ltd has been appointed as a separate administrator of fund and who at present are based in Glasgow and currently fall under the Citizens Direct Umbrella who process the all the applications.

Neil Clitheroe who is CEO of retail and generation within Scottish Power, proclaimed:

“No matter how hard we try, sometimes we simply cannot reunite customers with their unclaimed credits when they switch.  We think that it makes sense to use this money in a hardship fund to provide assistance for some of our most vulnerable customers in these tough economic times.

This shows that they are dedicated to keeping customers on board and are therefore are willing to set aside a large budget to help the most vunerable clients stay on track and ultimately stay with Scottish Power in the long run.

The fund will provide grants between £100 – £3000 and each case will be assessed with consideration given to the availability of the overall budget. Results of the case are based upon:

  • The size of the debt owed
  • Individual circumstances

 If you are still wondering what the Scottish Power Hardship Fund is or still unsure whether you are able to qualify, check out this video for more general information.