Customer Hardship Fund Support

At Electric Ireland we are aware that some of our customers may experience financial difficulties and uncertainty, and we have some supports in place to assist customers in such circumstances.

Since December 2020, Electric Ireland has committed €8 million in funds to help customers experiencing difficulty paying energy bills. The fund will operate to ensure customers who need assistance in paying bills are supported. Access to the fund is administered on our behalf by our partners SVP (Society of St Vincent de Paul) and MABS (Money Advice and Budgeting Service) in the form of energy credits.

• The Electric Ireland Hardship Fund is now €5 million following the €2million increase announced today, 19th December 2022.
• June 2022- Electric Ireland announced a €3 Million Hardship Fund.
• March 2021 - Electric Ireland provided a €2 Million Fund due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and increased energy costs.
• December 2020 - Electric Ireland gave €1 Million to 10,000 registered vulnerable customers.
• December 2022 - Electric Ireland has donated €200,000 to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVP).

• The rules of the fund are as follows:
  • Customers must be with Electric Ireland for at least 12 months
  • Accounts must be live
  • Any credits (when applied) to the account may only be used against energy usage
  • No cash refunds offered
  • Duplicate applications will not be considered (one application per contract account permitted)

• As a matter of course, Electric Ireland engages with all residential customers who experience difficulty paying their bills in line with the voluntary Industry Energy Engage Code and we encourage any Electric Ireland customer who has difficulty in paying their energy bill to contact  us and we will work with them to put in place a manageable payment plan.  We have many thousands of these payment plans in place at present. 
• Electric Ireland works with Fuel Poor customers who sign up to the Household Budget Scheme, or Industry Solution Prepayment Meter as a way to pay their energy bills and also apply a 5% discount.  
  

• We also provide several flexible payment options to help customers, including an Equaliser product that enables customers to spread their energy costs in equal direct debit payments across the year or to take a payment holiday by agreeing a plan to pay their bills over 11 months instead of 12. 

Customers who are experiencing financial difficulty or having trouble paying their energy bills are asked to please call our team on 1800 50 40 21.  Alternatively customers can either call MABs or contact their local SVP office.