These Allowances Make You Eligible for the Free Boiler Scheme for Homeowners
The Energy Company Obligation, popularly known as the free boiler Scheme was first implemented in 2013. It has since seen multiple amendments. The primary aim of the ECO Scheme is to tackle global warming by reducing the Carbon footprint of households across the UK. The Scheme helps homeowners from financially vulnerable households avail free boilers to replace their old, inefficient boilers with A-grade boilers with an energy-efficient rate of over 90%. Additionally, this Scheme also ensures that money would not be a deterrent from replacing old boilers in homes across the UK.
The basic requisites to avail a free boiler
The basic requisites to be eligible for free boilers under the government boiler grant scheme include being a homeowner and having a boiler that is at least seven years old. Homeowners who have boilers that are within the age range of 5 to 7, can also avail free boilers under the ECO Scheme if they can provide documents recording an engineer’s observation about the boiler. The records should read that the boiler cannot be economically repaired. What this means is that an engineer should certify that the cost of repairing your old boiler would be much higher than the cost of replacing it with a new one.
The allowances that make you automatically qualify
If you are a homeowner who receives any of the following allowances from the government, you automatically qualify for a free boiler grant. If you are a homeowner who is receiving pension credits, you automatically qualify for a free boiler under the ECO Scheme. The second group of homeowners that automatically qualify are households with an annual income that is lesser than£16,100. However, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, this threshold income limit has been scrapped and homeowners who receive Universal Credits automatically qualify for free boilers, irrespective of annual income.
A combination of allowances that make you qualify
If you are a homeowner who is seeking to replace your old inefficient boiler using the new boiler grant of the government, you can qualify for free boilers if you receive a combination of the following allowances- Income Support of any form, income-related ESA and JSA, Child Tax Credit, Universal Credit, Working Tax Credit, Disability Living Allowance, Pension Guaranteed Credit, Severe Disablement Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Carer’s Allowance, Armed Forces Independence Payment, Attendance Allowance, Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefits, War Pensions Mobility Supplement, etc.
Why are these allowances crucial?
Homeowners who receive the above allowances need help to meet their basic needs, and the government is seeking to take away added financial burden from them by making them eligible for free boilers. A homeowner receiving any disability benefit is clearly disadvantaged as their employment opportunities would be diminished due to their disability and hence their income. A homeowner receiving Child Tax Credit is most probably a single parent who is using all of their income to support their children.