Energy Support
Chorley Council are working with Citizens Advice Lancashire West to provide financial support to households who are struggling with energy related costs, electricity, gas, and water.
Please read all the following information carefully on how your application will be processed and what type of support you will receive
Support will be provided in two ways via our partner Citizens Advice (CAB). This will either be support in the form of cash or shopping vouchers or via dedicated one to one support through a trained Cost-of-Living Support Worker.
If your household has NOT had a Household Support Fund payment since April 2024, your application will be checked to ensure all criteria/details have been provided and then will be processed. You will have the option of how you wish to receive the support in the form of cash or shopping vouchers. Please note that due to demand it could take up to 21 working days to process your voucher code.
If your household has received a Household Support Fund payment since April 2024, your application will be checked to ensure all criteria/details have been provided and then Chorley Citizens Advice will telephone you to offer an appointment with the Cost of Living Support Worker who will work with you to look at your income/expenditure and undertake a benefits calculation with the aim of increasing your income. They will help you to access forms of support available to you with the focus on longer term and lasting improvements.
How to apply for energy support - eligibility and important information
- you must be a resident of the borough of Chorley
- you must be aged 18 or over and the named account holder of your energy accounts
- this is not emergency support and due to the high number of applications it can take 21 days to process your application. During this time please do not submit further applications or try to contact us regarding your application
- depending on the level of demand, we may have to temporarily freeze the application process as we process those who have applied. We will provide timescales when the fund reopens if this happens
- we are expecting a high level of demand, therefore the fund may close sooner than nationally advertised as March 2026
- submitting an application does not guarantee acceptance
- in line with current government guidance, you do not need to be on benefits to apply and this money does not need to be paid back.
- any application without the required evidence will not be processed.
- you must send us two items of supporting evidence; screenshots are not acceptable. These can be upload when completing your application using the "Choose files" button
- if you are not able to upload your evidence, please call-in person at our Chorley office on a Thursday between 10am and 2pm for assistance to complete the form but you must have your supporting evidence with you.
- supporting evidence
- bank statement (from the last two months) which also shows your address
- most recent utility bill or proof of account for either gas, electricity or water which clearly shows your address
If you are not yet eligible to apply, help can be provided in other ways by:
- contacting your energy supplier to see what support they can offer you. Unless you have large arrears or have failed to meet agreed payment plans, they should be able to offer you support
- if you rent from a social landlord, contacting them and see what support they can offer
- contacting Citizens Advice Lancashire West for a referral to their Cost of Living Support Worker who can check your benefit entitlement and help you access other support
Receiving support
- if you are successful, Chorley Citizens Advice will send you a Charis code. Charis is the name of the company being used to obtain and manage the codes
- the code will be sent to you either by email or text message (applicants that are not online or don't have a mobile phone will receive a code in the post)
- you can redeem your code for cash to use for your energy payment at any appropriate pay-point store. Find your nearest pay-point store
- if there are any difficulties with redeeming the voucher, please call pay-point on 0330 400 0002 whilst still at the pay-point store. Do not call Chorley Council or Citizens Advice as we are unable to assist with problems redeeming voucher codes
- we will only re-issue codes where the code issuer (Charis) agrees that the code is faulty and not when redeemed incorrectly by the retailer, or where a claim is made that the codes have already been redeemed. Please be aware that the date, time, location and CCTV footage is recorded by the pay-point till for all transactions
- you are responsible for the security of the devices you receive text messages and emails onto and replacement codes will not be issued when a device has been accessed by another person and the codes fraudulently redeemed.