Feed-in tariffs and the affect on benefits

Hello all

A quick question about feed-in tariffs and the effect on benefits.

The Feed-in tariffs have been introduced by the Government to help increase the level of renewable energy.

As I understand it, people will have Solar Panels installed (either by paying for them upfront, or, potentially, by paying for the works through equity release). Then, over the next 25 years they will receive

* payment for all the electricity produced, even if you use it yourself
* additional bonus payments for electricity exported into the grid
* reduction on their standard electricity bill, from using energy you produce yourself

After so many years, the idea is that you would have paid for the panels, and then you will make a profit.

Sounds good, but I have been asked about the implications for benefit recipients i.e. if you are receiving a monthly ‘income’ from your feed-in tariff would it affect your benefits? Any ideas?

I’m not sure if there is even an answer to this query yet, but in addition, it could be that I’d need to push the DWP for an answer on how they would treat feed-in tariff payments. If that is the case, anyone got a high up DWP contact they could share?

Thanks

Lee H

As I understand it, there is a difference between Pension Credit and all the other MTBs.

General rule is if something looks like income (which thisdoes), then it IS income unless it is in an EXCLUDED category.

But for Pension Credit it works the other way round - it only counts as income if it is in an INCLUDED category.

I am trying to use contacts to get a definitive answer with a name I can give you.

Email rec’d from the DWP press office on the subject:

“Hello Lee,

If somebody gets actual income from these arrangements then they’ll need to declare it and it will be taken into account in any income-related benefits they receive .

It seems Pension Credit is different because it only takes account of specific types of income which are listed in regulations, and these feed-in tariffs are not mentioned.

Hope that clarifies.”

Many thanks Ariadne for your response, I think this falls in line with your thoughts on the subject.

Cheers again, Lee