Apply online for home heating oil support

Eligibility 

You may be eligible for the scheme if you use home heating oil as your main heating source and for at least one day of either qualifying period, you were: 

• a resident in Northern Ireland 

and

• getting a qualifying benefit or you were a single person or part of a couple, including pensioners, with a net annual income below £30,000 after tax, national insurance or pension contributions

Qualifying benefits include:

• Pension Credit
• Universal Credit
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Disability Living Allowance
• Personal Independence Payment
• Attendance Allowance
• Armed Forces Independence Payment 
• the Constant Attendance Allowance element of Industrial Injuries Disablement benefit
• the Constant Attendance Allowance or Mobility Supplement element of the War Pension Scheme

If you are getting any benefits, an award from the home heating oil support scheme will not affect your benefit claim. 

If you fill in a self-assessment tax return, it will not count as income.

Qualifying period

The qualifying period is any day between Wednesday 1 April and Thursday 30 April 2026. 

There is a second qualifying period which will be any day between Sunday 1 November and Monday 30 November 2026. 

You may not be eligible for the scheme if for the whole of the qualifying period, you are:

• a nursing home resident
• a care home resident
• a hospital in-patient
• a prisoner
• outside of Northern Ireland 

Apply online 

You must make an application as awards for the home heating oil support scheme will not be made automatically. 

You will need to apply before the scheme closes on 31 March 2027. 

You can apply for someone else if: 

• the person you are applying for needs support to apply, and you are helping them to fill in the application
• you are an appointee or have power of attorney for someone else
• you are responsible for a young person who is getting Disability Living Allowance

Only one person should apply in each residential address. 

To apply online you'll need your:

• National Insurance number
• own/ joint household income if you are not getting one of the qualifying benefits
• contact email address or smartphone number 

It should take about 10 minutes to apply. If you do not enter anything for 20 minutes, your application will time out and your information will be deleted. This is to keep your details secure. 

Information in sign language

A signed summary of the home heating oil support scheme is available in British and Irish Sign Language.

Watch the summary in British Sign Language (BSL) 

Watch the summary in Irish Sign Language (ISL) 

Privacy notice

You can find out how any personal information you send to the Department for Communities (DfC) when using this service will be handled by viewing its privacy notice.

Where to get help

If you need support to apply online you can:

• phone the helpline on 0800 072 0266 - lines are open Monday to Friday, 9.00 am to 4.00 pm

or

• contact your local Jobs & Benefits office

If you cannot speak or hear on the phone, text and video relay services are available on the oil support scheme contact page.

After applying 

After applying you may need to give more evidence to show:

• the address on your application form is your main home
• oil is the main heat source of your home
• your income

If your application is successful 

If your application is successful, DfC will aim to tell you within 10 working days of when you applied.

Getting and activating your digital card

You will get a message with a unique hyperlink to activate your digital card by:

• email if you have an email address 

or

• text message to your smartphone 

or 

• letter to your home address if you do not have an email address or a smartphone

You will have three months to use this link to activate your digital card. 

When activating your digital card, you will be asked for:

• your name
• your address
• your date of birth
• an email address 

and

• a mobile phone number

You need to give these details for checks to be carried out before your digital card can be activated. 

You may be asked for a one-time passcode (OTP) which will be sent to the email address you gave when you activated your digital card. You will need to input this OTP to confirm activation of your voucher. 

This OTP will be issued by the digital card supplier HUGGG and not by DfC. 

How long you'll have to use your digital card

When you activate your digital card, you will have until the last day of the next month to use it. 

You should keep your unique hyperlink until you have used the digital card as this is the only way to view your card details once activated.

Ordering oil with your digital card

You can use your digital card with oil suppliers in Northern Ireland. 

You can use the digital card online if your order is for £100 or less. 

If you want to order more than £100 of oil, you should phone your oil supplier to use the £100 digital card and another payment method for the rest of the amount.

Digital cards must be spent in full by the expiry date. Partly spent cards cannot be re-issued.

When using the digital card to order oil online, an OTP may be sent to the mobile phone number you gave when you activated it. You will need to input this OTP to confirm your order. 

You will not need to give an OTP if you order your oil by phone. 

If your application is unsuccessful 

If your application is unsuccessful, you will get a message to let you know by:

• email if you have an email address 

or

• text message to your smartphone 

or

• letter to your home address if you do not have an email address or a smartphone

If you do not think the decision is right, the message will tell you how you can ask for it to be looked at again. 

Help finding the best oil price                               

If you need help finding the best oil price, you can join the oil savings network or use the home heating oil price checker.

Learn more about the oil savings network at the following link: 

• Energy advice

Protect yourself from scams

nidirect is the only official website you can use to apply to the home heating oil support scheme. 

You will never be asked for your bank details or to pay an amount of money to make a claim to the oil support scheme.

If you get a message like this, it may be a scam. 

You should report any suspicious emails or text messages asking for your bank details. 

Questions about the scheme

DfC is responsible for the scheme. You can get more information on its website at the following link:

• DfC home heating oil support scheme