Around 1 million households with pre-payment meters have not redeemed their monthly energy support vouchers this month.

Only 27% of households redeemed their vouchers, according to data from PayPoint, as postal strikes have left households across the country waiting on voucher deliveries.

In October, 80% of vouchers issued were redeemed as well as 73% in November.

The government’s Energy Support Scheme provides households £400 in payments this winter to help with the rising cost of energy bills.

For the majority of households across the country, the money is automatically deducted from their energy bills.

For those who pay by direct debit, £66 of credit is added to their energy accounts each month.

But for those on pre-payment meters – which represents around 2 million households across the country – the help comes in the form of vouchers sent each month.

The vouchers are time-limited, which means those issued in December will expire if they are not redeemed before March 8.

Vouchers can be redeemed at Post Offices or cashed in at stores across the PayPoint network.

Vouchers are sent by post to around three quarters of households, with the other quarter being sent via email.

Steve O’Neill, corporate affairs and marketing director at PayPoint, said: ‘Tens of thousands of independent retailers are doing a fantastic job processing EBSS vouchers as early as 6am right through until midnight every day, thanks to their commitment to serving their local communities.’

Business secretary Grant Shapps fears postal strikes may have had an impact, expressing concerns about the gap between vouchers being sent out and people receiving them.

‘There isn’t one way that this is done because the energy providers are sending them out in different ways, sometimes by text, sometimes by email, sometimes through the door,’ he told told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.

Royal Mail workers walked out for several days in November and December in a long-running dispute with the government over pay, jobs and conditions.

Further walkouts, conducted by the Communication Workers Union (CWU), are scheduled for December 23 and December 24.

PayPoint has stressed people can still claim government discounts, with independent shops open early in the morning and late at night.

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