Last reviewed: , against the Department for Communities scheme article and FAQs and the nidirect service pages. This scheme has a hard close date and a second qualifying period still to run, so confirm the current position at the official source before you apply.
Where the scheme stands
Status
Open
Live for applications since 9 September 2026.
Closes
31 March 2027
The application deadline, not a spending deadline.
Award
£100
One-off digital pre-paid card. Not annual.
Who may qualify
Three things have to hold. The third is the one that catches people out, because it is about a date in the past rather than about today.
1. Oil is your main heating source
nidirect puts it plainly: “You need to use home heating oil as your main heating source to be eligible for the scheme.” A home with oil as a secondary or back-up system is not what the scheme is for.
2. You are resident in Northern Ireland
The scheme is devolved and Northern Ireland only. It has no equivalent in England, Scotland or Wales, and no GB scheme covers it.
3. You met the benefit or income test in April or November 2026
On at least one day of a qualifying period, you were either:
- resident in Northern Ireland and getting a qualifying income-related benefit or a disability benefit, or
- resident in Northern Ireland and a single person or part of a couple — pensioners included — with a net annual income below £30,000 after tax, national insurance or pension contributions
The two qualifying periods
Any day between Wednesday 1 April and Thursday 30 April 2026, or any day between Sunday 1 November and Monday 30 November 2026.
The Department's FAQs answer the obvious follow-up: “No, you only need to be eligible for at least one day in either of the qualifying periods.”
Net, not gross. The £30,000 line is after tax, national insurance and pension contributions. Read as a gross figure it will turn away households that qualify.
One thing the published guidance does not answer
If you did not qualify in April 2026 but expect to qualify in November 2026, you are covered by the scheme — the second qualifying period is there for exactly that. What no official source states is whether you can apply now, or have to wait until November, or what the Department does with an early application from you.
We have not found that written down anywhere, and we are not going to guess at it. The oil scheme helpline is the place to settle it: 0800 072 0266, Monday to Friday, 9.00 am to 4.00 pm.
What you actually get
A card rather than a payment, and it comes with conditions worth knowing before it arrives.
A digital pre-paid card
£100, usable only with heating oil suppliers in Northern Ireland. It is not money into your bank account and it cannot be spent elsewhere.
One per address
One card per residential address, or per qualifying person or couple. A household does not get two.
It has to be activated
The card is activated before use, and then spent with any NI oil supplier you choose.
Spend it in full, and in time
The card must be spent in full by its expiry — “up until the end of the month following the date of activation” — and partly spent cards are not re-issued. Do not activate it until you are ready to order oil.
Where you may not be eligible
nidirect lists these, and each applies where the circumstance held for the whole of the qualifying period:
- nursing home resident
- care home resident
- living in supported housing
- hospital in-patient
- prisoner
- outside of Northern Ireland
How to apply
Applications go direct to the Department for Communities. There is no delivery partner, no referral and no intermediary — if someone offers to apply on your behalf for a fee, they are selling you something the Department does for nothing.
Route 1
Online, through nidirect
The service page is nidirect.gov.uk/services/home-heating-oil-support, which carries the eligibility detail and links through to the application form.
Route 2
By phone
The oil scheme helpline is 0800 072 0266, open Monday to Friday, 9.00 am to 4.00 pm. This is also where to take the November question above.
Route 3
In person
The Department's wording is that “those needing more assistance can contact staff across the Jobs and Benefits network”. If forms and phone queues are the barrier, this is the route.
What this scheme is not
Not automatic
“You must make an application as awards for the home heating oil support scheme will not be made automatically.” Being on a qualifying benefit does not put a card in the post.
Not rationed
The Department's FAQs rule out first-come-first-served allocation. There is no queue to beat — but there is a closing date, and that is real.
Not the Winter Fuel Payment
A separate award with separate rules. Getting one does not decide the other.
Not an energy efficiency grant
It buys oil. It does not insulate anything. For measures, the NI routes are the Affordable Warmth Scheme and NISEP.
Common questions
Is the Home Heating Oil Support Scheme still open?
Yes. Applications opened on 9 September 2026 and close on 31 March 2027. The Department for Communities' own news release of 8 September 2026 says the scheme "is now open for applications and will close for new applications on March 31, 2027".
How much is the Home Heating Oil Support Scheme worth?
A one-off £100 digital pre-paid card, usable only with heating oil suppliers in Northern Ireland. It is not a payment into your bank account, and it is not an annual award. One card is issued per residential address, or per qualifying person or couple.
Who may qualify for the £100 heating oil card?
You need to use home heating oil as your main heating source and be resident in Northern Ireland. On at least one day of a qualifying period you also need to be getting a qualifying income-related benefit or a disability benefit, or be 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. The Department expects around 340,000 households to be covered.
What are the qualifying periods?
There are two, and you only need to meet the test on one day in either of them. The first is any day between Wednesday 1 April and Thursday 30 April 2026. The second is any day between Sunday 1 November and Monday 30 November 2026. The Department's FAQs answer the question directly: "No, you only need to be eligible for at least one day in either of the qualifying periods." This is the part most often got wrong — the test is not whether you qualify today.
Is the £30,000 income limit before or after tax?
After. nidirect states the test as "a net annual income below £30,000 after tax, national insurance or pension contributions". A household reading it as a gross figure may rule itself out when it did not need to.
Do I get the card automatically if I am on a qualifying benefit?
No. nidirect is explicit: "You must make an application as awards for the home heating oil support scheme will not be made automatically." Nothing arrives unless you apply.
Is the scheme first come, first served?
No. The Department's FAQs address this directly: "Everyone who meets the eligibility criteria and makes an application will receive a card, subject to the one digital pre-paid card per residential address or qualifying person/couple restriction." There is no queue to beat, but there is a closing date.
Who is excluded from the scheme?
nidirect lists the cases where you may not be eligible if the circumstance applied for the whole of the qualifying period: nursing home resident, care home resident, living in supported housing, hospital in-patient, prisoner, or outside of Northern Ireland.
How do I apply for the Home Heating Oil Support Scheme?
Three routes, all direct to the Department for Communities with no intermediary. Online through nidirect at nidirect.gov.uk/services/home-heating-oil-support. By phone on the oil scheme helpline, 0800 072 0266, Monday to Friday, 9.00 am to 4.00 pm. Or in person, through the Jobs and Benefits office network for anyone needing more assistance.
Does ECO4 or the Boiler Upgrade Scheme cover heating oil in Northern Ireland?
No. ECO4 runs in England, Scotland and Wales, and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme in England and Wales only. Neither has ever run in Northern Ireland. The devolved routes here are the Affordable Warmth Scheme and NISEP, and this oil card sits alongside them rather than replacing either.
Other Northern Ireland energy help
Northern Ireland
All NI energy grants
The Affordable Warmth Scheme, NISEP, and why the GB schemes do not run here.
Read guide →Northern Ireland
NI insulation grants
Cutting what the oil costs to burn, rather than helping pay for it.
Read guide →Northern Ireland
NI boiler replacement
Where the oil boiler itself is the problem rather than the fuel bill.
Read guide →Important
Every figure, date and quotation on this page is taken from the Department for Communities' own scheme article and FAQs and from nidirect, read on 20 September 2026. Energy Pages is an independent information service and is not the Department, nidirect, or any part of government; we cannot assess your application or tell you whether you qualify. Scheme rules and thresholds change, so confirm the current position with the official source — or the oil scheme helpline on 0800 072 0266 — before you apply.
Applications close 31 March 2027
The Department expects around 340,000 Northern Ireland households to be covered, and nothing is paid unless an application is made.