No application forms. No handling bank details.
Send us your list of band A to D households not paying by direct debit, and we'll get each one its £100 by email, text or letter. They choose: a bank payment, entering their own bank details through a secure link, or cash at any Post Office. We're the only platform that can offer both options.
Already trusted by councils across the UK
- Nottinghamshire County Council
- Luton
- North Northamptonshire Council
- Northumberland County Council
You upload a list. We do the rest.
No application form to build, no bank details to collect and check. Just the names and addresses you already hold.
Upload your list
Band A to D households not paying by direct debit: names and addresses, plus any emails and mobile numbers you hold. Include every adult named on the account.
We send it
By email, text or post, whichever you hold for each household, all in your council's name.
They pick bank or cash
They enter their own bank details through a secure link and are paid in minutes, or get a cash voucher at any Post Office. No smartphone? One phone call and a cash voucher is in the post.
We hand back the rest
Each payment carries the council tax account number, so reconciliation is simple. After your deadline, a clean list of anyone who didn't claim, ready for a council tax credit.
Bank payment or Post Office cash. Only with Huggg.
The first thing a resident sees is a simple choice. For a bank payment, they enter their own bank details through a secure link, and the money lands in minutes. Your team never collects or sees them. Cash is ready to collect at any Post Office branch. Nobody else offers both from one letter or link.
For residents you know can't get online, send the cash letter instead: a Post Office barcode they take straight to the counter.
Ten jobs, or two
Built for the likely requirements
The checks are done before any money moves
Schemes like this ask councils to check who they're paying before any money moves, and to keep a record of every check. Ours are built into the payment itself, so the guardrails are in place without a form to run.
One payment per household
Each letter, email or text works once. We also stop the same bank account being paid twice under the scheme.
A name check on every bank payment
The bank account must belong to an adult named on your council tax record for that address.
ID at the Post Office counter
Cash is only handed over when the resident shows ID, so a letter, email or text in the wrong hands is no use.
Residents confirm they're eligible
A short declaration before they claim, the self-certification step schemes like this ask for.
A route for people who aren't online
A cash letter they take to the counter, and a phone line for anyone who can't scan a code. Use your own contact centre, or ours.
A record of every payment
Letters, emails and texts sent, checks passed and payments claimed, plus every claim we block, like a failed name check or a reused bank account. Ready for your audit trail and monthly returns.
Secure, certified and simple to procure
Residents' names and addresses stay under your control. We process them for you under a data processing agreement.
Procure through GCA's Payment Solutions 3 Framework
We're on GCA's Payment Solutions 3 Framework, so you can call us off without running a tender. Ask us for the buyer's pack.
ISO 27001 certified
Our information security is independently audited. Certificate available to download.
Cyber Essentials Plus certified
The government-backed scheme, with our systems tested by an independent assessor.
Download our certificates on the Security and Compliance page
Questions councils are asking
Is the guidance out yet?
Not yet. MHCLG has said it will cover eligibility, payment arrangements, monitoring and assurance, and the discretionary fund. This page is built around what schemes like this have required before, and we'll update it, and email you, the day the guidance lands.
What if the guidance lets us credit council tax accounts?
You'll still use the credit for anyone who doesn't claim. A letter gets £100 to residents while the energy bills are arriving, not as a line on their council tax account. Afterwards we hand you the list of who didn't claim, ready for the credit.
How quickly can we start?
Bank payments and Post Office cash are both regulated products, so before your first payment we run a know-your-business (KYB) check on your council. Allow a couple of weeks to get through it in full, which is why it's worth starting before the guidance lands.
What does it cost?
The platform is free to use with no licence fee or setup cost. You only pay a small fee on the Household Energy Payments you send out. It's one price per household by email or text, however the resident chooses to be paid. Letters add printing and second class postage. Government has said your costs will be funded. Talk to us for a quote.
Can we use the emails and mobile numbers we already hold?
Yes, and it's the fastest way to start. Contact details from council tax, benefits or other schemes work. We tell you which ones bounce, and post a letter to those households and anyone you have no details for. Names and addresses alone are enough if that's all you have.
How will residents know the letter is genuine?
It comes in your council's name, with your contact details and logo. We give you a short notice for your website explaining what's coming, and that nobody will ever ask for bank details by phone, text or email.
Can we use it for the £100m discretionary fund too?
Yes. Choose a different cohort, for example bands E to H on council tax reduction or housing benefit, and pay them the same way, with the same checks. As well as Post Office cash and bank payments, you can send energy vouchers that cover prepay meters, billed energy and off-grid fuel like heating oil.
Be ready to pay from January
Every council goes through a know-your-business check before its first payment, and it takes a couple of weeks. Book a call now, and you'll be ready the moment payments begin.