No, it is industry-led by heating oil trade association The UK and Ireland Fuel Distributors Association (UKIFDA) but devised in full consultation with and supported by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). The scheme takes in best practice from industry, Government, regulation, charities and academia.

Membership of the scheme is entirely voluntary although UKIFDA encourages all its members to join.

It started at an industry meeting with Government and other stakeholders in October 2014, where it was agreed to investigate what more could be done to help our most vulnerable customers.

The scheme identifies elderly or vulnerable customers, aged 75+, which enables fuel suppliers to prioritise deliveries to them in the winter months.  UKIFDA members will be employing various methods to identify customers who they believe fall into the ‘CWP’ category, whether that is speaking to customers on the telephone when heating oil orders are placed to identify if they may fall into the CWP category, writing to customers to ask them if they wish to be identified as a CWP customer or some members may undertake a data exchange with Experian to identify CWP customers so that deliveries can be prioritised to these people during the winter months.  UKIFDA is also urging customers who are aged 75 and over to get in touch with their heating oil supplier if they believe they should be part of the CWP initiative.

UKIFDA helped set up the scheme and works hard to gain support from its members and for industry adoption of the scheme. For example, UKIFDA has built CWP into the Code of Practice they manage of behalf of their members.

The scheme helps UKIFDA members to prioritise CWP customers and to ensure, as far as possible and with best endeavours, that their needs are met. However, the supply of heating oil is subject to a huge range of factors and it is therefore impossible to guarantee it.

Once set up, the CWP scheme will run in the background and simply become a normal part of the way the industry operates. Customers need to check with their local UKIFDA member heating oil supplier if they are part of the CWP initiative.  Some heating oil suppliers will display the CWP logo on their stationery and website

No, each company in the industry has its own list of customers, and each participating company handles its own data with absolute confidentiality. If you use more than one heating oil supplier you will need to inform each of them that you wish to be classed as a CWP customer as suppliers do not share customer information