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EAP Policy Manual FFY24 Chapter 8 Benefit Payments and Refunds Page 9 2. If unable to obtain the information by phone, send a letter to the household’s last known address using the eHEAT refund letter or your own letter. See Address Change/Refund Letter Examples (Appendix 8B) for sample text. 3. If you receive a response from the household within 30 days, follow the procedure for serving a household that has moved. 4. If you receive no response from the household within 30 days after the letter is mailed, close the application. Ownership of Assistance EAP funds always belong to the program. The EAP benefit is provided to the household with the intention to purchase energy. At the end of the program year, any unspent EAP benefit must remain on the household account for future energy costs. Households cannot request cash refunds. If a household discontinues as a customer or at the request of a Service Provider, the energy vendor should follow refund policies to return any unused EAP funds to the program. The refund must be made within 10 days of the energy vendor’s termination of the account or the Service Provider request. Energy vendors should never use unclaimed property procedures for EAP funds. Note: For delivered fuels, once fuel is delivered to the dwelling it becomes property of the EAP household. Property purchased with EAP funds becomes the property of the applicant or their estate. Examples of property purchased with EAP funds are: • Delivered fuel. • Dividends that a co-op pays (even if part of the dividend was earned with energy program funds.) • Mechanical equipment. Refunding of EAP Benefits Refunds from the Service Provider Perspective There are different procedures for handling refunds depending on when they are received. Policy and procedures below will describe how Service Providers should handle refunds: Received during the program year • Make efforts to reassign refunded payments to a household’s new energy account; or