MILLIONS of households are eligible for money off their energy bills with the Warm Home Discount.
Eligible households can get £150 off their electricity bill each winter – but you’ll have to wait until the colder months to get the money off.
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The Warm Home Discount is available to those on the lowest incomes to help with rising costs.
Households in England and Wales don’t need to apply to get the cash and they’ll automatically qualify if they are receiving certain benefits.
In Scotland, some customers will need to apply for cash.
Energy suppliers will automatically dish out the payment, worth £150 this year, as long as you were receiving certain benefits on or before Sunday, August 21.
However, if you later launch a successful claim for backdated benefits, you may still be able to qualify after this date.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), who’s overseeing the scheme, will send you a letter in early November to confirm if you’ll get the payment later on in the year.
And payments for the £150 Warm Home Discount scheme will likely begin in December.
It’s up to individual energy companies to decide when they will give their customers the discount.
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Here we explain what the scheme is, who’s eligible and how to apply.
What is the Warm Home Discount?
The Warm Home Discount is an automatic £150 discount off their energy bills.
You’ll need to be a recipient of one or more of the following benefits to qualify:
If you aren’t claiming any of the above benefits on August 21 you won’t be eligible for the payment.
But thousands of pensioners could backdate successful claims for pension credit and still qualify for the Warm Home Discount now.
Pension credit rules all allow first-time claimants to backdate their benefit entitlement by three months.
So you’ll need to launch your claim by Friday, November 18 and then successfully get it backdated to cover the August 21 Warm Home Discount qualifying date.
How do I secure the discount in Scotland?
The Scottish Government has refused to renew their Warm Home Discount scheme in-line with England and Wales’ new application-free scheme.
Households in Scotland will have to follow the rules set out in the legacy scheme.
This means they’ll likely still be a “core group” that’ll receive an automatic payment and a “broader group” who’ll have to apply for the scheme with their energy provider.
You’ll need to check with your energy supplier directly to see the eligibility requirement and details on how to apply.
Is it different from cold weather payments?
Yes. You may still be able to get a cold weather payment as well as the Warm Home Discount.
The cold weather payment is a £25 payout to benefits claimants when temperatures in their area fall below zero degrees Celsius for seven consecutive days between November and March.
You don’t need to apply for the cold weather payment as it’s paid automatically.
But you can check online to see if you can get a payment in your area.
