The Warm Home Discount is worth £150 and is paid directly to your energy supplier – so you get it as a discount straight off your energy bill, or as credit
The exact date you need to be claiming benefits by to get the Warm Home Discount later this year has been revealed.
The Warm Home Discount is worth £150 and is paid directly to your energy supplier – so you get it as a discount straight off your energy bill, or as credit if you’re a prepayment customer. It is normally paid in October or November.
In order to receive the Warm Home Discount, you must be claiming one of the following benefits on August 24:
- Guaranteed credit element of Pension Credit
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Housing Benefit
- Universal Credit
- “Savings Credit” part of Pension Credit
The Warm Home Discount is paid automatically in England and Wales. If you live in Scotland, the payment is also automatic if you get the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit.
For the other benefits listed above, you’ll need to apply through your energy supplier. There is no equivalent scheme in Northern Ireland.
It comes after the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), which is charge of funding the Warm Home Discount, confirmed it will remove the high-cost-to-heat threshold for the Warm Home Discount in England and Wales.
This is a score that determined whether a property is considered to have high energy costs, as this used to be a qualifying criteria for getting the Warm Home Discount in England and Wales.
DESNZ estimates the total number of households that will receive the discount next winter could rise by 2.7 million, to an estimated 6.1 million.
Other ways to cut your energy bill
If you’re struggling, your first step should be to contact your energy provider and ask what help is available. You should ideally do this before you fall behind on a payment.
Some of the tailored support you may be offered includes a payment plan, payment breaks and affordable debt repayments. It is also worth asking them if you’re definitely on their cheapest deal.
If you’re a prepayment energy customer and you’re worried about running out of power, you should be able to access emergency credit. This is usually worth between £5 and £10, but some may offer more than this – for example, Utilita gives customers up to £15.
You should also check if your energy firm offers hardship funds or grants that you don’t need to pay back. For example, the British Gas Energy Trust offers help worth up to £2,000.
In the winter, there are Cold Weather Payments worth £25 that are issued when the average temperature is recorded as, or forecast to be, 0C or below over seven consecutive days.
This is available to people on certain benefits. There are also Winter Fuel Payments worth up to £300 for pensioner households. Finally, the following charities can offer you support if you are struggling to pay for your energy, or if you are in energy debt:
