Warm Home Discount – Claim £140 towards your Winter Heating Bills

The warm home discount is a payment of £140 that can be used to save money on your fuel bills if you are a pensioner, or on a low income. The whole amount is made as a one off payment and is paid directly to your energy company, who will deduct the money from your bill. You can still apply for the scheme if you have a pre-payment meter. In this case you will be given instructions from your energy supplier about how to redeem the discount. The discount will be applied between September and March. If you have the same supplier for both electricity and gas, some of the discount can also be applied to your gas bill.

Who is eligible for the Warm Home Discount?

People eligible for the discount are spilt into two groups the ‘Core’ and the ‘Broader’ Group…

You will be in the ‘core’ group if you receive the guarantee credit element of pension credit.
You will be in the ‘broader’ group if you are on a low income and meet the criteria of your supplier.

Do you qualify for the Discount?

Core Group…

In order to get the discount as part of the core group, the following statements must have applied by Autumn 2021:

Your energy supplier was taking part in the scheme
The name on the bill is either you or your partner
You were receiving the guarantee credit element of pension credit.

If you do qualify, then you will receive a letter between October and December 2021. This will tell you how the discount will be applied to your account.

Some people will need to call the helpline to confirm their details, and this will also be in the letter if it applies to you.

If you have not had a letter by the end of December, but you think that you should qualify, then you can call the discount team on 0800 731 0214.

The discount will be applied to your bill by your electricity supplier and this will be done by the end of March 2022.

Broader Group…

You could also qualify for this scheme if you are on a low income and are in receipt of certain means-tested benefits.

It is the energy providers that decide if people from the broader group qualify for a discount, so your provider needs to be taking part. If they are, then you will need to check with them whether you are eligible. They will also be able to tell you how to apply.

Energy providers only have a limited amount of discounts that they are able to offer and so you should make an application as soon as possible. All of the big six energy companies are taking part in the scheme and they are already taking applications.

If your application is successful then the discount will be applied to your account by the end of March 2022.

Is The Warm Discount Scheme Different From Cold Weather Payments?

This is an entirely separate scheme from cold weather payments, and if you are eligible for both, you can receive both.

A cold weather payment is made to people on certain benefits when the temperature in your area falls below zero for seven consecutive days. The payment amount is £25 and you can receive more than one of these payments between November and March if the weather is cold enough.

Cold weather payments are made automatically and the amount will be added to the benefits that are usually received.