What You Need To Know About Warm Home Discount

The Warm Home Discount is a Government-led scheme funded by energy suppliers. If you are struggling to pay your energy bills during the winter months, you could be eligible for the Warm Home Discount scheme, which means you may be able to take £140 off your electricity bill.

What is the Warm Home Discount?

Introduced in 2011, the scheme will run until 2021. The Warm Home Discount Scheme involves the government partnering with big electricity suppliers in the UK to provide extra support to vulnerable people who are experiencing difficulty paying their energy bills.

Those who meet the eligibility criteria can receive a £140 rebate on energy bills. The rebate is a one-off discount applied on your utility bill or as extra credit (often as a form of a voucher) on Pay as You Go meters. The payment is controlled by your energy supplier.

If you are receiving Cold Weather payments or Winter Fuel payments, you should be able to receive Warm Home Discount as well - the discount is separate from the two.

Who is eligible for the Warm Home Discount scheme?

According to the government website, you are automatically eligible for the 2018/19 Warm Home Discount scheme if all of the following applies to you:

• Your electricity supplier is participating in the scheme

• Your name (or your partner’s name) is on the bill

• You meet either the ‘core group’ or ‘broader group’ criteria

What are Core group and Broader group?

If you belong to the core group, you may automatically receive the warm home discount if you receive either of the following:

• The Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit only (not just the State Pension)

• The Guarantee Credit element and the Savings Credit element of Pension Credit.

If you don’t fall into the core group, you may still be able to get the discount if you receive any of the following:

• Income support

• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance

• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

• Universal credit

• Your gross annual household income is less than £16,190

In addition, you will also need to be in receipt of one of the following:

• Have parental responsibility for a child aged 5 or below

• Child tax credit

• Disabled child premium or element

• Disability, enhanced disability or severe disability premiums

• Disability Living Allowance (For an adult or child within the household) or Personal Independence Payments (PIP)

• Disability Living Allowance (For an adult or child within the household) or Personal Independence Payments (PIP)

• Pensioner Premium, Higher Pensioner Premium or Enhanced Pensioner Premium

Is my energy supplier part of the scheme?

Please check this list on the government’s website to learn more.

When is the discount available for 2019/2020?

The Warm Home Discount Scheme for winter 2018 to 2019 closed on 31 March 2019. The 2019 to 2020 scheme will start on 14 October 2019.

For more information, please visit the government website.

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