The Warm Homes Discount Scheme offers a one-off £150 reduction on your energy bills, applied automatically if you’re eligible. The discount is provided through the government’s Warm Home Discount scheme, managed by the Department for Energy and Net Zero.
This grants households claiming certain Government benefits a discount on their electricity bills between October and March each year. However, it’s important to note that this is not money paid directly into bank accounts. Also, only certain energy suppliers participate in the scheme, meaning if your energy supplier isn’t part of it, you won’t receive the discount. According to the DWP website, the following suppliers are taking part in this year’s Warm Home Discount scheme:
- Affect Energy (now part of Octopus Energy)
- Boost Energy
- British Gas (including Scottish Gas)
- Co-op Energy (now part of Octopus Energy)
- E (gas and electricity)
- Ecotricity
- EDF Energy
- E.ON Next
- Good Energy
- Home Energy
- London Power
- Octopus Energy
- Outfox the Market
- OVO Energy
- Rebel Energy
- Sainsbury’s Energy
- ScottishPower
- Shell Energy Retail
- So Energy
- Tomato Energy
- Tru Energy
- Utilita
- Utility Warehouse
- 100Green (previously Green Energy UK)
How do I get the discount?
You can get it if you or your partner receives the Guarantee Credit portion of the benefit Pension Credit. This is known as “core group one” in England and Wales or the “core group” in Scotland. You can also recieve the discount if you’re on a low income, claiming certain benefits and have high energy costs. This is known as being in the “core group two” if you live in England and Wales. If you live in Scotland and you claim certain benefits, you will likely need to apply. You can do this by contacting your energy supplier directly.
What other benefits can make me eligible?
If you don’t get Pension Credit, you must have met the following criteria on August 11 this year to get the discount:
- your energy supplier is part of the scheme
- you (or your partner) get certain means-tested benefits or tax credits
- your property has a high energy cost score based on its characteristics
- your name (or your partner’s) is on the electricity bill
The benefits that could make you eligible include:
- Housing Benefit
- income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
- Income Support
- the “Savings Credit” part of Pension Credit
- Universal Credit
You could also qualify if your household income is below a cap, and you get either:
- Child Tax Credit
- Working Tax Credit
According to GOV.UK, “high-cost threshold will determine whether a domestic property is considered as having high energy costs, based on their modelled energy cost score. BEIS models the energy costs of domestic properties in England and Wales by applying an algorithm to 3 characteristics of each property.”
These three property characteristics are:
- type
- age
- floor area
