Millions of households across the UK are now able to receive a £150 discount on their electricity bills as the Warm Home Discount scheme reopens for winter.
The annual Government-backed scheme provides targeted support to households on lower incomes by applying a one-off discount directly to electricity accounts.
The £150 payment is not paid in cash and does not go into recipients’ bank accounts.
Instead, the discount is automatically credited to the customer’s electricity bill through their energy supplier.
The scheme is designed to help eligible households manage higher energy costs during the colder months, when heating use typically increases.
A total of 28 energy suppliers are participating in the Warm Home Discount scheme this winter.
Millions of UK households can get £150 electricity bill discount as Warm Home Discount reopens for winter
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GETTY
Participating companies include:
- 100Green (formerly Green Energy UK or GEUK)
- Affect Energy – see Octopus Energy
- Boost
- British Gas
- Bulb Energy – see Octopus Energy
- Co-op Energy – see Octopus Energy
- E – also known as E (Gas and Electricity)
- Ecotricity
- E.ON Next
- EDF
- Fuse Energy
- Good Energy
- Home Energy
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GETTY- London Power
- Octopus Energy
- Outfox Energy
- OVO
- Sainsbury’s Energy
- Scottish Gas – see British Gas
- ScottishPower
- Shell Energy Retail
- So Energy
- Square 1 Energy Ltd
- Tomato Energy
- TruEnergy
- Tulo Energy
- Utilita
- Utility Warehouse
Some smaller or former brands are covered by larger suppliers.
Customers of Affect Energy, Bulb Energy and Co-op Energy are now supplied by Octopus Energy.
Scottish Gas customers are covered through British Gas.
Eligibility for the Warm Home Discount is based on whether a household was receiving certain benefits on a qualifying date.
For this winter’s scheme, the qualifying date was August 24.
Households must have been in receipt of at least one qualifying benefit on that date to be eligible.
Qualifying benefits include the Guaranteed Credit element of Pension Credit.
Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance and income-related Employment and Support Allowance also qualify.
Recipients of Housing Benefit and Universal Credit are included within the eligibility criteria.
Households receiving the Savings Credit element of Pension Credit may also qualify.
The qualifying date changes each year, meaning eligibility must be assessed annually rather than rolling over automatically.
Households that were receiving one or more of the qualifying benefits on August 24 may receive the £150 discount during the current winter period.
How the discount is delivered depends on where the household is located within the UK.
In England and Wales, eligible households should receive the discount automatically.
No application is required, and the payment is applied directly to the electricity bill by the supplier.
In Scotland, the process differs slightly.
Households receiving the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit should receive the discount automatically.
Scottish households claiming other qualifying benefits must apply directly to their energy supplier to receive the discount.
Energy suppliers are responsible for processing applications and applying the credit once eligibility is confirmed.
The Warm Home Discount scheme does not operate in Northern Ireland.
Households in Northern Ireland are therefore not eligible for this particular form of energy bill support.
The reopening of the scheme comes ahead of a further rise in household energy costs.
Ofgem has confirmed that the energy price cap will increase slightly from January.
The cap will rise from £1,755 to £1,758 for a typical household using both gas and electricity and paying by direct debit.
The updated price cap will remain in place until March 31, when it is due to be reviewed again.
Households on standard variable tariffs are covered by the price cap.
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PACustomers on fixed-rate deals are not affected by changes to the cap unless they switch tariffs.
The price cap does not limit the total amount a household pays for energy.Instead, it sets a maximum charge per unit of gas and electricity, as well as limits on standing charges.
Standing charges are the daily fees paid by customers to remain connected to the energy network.
Total bills continue to depend on how much energy a household uses.T
he Warm Home Discount is intended to help offset these costs for households most vulnerable to rising energy prices during winter.