The exact date when millions of British households will receive correspondence regarding the Warm Home Discount scheme has now been confirmed.
The Warm Home Discount scheme provides a £150 reduction on your electricity bill, with the funds being transferred directly to your energy supplier rather than paid into your bank account.
Should you qualify for this assistance, you can anticipate receiving a letter through the post from 20 October.
The Warm Home Discount is accessible to households where someone was claiming one of the following benefits on the qualifying date of 24 August:
- Housing Benefit
- Guaranteed credit element of Pension Credit
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Income Support
- “Savings Credit” part of Pension Credit
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Universal Credit
Income-related Employment and Support Allowance.
Income Support.
“Savings Credit” part of Pension Credit.
Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance.
Universal Credit.
If you live in England or Wales, you’ll automatically receive the Warm Home Discount.
Nevertheless, if you reside in Scotland, the payment is only automatic if you receive the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit.
For the other benefits mentioned above, you’ll need to apply manually by contacting your energy supplier.
There is no Warm Home Discount scheme in Northern Ireland.
This comes after the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) confirmed that it is scrapping the high energy use criteria for the Warm Home Discount in England and Wales.
Previously, for benefits other than Pension Credit, you had to demonstrate that you had high energy costs – but this requirement has now been eliminated. DESNZ has forecasted that the number of households receiving the discount could surge by 2.7 million, bringing the total to an estimated 6.1 million.
Energy bills are set to rise again this winter, with the Ofgem price cap due to increase from £1,720 to £1,755 for a typical dual fuel household paying by direct debit.
This change will come into effect on 1 October and will remain in place until 31 December, at which point the price cap will be reviewed once more. If you’re on a standard variable rate (SVR) tariff, you’ll be protected by the Ofgem price cap, unless you’re tied into a fixed rate deal.
However, there isn’t a total cap on what you can pay for energy. Your bill is still calculated based on your gas and electricity usage.
The Ofgem price cap restricts what you can be charged per unit of gas and electricity, as well as standing charges, which are the fixed daily rates you pay for connection to the energy network.
The price cap figure represents what a person with average energy consumption can expect to pay annually. Ofgem calculates this based on the assumption that the average household uses 2,700 kWh of electricity and 11,500 kWh of gas over a 12-month period.