Electricity suppliers with more than 50,000 customers must offer the Warm Home Discount to some of their vulnerable customers.

The Warm Home Discount is a one-off credit of £150 which is usually credited to your electricity account (but can sometimes be diverted to your gas account, or split between the two).

The scheme opens each year in November, with payments due before the 31^st of March.

There are two ways in which customers can be eligible, as follows:

Core Group 1

If you are the customer of an obligated electricity supplier, and either you or your partner is in receipt of the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit as of the “eligibility day” in the Summer, then you are automatically awarded the Warm Home Discount each year, and you have never needed to apply.

Core Group 2

Before 2022, customers not in receipt of the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit have had to apply through the “broader group” of Warm Home Discount, and each electricity supplier has been able to use slightly different eligibility criteria to determine which of their customers will and won’t receive the Warm Home Discount.

From 2022, there is no longer a “broader group” and this element has instead been picked up by the 2^nd Core Group. This means nobody needs to apply for the Warm Home Discount.

Each electricity supplier is required to spend a certain amount of money on the Warm Home Discount project. This means it’s possible some customers will be eligible but still miss out, as their supplier might have already exhausted the funds they’re required to allocate to the scheme.

The eligibility for Core Group 2 is as follows:

A)     You are the customer of an obligated electricity supplier, and either you or your partner was in receipt of one of the following means-tested benefits on the eligibility day:

• Housing Benefit
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Income Support
• The ‘Savings Credit’ part of Pension Credit
• Universal Credit
• Child Tax Credit (plus a low income)
• Working Tax Credit (plus a low income)

AND

B)   Your property has an assumed higher energy cost, based on its characteristics

The government department that ensures our Council Tax bands are accurate, has details of our properties, including how many rooms we have to heat. This is how they will determine which properties require additional support via the Warm Home Discount.

How do I know if I’m included?

If you are due to receive the Warm Home Discount, your electricity supplier will write to you between November and January, either to confirm an automatic payment will be made, or possibly to request further information.

If you’re unsure about any of this, contact your electricity supplier from November.

Obligated Electricity Suppliers

These suppliers have more than 50,000 customers and must deliver the Warm Home Discount, until they have exhausted their allocation of funding: