Energy grants Warm Home Discount
The Warm Home Discount can help towards winter energy bills
What is Warm Home Discount?
It's a £120 payment to help those struggling to pay their energy bills. It's an annual credit that suppliers will place on the account of an eligible consumer. It's a compulsory scheme that will be phased in over the next four years.
During 2011/2012 this will be worth £120 and will apply to two distinct groups:
- The 'core group' are households that receive the guarantee element of Pension Credit; in most cases these households will be identified automatically by the supplier and won't need to apply for it.
- The 'broader group' are customers in vulnerable groups. Eligibility criteria are different for each supplier. See below.
Support under the core group is targeted at older, poorer pensioner households. Around 650,000 consumers should be helped through the core group.
Is it only for pensioners?
No. Energy companies are also helping a broader group of people who struggle to pay energy bills, in line with government guidelines. Gas and electricity suppliers have a degree of discretion over which of their customers make up the broader group, and how many to help, based on their market share.
The participating suppliers have had their own sets of eligibility criteria approved by Ofgem and have a limit on the number of customers who can benefit. Consumers who may be eligible could include those on low income with a disability, long term illness or those with young children, but the actual criteria used will vary as it depends on which electricity supplier you are with. See the Consumer Focus document for eligibility criteria for different suppliers.
How to apply for the Warm Home Discount
Households in the core group will automatically receive the discount on their energy bill without having to take any action. The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) will also be contacting all core group recipients to confirm that they will receive the rebate. All payments for 2011/2012 will be made by 31 March 2012.
Customers in the broader group will have to apply to their energy supplier.
Only the six largest energy suppliers (British Gas, EDF Energy, Eon, Npower, Scottish Power and SSE) are legally obliged to offer the discount. The document produced by Consumer Focus summarises the qualifying criteria for the broader group scheme for each of the energy supplier for the 2011/2012 winter.
The Warm Home Discount will only be applied to an electricity account, so if you receive gas and electricity from different suppliers then you should contact your electricity provider to register.
Due to the popularity of these Broader Group schemes, those run by Scottish Power have now closed.
New Broader Group schemes will be put in place for winter 2012/13 (year two) and details will be available later in the year from your energy supplier.
Smaller suppliers with less than 250,000 customers don't have to offer the discount to either the core or broader groups. Customers of the smaller suppliers should check with their supplier to see if they offer the Warm Home Discount or not.
What about social tariffs?
The Warm Home discount will replace the 'social tariffs' currently offered by energy suppliers to help their most vulnerable customers. But if you qualified for your supplier's social tariff, you should be eligible for the Warm Home Discount.
Where can I find out more?
Updated information on the Warm Front Discount are available from the DirectGov website and the Consumer Focus website.
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