The Warm Home Discount is a one-off £150 discount given to eligible domestic electricity customers to help with their energy costs. It's usually paid between October and March of each scheme year. It's a Government scheme funded by participating energy suppliers like us. It’s designed to help people who need it most.

Eligibility for the Warm Home Discount 

Following Government changes to the scheme in 2022, eligibility for the Warm Home Discount depends on where you live.

• I live in England or Wales
• I live in Scotland

England or Wales

If you live in England or Wales you don’t need to apply for the Warm Home Discount but you will need to meet the eligibility criteria set by the Government. This is split into two Core Groups:

• Core Group 1 - for people who get Guaranteed element of Pension Credit
• Core Group 2 - for people who get qualifying means-tested benefits or tax credits

The eligibility qualifying date for both groups is 11 August 2024. The Government will write to benefit claimants between October and December 2024.

What do I do if I don't get a letter?

Core Group 1

To be considered for the discount:

• You or your partner were named on the domestic electricity bill on 11th August 2024.

• You were supplied by OVO/Boost on the qualifying date. If you were supplied by another supplier participating in the scheme on the qualifying date, that supplier will be told to give you the discount even if we're now supplying you.

• You or your partner got the Guaranteed element of Pension Credit on the qualifying date.

Core Group 2

To be considered for the discount:

• You or your partner were named on the domestic electricity bill on 11th August 2024.

• You were supplied by OVO/Boost on the qualifying date. If you were supplied by another supplier participating in the scheme on the qualifying date, that supplier will be told to give you the discount even if we're now supplying you.

• You or your partner receive the following qualifying means-tested benefits or tax credits:

  • 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 falls below a certain level and you get either:

  • Child Tax Credit

  • Working Tax Credit

• Your property has a high energy cost score. This is partly based on details of your property like its type, how old it is, and the overall floor size etc. The Department for Works & Pensions (DWP) will work with the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) to work out your property energy score. The Government will write to you if they need more information.

Scotland

If you live in Scotland, there are two groups:

• Core group - you won't need to apply, but you must meet eligibility criteria.

• Broader group - If you would like to apply for the WHD Scotland Broader Group, please fill in this from here.

Core Group

To be considered for the discount:

• You or your partner were named on the domestic electricity bill on 11th August 2024.

• You were supplied by OVO/Boost on the qualifying date. If you were supplied by another supplier participating in the scheme on the qualifying date, that supplier will be told to give you the discount even if we're now supplying you.

• You or your partner got the Guaranteed element of Pension Credit on the qualifying date.

The eligibility qualifying date for both groups is 11th August 2024. The Government will write to benefit claimants between October and December 2024.

What do I do if I don't get a letter?

How will I be told if I’m eligible to get the discount?

The Government will write to eligible households that may be eligible between October and December 2024. Most eligible households will get this automatically.

However, some customers will need to get in touch with the Government Helpline to confirm if they're eligible. If you're asked to do this, you must get in touch by 28 February 2025. If you’ve been asked to give extra information and don't do so by this date then the Government won't tell us to give you the discount.

The rules of the scheme mean we can only give discounts after we've been told to do so by the Government.

What do I do if I don’t get a letter?

The Government will send letters between October and December.

If you think you're eligible and you’ve not received a letter by mid-January 2025 you can contact the Government helpline. The Government online eligibility tool will also be available soon allowing you to check online if you're eligible for the Warm Home Discount.

The Government online eligibility tool will open later this year, usually around mid October.

Call - Government Warm Home Discount helpline

• Telephone - 0800 030 9322
• Opening hours - Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm

Write to

PO Box 14127 Selkirk TD7 9AH

How will I get the discount?

• If you pay monthly - We'll add the discount to your account as a credit.

• If you have a smart Pay As You Go meter - We'll send a credit directly to your meter. If we are unable to send the credit directly to your meter we will send you a Post Office Energy Voucher instead. We will write to you with instructions on how to redeem the Energy Voucher at your nearest Post Office.

• If you have a traditional Pay As You Go meter - In previous years we would send a signal to your nearest paypoint and you would be required to top up a minimum of 3 - 5 times. This year we will send you a Post Office Energy Voucher. We will write to you with instructions on how to redeem the Energy Voucher at your nearest Post Office.

• If you were supplied by us on 11th August 2024 and then switched to a new supplier - We'll send you a cheque in the post.

When will I get the discount if I’m eligible?

Once we're told by the Government to apply your discount, we'll aim to do this within 30 days unless an exception applies. An exception could be that we weren’t your registered supplier on 11th August 2024. If this happens, we'll tell the Government and ask they give the discount to the correct supplier.

For automatically matched eligible customers

The Department of Work and Pensions should tell us to apply the discount to these customers between October 2024 and December 2024. We'll aim to apply the discount for these customers within 6 weeks of being told to by the Government.

For customers that need to get in touch with the Government

We should be told what discounts to apply between October 2024 and the end of March 2025. We'll apply discounts to accounts we're told about before March 2025 or within 6 weeks of being informed.

Broader Group

Eligibility for the discount as part of the Broader group

You can check the 2024/25 eligibility criteria for the discount as part of the Broader group. If you would like to apply for the WHD Scotland Broader Group, please fill in this from here.

More ways to get financial support

If you’re struggling financially or you’re worried about your energy bills, we’re here to support you. There are also other ways we can help.

You can find out about other available payment schemes, as well as where to get advice. Our team can also give you this information when you get in touch and they can make sure you receive any financial help you’re eligible for.

Useful links

• Gov.uk Warm Home Discount Scheme information

• Government online eligibility checker (Open Oct 2024)