extra warm home discount.

sniggings

I was speaking with someone from British gas, nice lady she told me that if you get the warm home discount they are paying an extra amount on top of it, think she said £20 on electric plus £40 off the gas bill too?

anyone got any details on this, she was nice but wasn't too up on the details.

SwanJon

Closest I could find:
http://www.centrica.com/index.asp?pageid=1041&newsid=2913

More than 500,000 of our elderly and most in need customers will be protected by an automatic discount to offset the price increase throughout the winter - worth £60 per dual fuel household2. This is in addition to the £135 that will be paid to many of these customers who qualify for the Government's Warm Home Discount scheme.

Joyful

Correct. If you are electric only you will get an extra £20 in April. If Dual fuel £60 will be paid onto your electric account in April. If you are a gas only customer and were previously on the Essential (social) tariff you will also get £40 paid to you.

This is to help customers with the price increase that are deemed vulnerable and are receiving the Warm Home discount for year 3 only.

sniggings

thanks both for that, the lady I spoke to only knew I was getting it, she couldn't tell me why.

Bit strange they pay these amounts so late after winter, I think the warm home discount is in March and as you say the other is in April?

Joyful

The WHD gets paid from Sept to March. The first to get paid are Core customers on Pension Credit and thereafter the Broader customers. March 31st is the latest people should receive the payment. The extra is not meant for Winter use but to help over the coming months.

sniggings

with is happening around winter I just took it for granted it was for the extra heating needed for winter.

as it happens just got my letter from British Gas today to say I've been accepted and as you say the payment will be made before the end of March.

terrain

sniggings wrote: »

I was speaking with someone from British gas, nice lady she told me that if you get the warm home discount they are paying an extra amount on top of it, think she said £20 on electric plus £40 off the gas bill too?

anyone got any details on this, she was nice but wasn't too up on the details.

Good news, British gas paid £60 into my electricity account yesterday
I also get the warm home discount.

Nada666

sniggings wrote: »

Bit strange they pay these amounts so late after winter, I think the warm home discount is in March and as you say the other is in April?

It makes at least as much sense to pay cash for winter consumption nearer the end of rather than the beginning of winter. If made at the beginning it could be spent before the heating is needed and demands for payment are received. People may be nervous about racking up bills. Whereas if they know the payment is coming later they will be more free to turn the heating up because they know they have the money coming in to pay for it.

Of course it does not matter to the 85 or 95 percent of recipients who behave sensibly. But it is not clear-cut silliness to make payments later.

sniggings

terrain wrote: »

Good news, British gas paid £60 into my electricity account yesterday
I also get the warm home discount.

yeah got mine too a couple of days ago.

sniggings

Nada666 wrote: »

It makes at least as much sense to pay cash for winter consumption nearer the end of rather than the beginning of winter. If made at the beginning it could be spent before the heating is needed and demands for payment are received. People may be nervous about racking up bills. Whereas if they know the payment is coming later they will be more free to turn the heating up because they know they have the money coming in to pay for it.

Of course it does not matter to the 85 or 95 percent of recipients who behave sensibly. But it is not clear-cut silliness to make payments later.

well it can't be spent before unless someone has arrears, which in that case they could probably use it earlier rather than in March, and those on meters again could do with it before winter not after, no point has £135 on the meter in March and no heating on in Decemeber, in my case it would have been better to get it earlier rather than later as I pay my bills monthly so over Christmas I had to argue for them not to increase my DD as I had the WHD coming, so again it would have been better before I increased my usage not when I'm starting to reduce it, older people who I guess are a big group that receives this money also tend not to like to spend money before they get it, so some/many could still have been sitting in winter colder than they needed to have been because they did not have the WHD applied to their bill yet...there are arguments for both, imo there are more for receiving the money around December rather than March, but either way I'm glad I got it.