Warm Home Discount Scheme 2022 - confusing info

MalMonroe

Spoonie_Turtle said:

MalMonroe said:

The criteria seem to change every year - a couple of years ago I was eligible (as a pensioner on a low income but not eligible to claim pension credits) for the WHD in the wider group but now I'm apparently too wealthy to even bother claiming (my circumstances haven't changed at all). 

The statutory criteria remained the same from the beginning of the scheme until this year.  The criteria that potentially changed were suppliers' discretionary criteria for the broader group.  [A bit like how there are statutory criteria for bus passes and then some councils vary what exactly counts as evidence of automatic entitlement, but suppliers could change the discretionary criteria every year if they wanted.]

However this year for England and Wales it has completely changed.  (In Scotland the property data is not available to run the scheme that way.)  It's not anticipated to change again now for several years at least; the only thing that it's been said will be updated are the income thresholds for Tax Credits.

Yes, thanks I have already been notified of this. And I was simply relating my own experience, for what it was worth. Obviously nothing to anyone commenting. But what of the OP? 

poppy12345

MalMonroe said:

poppy12345 said:

MalMonroe said:

Hi, is the following info of any use? It's an updated report from last month by the MSE team.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2022/03/warm-home-discount-reforms-/

All of that was mentioned in the link that Spoonie posted.

MalMonroe said:

The criteria seem to change every year - a couple of years ago I was eligible (as a pensioner on a low income but not eligible to claim pension credits) for the WHD in the wider group but now I'm apparently too wealthy to even bother claiming (my circumstances haven't changed at all). 

The criteria has remained the same in all previous years for those that were claiming Pension credit, including this year. For those that weren't then criteria depended on which energy supplier you were with.

For this year the criteria for those no claiming pension credit has completely changed. Part of the criteria is you must be claiming a qualifying means tested benefit and you don't need to apply. If you qualify you will be contacted.

But surely I am allowed, as everyone on this forum is, to make a comment of my own? Everyone else seems to be. Why not me?

And my own experience is exactly as I posted. I do not qualify for WHD now and I'm happy with that since I have enough money (not a lot but enough) to live on and I know others suffer and need help.  

I very rarely return to threads such as this because some of the comments that I receive are less than friendly, some are downright rude and some have a bit of a 'we know better than you so shut up' feel to them. 

I'm really disappointed here, as I do always mention your name as someone who is really always spot on with benefits advice. I acknowledge and respect that, but I do not mean any harm with my comments. I was NOT advising anyone about anything, just relating my own experience - personal to me. There is no need to try to put others down. Not on a supposedly 'friendly' forum. Which, in my experience, is not always so chummy.

The point i was making is that you weren't correct to say the criteria changed every year, it actually didn't until this year, except for those living in Scotland and it's remained the same this year as previous years. I wasn't rude in my comment and i certainly didn't "put you down"

ptanithmillard

HillStreetBlues said:

ptanithmillard said:

Does anyone know what energy rating on an EPC certificate you need to be able to qualify for the discount?

It's not based on the EPC. Based on age, size etc.as the  link supplied by sheramber shows.

Forgive me if I am missing something in the links provided but I still can't find answers to this question. If you meet the other criteria for the WHD what is it that makes your home eligible or ineligible?

If it is based on "age, size etc" what is the etc in question? They have the age, size and type of our property but the letter says they do not have complete data and therefore have modeled the "energy cost score" based on similar properties in the area.

If it is not based on the EPC rating then what data are they missing that they can get from the EPC?  What ages, sizes, types, etc of house are eligable? How is the score calculated?

After trying all day I did manage to get to talk to someone at the official helpline and even they could not tell me as they didn't have the information on how it was calculated. They just told me to go to our housing provider as apparently, so I was told, they set the criteria that will be used in the calculation. Which I find rather odd and confusing. Why would our housing association be setting the criteria for a government-based benefit?

This is just really confusing. Scotland still has the old system, why have we been this new opaque complicated system?

poppy12345

ptanithmillard said:

HillStreetBlues said:

ptanithmillard said:

Does anyone know what energy rating on an EPC certificate you need to be able to qualify for the discount?

It's not based on the EPC. Based on age, size etc.as the  link supplied by sheramber shows.

If it is based on "age, size etc" what is the etc in question? They have the age, size and type of our property but the letter says they do not have complete data and therefore have modeled the "energy cost score" based on similar properties in the area.

It is based on type, size and age of your property.

ptanithmillard

poppy12345 said:

ptanithmillard said:

HillStreetBlues said:

ptanithmillard said:

Does anyone know what energy rating on an EPC certificate you need to be able to qualify for the discount?

It's not based on the EPC. Based on age, size etc.as the  link supplied by sheramber shows.

If it is based on "age, size etc" what is the etc in question? They have the age, size and type of our property but the letter says they do not have complete data and therefore have modeled the "energy cost score" based on similar properties in the area.

It is based on type, size and age of your property.

But they have all that info and the letter still says "We do not have complete data on the property you were residing in"

They are obviously missing something that can be provided via an EPC. Under the new rules we may not be eligible anymore, fair enough, but if they say they don't have "complete data" we can't know for sure. I don't understand why they can't say what is missing in the calculation so I know whether it is worth getting an EPC or not. 

sheramber

Have you tried the online form? I t might tell you why you are not eligible.

Complete it as if you have not received a letter.

ptanithmillard

sheramber said:

Have you tried the online form? I t might tell you why you are not eligible.

Complete it as if you have not received a letter.

I have tried that but unfortunately, it does not give a definitive answer.

To quote from the page:

"You probably aren't eligible for the Warm Home Discount this year" and "Your property will need an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for us to confirm your eligibility. This certificate tells us how energy efficient your property is"

This is why I thought the EPC energy rating was being used as part of the calculation and wanted to know what would be the deciding rating.

Spoonie_Turtle

ptanithmillard said:

poppy12345 said:

ptanithmillard said:

HillStreetBlues said:

ptanithmillard said:

Does anyone know what energy rating on an EPC certificate you need to be able to qualify for the discount?

It's not based on the EPC. Based on age, size etc.as the  link supplied by sheramber shows.

If it is based on "age, size etc" what is the etc in question? They have the age, size and type of our property but the letter says they do not have complete data and therefore have modeled the "energy cost score" based on similar properties in the area.

It is based on type, size and age of your property.

But they have all that info and the letter still says "We do not have complete data on the property you were residing in"

They are obviously missing something that can be provided via an EPC. Under the new rules we may not be eligible anymore, fair enough, but if they say they don't have "complete data" we can't know for sure. I don't understand why they can't say what is missing in the calculation so I know whether it is worth getting an EPC or not. 

If they don't have complete data then they must be missing missing one or more of those three: age, size, and/or type.  It's concerning that the person on the other end of the helpline didn't know what to do though!  Your housing provider (?!) are certainly not involved with setting the criteria.

[The reason Scotland didn't change to the new system is that the required property data are not held for about half the properties so it was not viable.]

If you know the age and size you could try to track down where your property falls in this table - although be aware that if you have size data from your EPC, flats are reduced by 14% and houses are increased by ... I can't remember, some % to take in the whole footprint.  So this is not a definitive method by any means, but more to give you an idea if you do know those characteristics.  https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1115362/whd-eligibility-statement-2022-england-wales-annex-1.xlsx

I'd also be inclined to try phoning the helpline again and seeing if you get anyone more knowledgeable.  If not, maybe contact your MP as I'm sure you won't be the only one.

sheramber

I don't think anybody on here will be able to tell you what information they do not have as wee do not know what information they do hold.

poppy12345

ptanithmillard said:

sheramber said:

Have you tried the online form? I t might tell you why you are not eligible.

Complete it as if you have not received a letter.

I have tried that but unfortunately, it does not give a definitive answer.

To quote from the page:

"You probably aren't eligible for the Warm Home Discount this year" and "Your property will need an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for us to confirm your eligibility. This certificate tells us how energy efficient your property is"

What it says exactly is ...

What you will need when you call

Your property will need an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for us to confirm your eligibility. This certificate tells us how energy efficient your property is. If your property's EPC has expired, we will still accept it.

Find an energy certificate to check if your property has an EPC.

Get a new energy certificate if your property does not have an EPC.

An EPC doesn't just tell them how energy efficient your property is, it tells them the age and the size of the property too and this is what they go by and not the energy efficiency.

It costs between £35 and £120 for an EPC  https://www.checkatrade.com/blog/cost-guides/epc-cost/