£150 warm home discount scheme

[Deleted User]

Hi guys,

Yesterday I received a dreaded brown letter from the DWP. However to my surprise when I opened the letter it said I am to receive a £150 warm home discount off my energy bills.

The thing is, we have a pre payment meter and my Dad pays the energy bills in my house so I'm not sure why the letter was addressed to me. My Dad has been receiving the £66 off a month energy bills (£400 in total). I receive Carer's allowance/income support. My Dad receives DLA.

Is this a legit scheme? have the DWP made a mistake?

many Thanks

poppy12345

The eligibilty criteria states "most eligible households" rather than those named on an energy account. If your dad doesn't claiming a qualifying means tested benefit listed here..then this would be why it's been sent in your name.

Qualifying benefits and tax credits

The qualifying means-tested benefits are:

• 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

If you get the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit you should qualify for the Warm Home Discount. In most cases, you’ll get an automatic discount.

Deleted_User said:

Is this a legit scheme? have the DWP made a mistake?

Yes it is and no they haven't made a mistake. https://www.gov.uk/the-warm-home-discount-scheme/low-income

As you have pre-payment meter you will be sent vouchers.

[Deleted User]

poppy12345 said:

The eligibilty criteria states "most eligible households" rather than those named on an energy account. If your dad doesn't claiming a qualifying means tested benefit listed here..then this would be why it's been sent in your name.

Qualifying benefits and tax credits

The qualifying means-tested benefits are:

• 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

If you get the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit you should qualify for the Warm Home Discount. In most cases, you’ll get an automatic discount.

Deleted_User said:

Is this a legit scheme? have the DWP made a mistake?

Yes it is and no they haven't made a mistake. https://www.gov.uk/the-warm-home-discount-scheme/low-income

As you have pre-payment meter you will be sent vouchers.

Thank you 

Robbie64

I thought the named person on the letter had to be the account holder for the electricity supply? My energy supplier mentions eligible customers as does other suppliers. If the person isn't a customer then there won't be an energy supplier for them to be linked to.

Edit: the link above gives one of the qualifying conditions (for England and Wales) as:

your name (or your partner’s) is on the bill

Maybe the OP is the account holder without being aware of it?

poppy12345

Robbie64 said:

I thought the named person on the letter had to be the account holder for the electricity supply? My energy supplier mentions eligible customers as does other suppliers. If the person isn't a customer then there won't be an energy supplier for them to be linked to.

Edit: the link above gives one of the qualifying conditions (for England and Wales) as:

your name (or your partner’s) is on the bill

Maybe the OP is the account holder without being aware of it?

Thanks Robbie, you're right my mistake and apologies for giving incorrect information. It does make sense because in previous years you did need to be named on an energy account. The criteria this year for England/Wales has changed and i seen "eligible households" but completely missed the other part.

[Deleted User]

I'm not named on the energy account at all it's all in my Dad's name

Robbie64

Deleted_User said:

I'm not named on the energy account at all it's all in my Dad's name

Very mysterious! Does your dad have the same name as yourself?

[Deleted User]

Robbie64 said:

Deleted_User said:

I'm not named on the energy account at all it's all in my Dad's name

Very mysterious! Does your dad have the same name as yourself?

No. We have the same surname. It is mysterious...I'll just have to see if they send anything else in the mail.

Thanks for your help

tifo

We've got this too, i'm the bill account holder but the letter is in my wife's name. We're joint UC claimants so i don't know why they'd send it in her name and not mine.

It says because we've been identified with a house that uses more than the average energy .... I know that, my bills are currently approx £3,600 from the 'cap' of £2,500

poppy12345

tifo said:

It says because we've been identified with a house that uses more than the average energy .... I know that, my bills are currently approx £3,600 from the 'cap' of £2,500

The cap doesn't mean that's the maximum amount your energy bills can be. It means that's the maximum amount your energy supplier can charge you. If you use more energy then you'll pay more. If you use less, you pay less.

tifo

poppy12345 said:

The cap doesn't mean that's the maximum amount your energy bills can be. It means that's the maximum amount your energy supplier can charge you. If you use more energy then you'll pay more. If you use less, you pay less.

I know the energy price cap is on the unit price and daily standing charge, i was saying that the warm home discount payment is telling us we're being paid because our home uses more energy than average and i know that already from my bills