Warm Home Discount: Minister promises to look at complaints after MSE investigation

eblew

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Good.  The rollout has been a disgraceful mess (of course it has, did we expect anything else?!).

The "help"line has confused people making them think the property calculation is actually based on the EPC which it's not, that's just bizarrely the only source they accept for the size and age characteristics.

If a piece of information was missing the system was supposed to impute characteristics from similar buildings nearby.  That very clearly hasn't happened in some cases that we've had here.

There have also been reports from people who DON'T claim a qualifying benefit receiving it - people claiming new-style ESA, for instance.  I don't think anyone would begrudge accidental benefactors IF everyone who was eligible were receiving it too.  It's just extra galling for those who fell through the cracks this year that they should be entitled but can't get it, when some people not actually entitled are getting it.

Thank you for investigating this MSE - if nothing changes, the same people will keep falling through the cracks every year.

I am in receipt of universal credit and carers allowance for my disabled son,I have received the warm home discount every year so far until this year,I pay £80 per week for gas alone and have been refused due to my 3 bedroom home not having high energy costs,I have appealed and was told its the new government guidelines and my rating doesn't qualify me,how can £80 per week be low cost?

eblew

Even my energy company said my energy costs are high and I should get it but the government say otherwise so they can't pay it!

Spoonie_Turtle

eblew said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Good.  The rollout has been a disgraceful mess (of course it has, did we expect anything else?!).

The "help"line has confused people making them think the property calculation is actually based on the EPC which it's not, that's just bizarrely the only source they accept for the size and age characteristics.

If a piece of information was missing the system was supposed to impute characteristics from similar buildings nearby.  That very clearly hasn't happened in some cases that we've had here.

There have also been reports from people who DON'T claim a qualifying benefit receiving it - people claiming new-style ESA, for instance.  I don't think anyone would begrudge accidental benefactors IF everyone who was eligible were receiving it too.  It's just extra galling for those who fell through the cracks this year that they should be entitled but can't get it, when some people not actually entitled are getting it.

Thank you for investigating this MSE - if nothing changes, the same people will keep falling through the cracks every year.

I am in receipt of universal credit and carers allowance for my disabled son,I have received the warm home discount every year so far until this year,I pay £80 per week for gas alone and have been refused due to my 3 bedroom home not having high energy costs,I have appealed and was told its the new government guidelines and my rating doesn't qualify me,how can £80 per week be low cost?

They don't go by actual usage or cost.  Since the scheme changed they do a calculation based purely on the age, type (bungalow/flat/semi-detached/etc.), and size (m²) of your home to determine which properties are eligible.

Did you move between this year and last year?  Because if you were in the same house the past two Augusts and were eligible last year, you should still have been - for this year just gone, the only change was they lowered the threshold so more people qualified than in the first year of when they changed the scheme.

Dandytf

I don't recall WHD being subject to VAT yet this years email from SP Does refer to and subtract VAT aka 150 to 142.85.
Nice to expect this Credit being applied to next Bill.
Maybe benefit from Partial refund to redirect elsewhere. 

eblew

Hi,spoons turtle,I have not moved and lived in my property for 15 years and been with my energy supplier for 5 years

Spoonie_Turtle

eblew said:

Hi,spoons turtle,I have not moved and lived in my property for 15 years and been with my energy supplier for 5 years

Well that's weird.  Did you definitely get it last year, with a letter arriving from DWP saying you were eligible? 
I'm not at all doubting you got some support last year but just thinking whether it could have been some form of discretionary supplier support rather than the actual WHD.

eblew

Hi spoonieturtle,I havnt received a letter any year it's just automatically been out on my electric about 2-3 weeks before xmas

Spoonie_Turtle

eblew said:

Hi spoonieturtle,I havnt received a letter any year it's just automatically been out on my electric about 2-3 weeks before xmas

Okay, need to check some things before trying to work anything out:
In which country do you live?  (Eng/Wal/Scot/NI)
Who is your supplier?
What specifically was the credit called, on your bill, last year and the previous year?

Also if you're in England or Wales and know the age and m² of your property (most likely from the EPC) and can tell us what type of house it is, I can have a look on the eligibility spreadsheet to find where yours falls so you'll know either way whether you should have got it this year or not.

eblew

Hi spoonieturtle, I am in England and my property was built between 1950-1966,it is a 3 bed mid terrace,and it's 79m2(, it shows my epc expired in 2020,energy rating c, thankyou for your help!

eblew

Spoonie_turtle my supplier is boost(part of ovo) and i prepay so I don't actually know the specific name,I received a letter when it 1st started just saying I was eligible and would I like the £140 putting on my gas or electric and it would automatically be on every year and I don't need to re-apply every year