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

Mee

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Mee said:

I spoke to a number of people all on benefits who have had their WHD rejected. In both cases they were told their flat was too small!

In one of those cases the individual lives in a block of flat where others have been successful.

I'm perplexed by such overly complex system where some are rejected be because their bill is too small when it is likely it is small because people are putting eating before heating.

Bonkers!

It's not based on actual bills, it's based on a notional calculation of the energy required to heat the property, based on size, type, and age.

Obviously the block of flats you mention are all going to be the same age and type, unlikely to be much size variation (and flats rarely qualify anyway, in reality) so the main difference is likely to be the type of benefits they're claiming.  Only certain means-tested benefits qualify to start with.

There's also the potential that if they're over pension age they're mixing up the Warm Home Discount with the Winter Fuel Payment,

AND/OR some suppliers are choosing to give certain customers discretionary payments in place of the WHD and/or WFP if they previously qualified but don't any more.

Thanks for the clarification.

Neither are of pension age, but I take your points about possible differences.

Reading the MSE Blog 2023, it seems an overly complicated qualification criteria.

One wonders whether qualification for a social energy tariff, if it ever comes to be, will be just as complicated.

MSE_Helen_K

Around 2.7 million more families, including 1 million with children, will become eligible for the £150 Warm Home Discount next winter under new plans put forward by the Government to help tackle current high energy costs. But the extension is only mooted for winter 2025/26 at this stage.

Read the full story:
'Warm Home Discount rollout planned for winter 2025/26'

If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply.

superkoopauk

How much will this add to the price cap for the rest of us - back of fag packet gives me £14 a year?

Spoonie_Turtle

Misleading wording in the article:
(Currently qualify for it)
"Are on a means-tested benefit and have (or are deemed to have) 'high energy costs'."

It's ONLY deemed to have, the calculation is purely based on property characteristics (age, type, and size) no real-world factors such as energy efficiency or actual bills.

Philip_P

The funding of the Warm Home Discount needs looking at. It should come from general taxation, not from the energy companies as they just charge energy customers, increasing their bills.

Philip_P

superkoopauk said:

How much will this add to the price cap for the rest of us - back of fag packet gives me £14 a year?

It should be funded by central government, not the energy companies.

Chrysalis

MSE_Helen_K said:

Around 2.7 million more families, including 1 million with children, will become eligible for the £150 Warm Home Discount next winter under new plans put forward by the Government to help tackle current high energy costs. But the extension is only mooted for winter 2025/26 at this stage.

Read the full story:
'Warm Home Discount rollout planned for winter 2025/26'

If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply.

So they scrapping the highly controversial "high energy costs" thats great news.

Chrysalis

Philip_P said:

The funding of the Warm Home Discount needs looking at. It should come from general taxation, not from the energy companies as they just charge energy customers, increasing their bills.

I do agree, its a government policy so should be funded from government aka taxation.  But right now there seems to be a massive drive to do everything to appease people who are anti tax.  There is one plus side to how it is currently funded, I expect if it moved to government funding, it would inevitably get cuts.  Whilst there is a lack of motivation to trim out the SC.

Ildhund

superkoopauk said:

How much will this add to the price cap for the rest of us - back of fag packet gives me £14 a year?

I've got a bigger fag packet: 2,700,000 extra recipients @ £150 = £400M
£400M ÷ 23,000,000 customers = ~£18 each. That's a ~9% increase on the April price cap SC (~£196). This may be added to the October price cap if they're as quick to implement it as they've promised.

m0n3ysavvyg1rl

Dear Martin - you are wrong about one thing regarding the WHD - property eligibility has nothing to do with the amount on the bills!!!
The high energy cost score should just be named high energy SCORE, because it is a score or threshold. The amount on the bills depends on how much you use your electricity. Older buildings are more energy inefficient and therefore more likely to qualify. Newer buildings have better building materials and insulation and are therefore less likely to qualify.
The eligibility for the WHD depends on:
1. the right benefit (means tested, disability benefits like PIP, DLA, carers allowance are not means tested). A benefit only makes you potentially eligible.
2. your name or you partner (as per DWP definition of a partner), or your appointee or the person that has power of attourney on the electricity bill.
3. The property itself needs to qualify. What gets looked at is the type of property, the age of the building and the size (that means floor space). The levels or thresholds are determined by DESNZ (the government department that runs the scheme). The phone agents on the helpline, their managers and DWP do not know what those thresholds are - no good complaining to them.
I have worked on the telephone helpline for the WHD - so I know what I am talking about. Sadly agents from the telephone helplines of energy companies regularly give wrong information and advice to customers and as a result of that, many have lost out (missed deadlines, told they are eligible when they are not to give a few examples).