Warm house discount assessment period.

peteuk

My son has received a letter advising him that he is eligible for the £150.00  warm house discount.  Which I assume will be added to my energy bill.  As it was last year.

He claimed UC, whilst out of work.  He has since found work, albeit as a relief post eg filling g in for sickness and leave.  Since gaining employment he has earnt enough to zero his UC.

I was under the understanding that after 6 months of zero UC payments then the claim closes.


Is there an assessment period?  Would UC know his job is as relief?

 

Spoonie_Turtle

The qualifying date was the 24th August 2025, so as long as he received a UC payment for the assessment period covering that date he was entitled to the WHD.

peteuk

Spoonie_Turtle said:

The qualifying date was the 24th August 2025, so as long as he received a UC payment for the assessment period covering that date he was entitled to the WHD.

August payment was zero, last actually payment was 24 May.  Since then the £316.98 payment has been zero’d by his wage.  My other concern is that this month he has only had 3 shifts, pay day falls into his next assessment period, so normally UC would top up his wage, but he has had 7 months of zero UC payments.

Newcad

Energy suppliers are allowed to give the WHD to more than just those who meet the government set requirements.

Eg  The supplier can set 'Low income even though not getting paid benefits' as a qualifier.

So it may be that your supplier considered a zero paying UC anywhere  in 'the household' to qualify for WHD.

PS. It is not the government that pays for the WHD, the electricity suppliers credit it to bills, and everyone who pays an electricity bill contributes throughout the year as part of their bill.

Which is how/why the suppliers can give it to more people than the government alone would.

peteuk

Newcad said:

Energy suppliers are allowed to give the WHD to more than just those who meet the government set requirements.

Eg  The supplier can set 'Low income even though not getting paid benefits' as a qualifier.

So it may be that your supplier considered a zero paying UC anywhere  in 'the household' to qualify for WHD.

PS. It is not the government that pays for the WHD, the electricity suppliers credit it to bills, and everyone who pays an electricity bill contributes throughout the year as part of their bill.

Which is how/why the suppliers can give it to more people than the government alone would.

How would my supplier know his income?  I changed supplier mid year and he is not noted on the providers system, the letter received is from DWP.

Newcad

peteuk said:

Newcad said:

Energy suppliers are allowed to give the WHD to more than just those who meet the government set requirements.

Eg  The supplier can set 'Low income even though not getting paid benefits' as a qualifier.

So it may be that your supplier considered a zero paying UC anywhere  in 'the household' to qualify for WHD.

PS. It is not the government that pays for the WHD, the electricity suppliers credit it to bills, and everyone who pays an electricity bill contributes throughout the year as part of their bill.

Which is how/why the suppliers can give it to more people than the government alone would.

How would my supplier know his income?  I changed supplier mid year and he is not noted on the providers system, the letter received is from DWP.

Sorry that 'low income' bit was meant as a general comment.

As your son's UC claim was still open on 24th August then even with a zero payment he could still qualify.

It is difficult to track down just what the actual criteria they use is, but a zero UC payment in the qualifying month does not necessarily rule you out of qualifying for WHD.

In your son's case then as the DWP have sent him the letter then they will also tell your electricity provider that he qualifies for WHD this year and the supplier will credit it to a relevant account, as you say that they did last year.
(If the DWP wanted more details then it would have said so in the letter).

peteuk

Thanks @Newcad.  No apology needed, I understood that energy firms also ran their own schemes for low income users.   As he was claiming UC last year, I could see why he qualified and ultimately why it was applied to the household bill.  I just couldn’t understand why this year.

Newcad

The government/DWP often work in mysterious ways.

Trying to understand just what they are doing at any time can sometimes baffle us all. (Including baffling your electricity supplier who will just do what they say).