Warm Home Discount Criteria

From the Ofgem Website:

Am I eligible for the Warm Home Discount rebate?

To be eligible for the £140 WHD rebate you must first buy your energy from a participating energy supplier and meet the eligibility criteria for the Core Group or Broader Group elements of the scheme. Not all energy suppliers are part of the WHD scheme.

You may be able to benefit under the Industry Initiative element of the scheme even if you don’t buy your energy from a participating supplier, since these tend to target wider groups of fuel poor consumers. You can speak to any obligated energy supplier about the Industry Initiatives they offer, you do not have to buy your energy from them.

We have outlined the eligibility requirements for each aspect of the scheme below. However, please note that list is non-exhaustive, and you should consult our WHD guidance for further detail on eligibility requirements.

What is the Core Group?

The Core Group is an element of the WHD scheme intended to support some pensioners, through a direct annual rebate of £140 to their electricity or gas accounts.

You are eligible for the rebate in scheme year 7 (June 2017 - March 2018) if on the 9th July 2017 the following applied:

Your energy supplier is a participating compulsory or voluntary supplier,
You or your partner’s name is on the energy bill, and
You receive the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit.
Most customers identified as eligible for the Core Group rebate receive this automatically as a result of a data matching exercise between energy suppliers and the Department for Work and Pensions.

If you qualify for the WHD under the Core Group you will get a letter in the autumn or winter telling you either:

That you don’t have to apply - you’ll get the discount automatically, or
To apply by 31 January 2018 - the letter will tell you why and how.
You would have received your letter by 30 November 2017 at the latest.

What if I don’t get a letter but believe I am eligible under the Core Group?

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) administers the Core Group element of WHD, along with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). You can contact the Warm Home Discount Team if you don’t get a letter but believe you qualify. You can also contact them if you want further information about the scheme, using the details below:

Warm Home Discount Scheme

Telephone: 0345 603 9439

Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 4:30pm

Find out about call charges

Warm Home Discount Team

2.1.P

Peel Park

Brunel Way

Blackpool

FY4 5ES

What is the Broader Group?

Compulsory suppliers also have their own schemes to provide £140 rebates to customers who are in or at risk of fuel poverty. This is provided under the Broader Group element of the WHD scheme.

Customers must apply directly to obligated energy suppliers to get the rebate, with suppliers often publishing on their website details of how to apply over the summer months.

The eligibility criteria for benefitting under the Broader Group are set out in the relevant legislation and in our scheme guidance. Examples of applicable criteria include being:

in receipt of Universal Credit, or in work or self- employed and on a total household annual income of less than £16,190 and one of the following applies:
in receipt of limited capability for work element, with or without a work-related activity element;
in receipt of disabled child element; or
responsible for a child under the age of 5 who ordinarily resides with you.
The eligibility criteria listed here is non-exhaustive. Please find the full criteria in our scheme guidance.

Participating compulsory suppliers have some discretion to vary the eligibility criteria to address their specific customer base, so we would advise contacting your energy supplier directly to find out if you are eligible to receive the rebate.

Energy suppliers who voluntarily participate in the Warm Home Discount scheme do not provide Broader Group rebates.

Receiving the Broader Group rebate one year does not guarantee you’ll receive it in the future. Many suppliers operate a first-come first-served approach to paying their Broader Group rebates, and an energy supplier’s eligible customers under the Broader Group may exceed the number of rebates they are required to deliver.