
Warm Home Discount explained as 2.7million households set for £150 energy help
Millions more households will be eligible for £150 off their energy bills this winter as the Warm Home Discount scheme is set to be expanded.
The Warm Home Discount gives you £150 directly off your electricity bill. In new plans confirmed this week, an extra 2.7 million households will be entitled to the Warm Home Discount this winter. This would increase the number of eligible people to over six million in total.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: 'Millions of families will get vital support with the cost of living this coming winter, demonstrating this government's commitment to put money in people's pockets through our Plan for Change.'
What is the Warm Home Discount?
The £150 discount is applied to your energy account, as opposed to a direct cash payment into your bank. It is normally applied between October and March.
If you're a prepayment meter, you will be sent a top-up voucher. If you live in England and Wales and you are eligible for the Warm Home Discount, you should receive it automatically. The rules are different in Scotland, where you may need to apply.
Who is eligible for the Warm Home Discount - and how is it changing?
If you live in England and Wales, you currently qualify for the Warm Home Discount if you get the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit, or you claim means-tested benefits and have high energy costs.
But the Government has now confirmed the high-cost-to-heat threshold for the Warm Home Discount in England and Wales, meaning you will now qualify just based on the benefits you claim.
If you live in Scotland, you qualify if you get the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit, or you claim a means-tested benefit. Your electricity supplier may have extra eligibility criteria.
If you claim Pension Credit in Scotland, then you will get the Warm Home Discount automatically - otherwise, you will need to apply. The level of spend available in Scotland for suppliers is also increasing from this winter.
How many more people will get Warm Home Discount?
The number of families who will receive the discount for the first time, broken down by region, include:
North East England: 100,000
North West England: 280,000
Yorkshire and the Humber: 210,000
East Midlands: 160,000
West Midlands: 270,000
East of England: 250,000
London: 570,000
South East England: 350,000
South West England: 220,000
Wales: 110,000
Scotland: 240,000
Other ways to cut your energy bill
If you're struggling, your first step should be to contact your energy provider and ask what help is available. You should ideally do this before you fall behind on a payment.
Some of the tailored support you may be offered includes a payment plan, payment breaks and affordable debt repayments. It is also worth asking them if you're definitely on their cheapest deal.
If you're a prepayment energy customer and you're worried about running out of power, you should be able to access emergency credit. This is usually worth between £5 and £10, but some may offer more than this - for example, Utilita gives customers up to £15.
You should also check if your energy firm offers hardship funds or grants that you don't need to pay back. For example, the British Gas Energy Trust offers help worth up to £2,000.
In the winter, there are Cold Weather Payments worth £25 that are issued when the average temperature is recorded as, or forecast to be, 0C or below over seven consecutive days.
This is available to people on certain benefits. There are also Winter Fuel Payments worth up to £300 for pensioner households. Finally, the following charities can offer you support if you are struggling to pay for your energy, or if you are in energy debt:
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Times
9 minutes ago
- Times
Government and opposition alike must do much better
Out of the three parties that matter most, only one will be looking forward to autumn. When parliament packed up for the summer recess this time last year, the new Labour administration had a stonking majority, a sense of confidence and a clear plan of action. Twelve months on, morale has collapsed. Rarely have a government's fortunes declined so far, so fast. This is not the consequence of world events or the vagaries of the global economy: Sir Keir Starmer is to blame. He came into power with the stated aim of boosting the economy's performance to improve public services. But prioritising growth demanded a degree of discipline that he has signally failed to demonstrate. Although the government has chalked up a few achievements — for instance, in reforming the planning system — too often other considerations have taken precedence over growth. Workers' rights have been strengthened to the detriment of companies. Taxes on employers have been raised with the consequence that firms are hiring fewer people. Higher pay for public servants has contributed to the deterioration of public finances. The government's big effort to rein in spending centred on its planned reform of the welfare system, but Labour backbenchers rebelled against it. Instead of facing up to the rebels by making the issue a vote of confidence, the prime minister backed down. Predictably, this cave-in has encouraged further dissent. The prime minister's problem is that he is a conciliator rather than a leader. That is why he has proved to be an effective diplomat in his dealings with foreign leaders. With his low-key style, he has succeeded in improving Britain's relationship with Europe, in encouraging European leaders to co-operate over defence and in establishing a good working relationship with Donald Trump, despite the two men's glaring ideological differences. These external successes cannot compensate for Sir Keir's domestic failures, however. They have cost him credibility and the economy momentum. In the past two months, national output has shrunk while public debt continues to mount. In June, the government borrowed £20.7 billion. That is £6.6 billion more than in June last year and £3.6 billion more than expected. As Sir Keir has lost focus on the economy, concentrating on averting short-term difficulties rather than pursuing a coherent agenda, he has come to look like a tactical politician rather than a strategic one. Both MPs and voters are increasingly unclear about what his government is for. Labour is divided between pragmatists who want order in the public finances and leftwingers who want to spend more. The autumn budget, in which Rachel Reeves will have to reconcile the conflicting demands of the bond markets and Labour MPs' desire to protect social spending, will be a pivotal moment in the government's life. Sir Keir's greatest boon has been the state of the Conservative Party. Despite a welcome recent attempt to reassert the party's commitment to fiscal rectitude in the wake of the government's welfare debacle, Kemi Badenoch has failed to establish a clear identity around which her party can coalesce. At 23.7 per cent, its share of the vote in the last election was the lowest yet; it has declined further in polling since then, to 17 per cent. This week's reshuffle will not by itself reverse the Tories' decline: changes in personnel cannot compensate for the lack of a compelling story. The one party that has succeeded in devising one in the past year is Reform. Nigel Farage has capitalised on the loss of direction in both main parties to seize a commanding lead in the polls. Sir Keir and Ms Badenoch need to develop better ways of countering Mr Farage over the summer, or he will make short work of them in the coming year. For both, it is a case of 'must do better'.

Leader Live
an hour ago
- Leader Live
Home Office to share data on asylum hotel locations with food delivery firms
A new agreement with Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats will see information about high-risk areas shared to help them uncover abuse on their platforms and quickly suspend accounts. Currently delivery riders discovered to be sharing their accounts with asylum seekers have their profiles suspended. The latest measures hope to crack down further on the practice. The gig economy firms have also been increasing real-time identity and right to work checks which has led to thousands of workers being taken off the platforms, the Home Office said. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp claimed last month to have found evidence of people working illegally for the food delivery firms during a visit to a hotel used to house asylum seekers. Asylum seekers in the UK are normally barred from work while their claim is being processed, though permission can be applied for after a year of waiting. Delivery firms met Home Office bosses earlier this month to discuss the concerns of abuse in the sector. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: 'Illegal working undermines honest business, exploits vulnerable individuals and fuels organised immigration crime. 'By enhancing our data sharing with delivery companies, we are taking decisive action to close loopholes and increase enforcement. 'The changes come alongside a 50% increase in raids and arrests for illegal working under the Plan for Change, greater security measures and tough new legislation.' The three delivery companies said they were fully committed to working with the Home Office and combatting illegal working. Ministers promised a 'nationwide blitz' to target migrants working illegally as part of efforts to deter people from coming to the UK from France. Officials hope to tackle the 'pull factors' attracting migrants to the UK alongside the deal struck by Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron earlier this month to send some people who reach England in small boats back to France. More than 23,500 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel so far in 2025, a record for this point in the year.


Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
STEPHEN GLOVER: The pensions 'triple lock' must end. It pains me to say it, but Britain is no longer a rich nation and we can't afford it
When will Labour wake up to the fact that this country is living way beyond its means? Until it does, the rest of us will continue to inhabit a fool's paradise. Last month alone the Government borrowed nearly £21 billion – far more than most analysts expected and £6.6 billion more than in June last year. It is all but certain that taxes, already at a peacetime high, will go up again, and significantly, in October's Budget.