{"id":104328,"date":"2025-02-17T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-17T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/?p=104328"},"modified":"2025-02-17T10:44:20","modified_gmt":"2025-02-17T10:44:20","slug":"uk-households-risk-missing-energy-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/uk-households-risk-missing-energy-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands of UK Households at Risk of Missing \u00a3150 Energy Bill Discount"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Thousands of UK households have only <strong>two weeks left<\/strong> to claim a <strong>\u00a3150 discount<\/strong> on their energy bills through the government&#8217;s <strong>Warm Home Discount Scheme<\/strong>. The deadline to respond to required notifications or apply for the scheme is <strong>28 February 2025<\/strong>, after which eligible individuals may miss out on this financial support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How the Warm Home Discount Scheme Works<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/warm-home-discount-eligibility-changes\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"102725\">Warm Home Discount Scheme<\/a><\/strong> is a government initiative designed to help low-income households manage energy costs. The <strong>\u00a3150 discount<\/strong> is <strong>not a direct payment<\/strong> but is <strong>applied as a reduction on electricity bills<\/strong> through energy suppliers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For most eligible recipients, the discount is applied <strong>automatically<\/strong>. However, some individuals must <strong>provide additional information<\/strong> or <strong>contact the scheme\u2019s helpline<\/strong> to ensure they receive the benefit. Last winter, <strong>128,000 people<\/strong> had to contact the scheme&#8217;s helpline to receive their discount, highlighting the importance of checking eligibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So far, <strong>190,000 letters<\/strong> have been sent to households, representing a total of <strong>\u00a328.5 million<\/strong> in support already allocated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who Is Eligible for the \u00a3150 Discount?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The scheme primarily supports <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/stop-taxing-low-earners-150000-sign-petition-to-raise-income-tax-allowance-from-12570\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"104298\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">low-income households<\/a><\/strong> and <strong>pensioners<\/strong>. Eligibility is assessed based on government criteria, which include receiving at least one of the following benefits before <strong>11 August 2024<\/strong> :<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Income Support<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Income-based Jobseeker\u2019s Allowance<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Income-related Employment and Support Allowance<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Housing Benefit<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Universal Credit<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Child Tax Credit<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Working Tax Credit<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The &#8220;savings credit&#8221; portion of Pension Credit<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, the government evaluates eligibility based on <strong>the type, age, and energy efficiency of a property<\/strong>. This means that <strong>some UK households in energy-efficient homes may not qualify<\/strong> for the scheme, even if they receive qualifying benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, this <strong>exclusion does not apply to pensioners<\/strong> who receive the <strong>guarantee credit portion of Pension Credit<\/strong>. If pensioners were not claiming <strong>Pension Credit<\/strong> before the <strong>11 August 2024<\/strong> deadline, they may still qualify if they <strong>backdate their application<\/strong> for up to three months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to check if you qualify<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Eligible households should have received a <strong>letter between October and December 2024<\/strong>. These letters indicate whether the discount will be applied automatically or if additional information is required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To <strong>confirm eligibility or request the discount<\/strong>, individuals can :<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Call the Warm Home Discount helpline<\/strong> at <strong>0800 030 9322<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Send a letter<\/strong> to <strong>Warm Home Discount Scheme, PO Box 14127, Selkirk, TD7 9AH<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Households in <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/human-rights-watchdog-slams-scotland\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"103177\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Scotland<\/a><\/strong> must <strong>apply directly through their energy supplier<\/strong>, while <strong>Northern Ireland<\/strong> residents are <strong>not covered<\/strong> by the scheme but may be eligible for separate gas bill support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Is the Discount Applied?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The way the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/the-warm-home-discount-scheme\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/the-warm-home-discount-scheme\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Warm Home Discount<\/a><\/strong> is applied depends on the type of electricity meter a household has :<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>For smart credit or prepayment meters<\/strong>, the discount is applied automatically to the energy bill.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>For traditional prepayment meters (key or card top-ups)<\/strong>, the discount is given in the form of <strong>vouchers<\/strong>, which must be redeemed at local top-up points.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Vouchers for prepayment meters are <strong>issued by the Post Office<\/strong> on behalf of <strong>British Gas, E.ON Next, Ovo Energy, EDF Energy, Scottish Power, and Good Energy<\/strong>. The <strong>expiry date of these vouchers varies between 30 and 90 days<\/strong> from the date of issue. If a voucher is lost or expired, UK households should contact their supplier for a replacement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Additional Financial Support for Energy Bills<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For those struggling with <a href=\"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/ovo-energy-program-household-energy\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"103027\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">energy costs<\/a>, there are additional forms of support available:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>British Gas offers grants of up to \u00a32,000<\/strong> for customers struggling to pay their bills.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>British Gas Energy Trust and Individuals Family Fund<\/strong> provide <strong>financial assistance<\/strong>, even for <strong>non-British Gas customers<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>EDF, E.ON, Octopus Energy, and Scottish Power also offer hardship grants<\/strong> for customers in financial difficulty.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, vulnerable UK households can <strong>register for the Priority Services Register (PSR)<\/strong>, which provides :<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Additional support for those struggling with energy costs<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Advance warnings of power cuts<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Free gas safety checks<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thousands of households could miss out on a \u00a3150 energy bill discount if they don\u2019t act soon. The deadline to secure this support is fast approaching.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":100474,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104328"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104336,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104328\/revisions\/104336"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}