Thousands eligible for £150 winter energy support this month | Personal Finance | Finance
This month, thousands of households across the UK are set to receive £150 credit from their energy provider. Utilita started issuing the Warm Home Discount to smart prepay customers on January 7 and aims to finalise all payments before the month’s end.
The Warm Home Discount is worth £150 and is applied straight to your electricity account, rather than being transferred to your bank account. Whether you qualify for the discount hinges on whether a household member was receiving one of several designated benefits on the qualifying date, which changes annually, reports the Mirror.
For this winter, the qualifying date was August 24, 2025. To qualify for the Warm Home Discount this year, you must have been receiving one of the following benefits on this date:
- Universal Credit
- Guaranteed credit element of Pension Credit
- Housing Benefit
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Income Support
- “Savings Credit” part of Pension Credit
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
If you live in England or Wales, the Warm Home Discount will be credited automatically. In Scotland, however, automatic payment only occurs if you’re receiving the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit.
For all other benefits mentioned above, you’ll be required to apply manually by getting in touch with your energy supplier. It’s important to note that there is no Warm Home Discount scheme in Northern Ireland.
This update comes after the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) confirmed the removal of the high energy use criteria for the Warm Home Discount in England and Wales. Previously, for benefits other than Pension Credit, it was necessary to demonstrate high energy costs – but this requirement has now been scrapped.
The DESNZ estimates that the total number of households receiving the discount could rise by 2.7 million, bringing the estimated total to 6.1 million. Energy bills have recently seen another increase, with the Ofgem price cap rising from £1,755 to £1,758 for a typical dual fuel household paying by direct debit.
If you are on a standard variable rate (SVR) tariff, you will be protected by the Ofgem price cap, unless you’re locked into a fixed rate deal. However, there isn’t actually a total cap on what you can pay for energy.
Your bill is still calculated based on your gas and electricity usage. The Ofgem price cap limits what you can be charged per unit of gas and electricity, as well as standing charges, which are fixed daily amounts you pay for connection to the energy network.
The price cap figure provides an indication of what a person with average energy consumption can expect to pay annually.
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