DWP perk which hands UK households free £150 set to be expanded in major rollout
Nearly 3 million more families would be eligible to receive the £150 Warm Home Discount next winter under new proposals to help people with their energy bills.
A Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Warm Home Discount Scheme is set to expand and pay million more people £150 this year. Nearly 3 million more families would be eligible to receive the £150 Warm Home Discount next winter under new proposals to help people with their energy bills.
The Labour Party government is acting to protect billpayers by consulting on the expansion of the Warm Home Discount, giving eligible households £150 off their energy bills. This would bring around 2.7 million households into the scheme – pushing the total number of households that would receive the discount next winter up to an estimated 6.1 million.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: "This is worrying news for many families. This government is determined to do everything we can to protect people from the grip of fossil fuel markets. Expanding the Warm Home Discount can help protect millions of families from rising energy bills, offering support to consumers across the country.
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"Alongside this, the way to deliver energy security and bring down bills for good is to deliver our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower- with homegrown clean power that we in Britain control."
A previous consultation sets out proposals to expand the reach of the Warm Home Discount Scheme by removing the high-cost-to-heat threshold in the current Warm Home Discount (England and Wales) Regulations 2022 and increasing the level of spend available in Scotland for suppliers to allocate through the Broader Group.
All households in receipt of means-tested benefits would then be eligible to receive the £150 electricity bill rebate. If you live in England and Wales, you currently qualify for the Warm Home Discount if you either get the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit, are on a means tested benefit and have high energy costs.
If you live in Scotland, you currently qualify if you either get the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit, are on a means tested benefit in Scotland and / or meet your energy supplier’s criteria for the scheme.
Martin Lewis said: "The Warm Home Discount scheme gives lower income homes £150 energy bill support. The Government today announced a change to come in next winter (well, technically a consultation, but I spoke to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband and this seems pretty sure to happen) meaning 2.7 million more people will get it.
Currently, those on means-tested benefits like Universal Credit (which helps both working people and the unemployed) or ESA (Employment and Support Allowance) only get the £150 if they have 'high energy costs'.
"That criteria is to be scrapped. Good. We've long campaigned on how poorly and unfairly this was implemented, let alone that it's a disincentive to improve your home's efficiency."