Warm home discount 2021 – how to get £140 energy credit

The Warm Home Discount gets you £140 off your electricity bill to help with energy costs. Find out if your supplier is in the scheme and how to apply.

Millions of households can apply for a Warm Home Discount grant of £140 to pay towards their electricity costs.

It’s easy to apply, and loads of energy companies take part.

The discount is added to your energy account to pay for extra costs you face over the winter months.

Read on to find out when applications open and if your supplier takes part.

What is Warm Home Discount scheme?

With the Warm Home Discount Scheme, you receive a one-off payment of £140 directly as a credit on your electricity bill.

It doesn’t matter if you have a smart meter, pay monthly, pre-pay, or pay as you go energy meter.

The payments show as a discount on your energy bills rather than paid as cash to you. Or, if you have a pre-pay meter, you will get a top-up voucher.

If you have your gas bill and electricity with the same supplier, they may allow you to add it to your gas meter.

Your energy supplier will pay the credit into your energy bills account any time from October to March.

The payment is due to rise to a £150 one-off discount, but the government has not confirmed the date yet.

Also see: 50 ways to save money on energy bills without switching

When does the 2021 Warm Home Discount scheme open?

The Warm Home Discount scheme officially starts on 18 October 2021.

But many energy suppliers have opened their applications early.

Energy companies manage the applications on a first-come, first-served basis.

How do I apply for Warm Home Discount?

Fuel poor customers

If you are on a low income and get certain means-tested benefits, you can apply as part of the “broader group scheme”.

Each supplier runs the broader group scheme with slightly different eligibility criteria and decides who can get the discount.

There are limited discounts, so you need to apply early.

You have to apply with your supplier directly (see below).

Fuel poor pensioners

As part of the core group, you need to receive the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit before the qualifying date of 4 July 2021.

You should then automatically qualify and be eligible for the Warm Home Discount.

You don’t need to apply as the Department of Work and Pensions will write to you as part of the core group.

You will need to call their helpline by 28 February 2022 to confirm your details.

Which energy companies offer Warm Home Discount?

Here are the energy companies who offer the warm home discount for 2021/2022.

If your supplier has not opened applications, you may be able to register for an alert rather than having to check back.

Applications open

• E (Gas and Electricity) – open for applications
• E.ON (including NPower) – open for applications
• Scottish Power – open for applications
• British Gas – open for applications
• British Gas Evolve – open for applications
• EDF – open for applications
• Boost – open for applications
• Bulb – open for applications
• Octopus Energy (including Affect Energy, Co-op Energy, London Power, M&S Energy, Qwest Energy, Roar Power) – open for applications
• OVO Energy – open for applications
• Sainsbury’s Energy – open for applications
• SSE (including Atlantic and Spark if you have been told you’re moving) – open for applications
• Pure Planet (ceased trading, now see SHell Energy) – open for applications
• Shell Energy (including Green Star Energy) – open for applications
• Utility Warehouse – open for applications

Registration open

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Not open yet

• So Energy – not open
• Spark – not open (if you’ve not got a communication that you’re moving to SSE yet, apply with Spark)

Closed

• Utilita – applications closed on August 18

What if my energy company has gone bust?

If your energy company has gone bust, Ofgem, the energy regulator, will move you to a new supplier.

This process can take a couple of weeks.

If you applied for the Warm Home Discount before they went bust but didn’t get the payment, you would need to apply again with your new energy supplier.

If the new supplier doesn’t offer it, you can switch to a supplier who does.

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Frequently asked questions about the Warm Home Discount

Warm Home Discount eligibility

The scheme is run differently for each of the electricity suppliers.

To give you an idea of eligibility, for one provider, you need to be meet one of the following for the broader group:

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Electricity suppliers may need to see evidence to support your broader group application.

Other energy providers might use different qualifying eligibility, so check with them to be sure.

2020 Warm Home Discount Suppliers

The following suppliers were part of the scheme for the winter of 2020 to 2021. However, some of them have since stopped trading or have moved under ownership of another company.

• Affect Energy – see Octopus Energy
• Atlantic – see SSE
• Avro Energy
• Boost
• Bristol Energy – only if you’re eligible for the ‘core group’
• British Gas
• British Gas Evolve (formerly British Gas X)
• Bulb Energy
• Co-op Energy – see Octopus Energy
• E (Gas and Electricity)
• E.ON
• Ecotricity – only if you’re eligible for the ‘core group’
• EDF Energy
• Green Energy UK (GEUK) – only if you’re eligible for the ‘core group’
• Green Network Energy
• iSupply Energy – see EDF Energy
• Green Star Energy – see Shell Energy
• London Power – see Octopus Energy
• Lumo – see OVO
• M&S Energy – see Octopus Energy
• npower
• nPower Select – see E.ON Next
• Octopus Energy
• OVO
• Powershop
• Pure Planet
• Qwest Energy – see Octopus Energy
• Roar Power – see Octopus Energy
• Sainsbury’s Energy
• Scottish Hydro – see SSE
• ScottishPower
• Shell Energy
• So Energy
• Southern Electric – see SSE
• Spark
• SSE
• Swalec – see SSE
• Symbio Energy
• Tonik Energy – see ScottishPower
• Utilita
• Utility Point – only if you’re eligible for the core group
• Utility Warehouse