Warm Home Discount 2026 to 2027: who gets the £150, when it arrives and what to do if you missed it

The Warm Home Discount takes £150 off your electricity bill for winter 2026 to 2027. Most households who qualify don't have to do anything. The government matches benefit records against energy supplier records, and the supplier puts the credit on your account.

Not everyone is matched, though. Some households in England and Wales get a letter asking them to ring a helpline, and many households in Scotland have to apply to their supplier themselves. Those are the people who miss out most often, usually because they waited for something that was never going to arrive.

When we checked GOV.UK on 8 October 2026, its main page still said the scheme had closed and would reopen in October 2026. That only describes the gap between winters. Ofgem says the scheme runs until 31 March 2031. This guide covers who qualifies in each nation, what pensioners need to know, the dates suppliers have published for this winter, and what to do if a payment never turned up.

What is the Warm Home Discount?

The Warm Home Discount is a one-off £150 discount on your electricity bill for low-income households in England, Scotland and Wales. Your energy supplier applies it to your account. You don't receive cash. If the same supplier gives you gas and electricity, you may be able to have it on your gas bill instead.

That summary comes straight from GOV.UK. Ofgem, the energy regulator, adds that the scheme has existed since 2011 and is "funded through a levy on all domestic gas and electricity customers" (Ofgem). In other words, every household pays a little towards it through its energy bill, and the households that qualify get £150 back.

How that cost is collected changed this year. Since 1 April 2026, suppliers recover Warm Home Discount costs through the unit rate for electricity and gas rather than the standing charge, so heavier users pay a larger share. The same government response says there are "no plans to move Warm Home Discount costs to general taxation" (DESNZ, February 2026).

The scheme also got much bigger last winter. The government's January 2026 response put the number of households helped in winter 2025 to 2026 at about 6 million, roughly 2.7 million more than the year before, and set a new five-year scheme period from 2026 to 2027 through to 2030 to 2031 (DESNZ, January 2026). GOV.UK says the discount won't affect your Cold Weather Payment or Winter Fuel Payment.

Warm Home Discount or Warm Homes Discount?

A lot of people search for the "Warm Homes Discount". The official name has no s. The extra letter matters because two other government programmes do use it: the Warm Homes Plan and the Warm Homes: Local Grant. Both pay for upgrades to a home, such as insulation, solar panels or a heat pump. Neither is a bill discount, and applying for one doesn't enter you for the other.

Who is eligible for the Warm Home Discount in England and Wales?

GOV.UK says you may be eligible if all three of these applied on 23 August 2026:

1. your energy supplier is part of the scheme
2. you, or your partner, get certain means-tested benefits
3. your name, or your partner's, is on the electricity bill

Meeting all three puts you in what the scheme calls the core group. The qualifying benefits in England and Wales are:

• Universal Credit
• Housing Benefit
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Pension Credit

The government's eligibility statement for 2026 to 2027 fills in some details. Pension Credit counts whether you get the Guarantee Credit element or Savings Credit. People still on Housing Benefit or income-related ESA while being moved to Universal Credit stay eligible during the move, as long as they were getting the benefit on the qualifying date.

Two changes make this winter simpler than the scheme used to be. The high cost to heat test, which once decided whether some households qualified, was removed from scheme year 15. And from this scheme year, the old Core Group 1 and Core Group 2 have been merged into a single core group. In England and Wales, the benefit and the name on the bill are what matter.

The name on the bill

This is where eligible people most often fall through. The eligibility statement says the person on the benefit, their partner as shown on the benefit record, or their legal representative must be a customer of the supplier and named on the bill. If your electricity comes through someone else, such as a park site owner or a landlord who holds the account, you don't meet the condition for the main scheme. Park home residents have a separate route, covered below.

Late or backdated benefit claims

Octopus Energy says that if your benefit claim is backdated to 23 August 2026 or earlier, you may also become eligible (Octopus Energy). If that applies to you, ring the helpline once it opens rather than assuming you've missed out.

Benefits that don't count on their own

Only the four benefits above count in England and Wales. That leaves out several that people often assume will qualify them, including the State Pension, Personal Independence Payment, Attendance Allowance, Carer's Allowance and Child Benefit. If you get one of these and also get one of the four, you qualify through the one on the list.

Who is eligible for the Warm Home Discount in Scotland?

Scotland has its own regulations and two routes. The starting conditions are the same as in England and Wales: on 23 August 2026 your supplier was in the scheme, you or your partner got certain means-tested benefits, and one of you was named on the electricity bill. What differs is whether you get the discount automatically or have to ask for it.

Automatic: the core group

According to GOV.UK, you get it automatically if you or your partner:

• get Pension Credit
• get an extra amount of Universal Credit because you or your child has a disability or health condition
• get a disability premium or pensioner premium of income-related ESA
• get a disability premium or pensioner premium and have a Support for Mortgage Interest loan

You're also in the core group if you or your partner are responsible for a child under 5 who normally lives with you, and you are unemployed and get Universal Credit, get income-related ESA, or have a Support for Mortgage Interest loan. The January 2026 government response widened Scotland's core group so that it matches the benefits list for the Scottish Winter Heating Payment.

By application: the broader group

Everyone else on a low income has to apply directly to their electricity supplier. GOV.UK says suppliers may set extra criteria and will tell you which benefits count. The government response explains why timing matters: the number of broader group discounts each supplier gives is limited by its own obligation under the scheme.

When we checked on 8 October 2026, British Gas said its broader applications were already open and places were limited, while Octopus Energy said its broader group would open in mid October. Our advice is plain. If you live in Scotland, you're not on Pension Credit and you don't clearly fit the core group, go to your supplier's Warm Home Discount page this month. In this scheme, applying early is one of the few things you control. Our Scotland page covers the other heating help available there.

Do pensioners get the Warm Home Discount?

For most pensioners, the benefit that brings the discount is Pension Credit. Reaching State Pension age doesn't qualify you, and nor does the State Pension itself. That can catch people out, because the Winter Fuel Payment works differently. In England and Wales, a pensioner on Housing Benefit also qualifies through that benefit.

In England and Wales, either part of Pension Credit counts: the Guarantee Credit or Savings Credit. In Scotland, Pension Credit puts you straight into the automatic core group. GOV.UK confirms the discount doesn't reduce your Winter Fuel Payment.

So for an older household, the first thing to check is the Pension Credit claim, not the discount. A pensioner who is entitled to Pension Credit but hasn't claimed it misses the £150 too, unless another qualifying benefit applies. Pension Credit is also on the GOV.UK list of benefits for the Energy Company Obligation, which is why it comes up in our guide to free boilers for pensioners. Our Pension Credit page explains how it links to heating grants.

One group of pensioners can't get the discount at all. The eligibility statement says people living permanently in a care home, including residential and nursing homes, aren't eligible, because they don't have their own account with the electricity supplier.

When will you get the Warm Home Discount in 2026 to 2027?

GOV.UK doesn't publish a week-by-week timetable. We also couldn't find the 2026 to 2027 helpline opening dates on GOV.UK or Ofgem when we checked on 8 October 2026, so most of the dates below come from Octopus Energy's and British Gas's Warm Home Discount pages. We've named the source on every line, because the two don't agree exactly on when to chase a missing letter.

Letters come in two kinds. The eligibility statement explains that where data matching confirms you, you get the discount automatically. Where it can't, for example because you couldn't be matched with a supplier, you get a letter telling you to contact the helpline to give the missing information. That second letter is the one with a deadline, so don't put it in a drawer.

Ofgem's Warm Home Discount contacts page lists the helpline as 0800 030 9322. Last winter it took calls from 27 October 2025 to 31 March 2026.

How to check if you'll get the Warm Home Discount

You can work out most of this yourself in a few minutes, using your benefit award letter or online account and a recent energy bill.

1. Check which benefit you or your partner were getting on 23 August 2026, and that it's on the list for your nation.
2. Check whose name is on the electricity account. It needs to be you or your partner.
3. Check that your supplier is on the GOV.UK list for winter 2026 to 2027, shown further down this page.
4. In Scotland, if you're not in the core group, apply to your supplier's broader group now.
5. Watch the post from late October to the end of December. Read the letter carefully: does it confirm the discount, or ask you to call?
6. If you've had no letter by mid to late January 2027 and you think you qualify, call the helpline.
7. Look for the £150 credit on your bill, or the voucher for your meter, before 31 March 2027.

We can't check any of this for you. Only the government's data matching, the Warm Home Discount helpline and, for the Scottish broader group, your supplier can confirm it. Neither GOV.UK nor Ofgem describes any fee at any stage, and Octopus Energy and British Gas both say the UK government and Ofgem won't contact you asking for bank details. Octopus adds that genuine letters come by post from the Warm Home Discount Scheme, PO Box 970, Preston. If someone texts you a link to "claim" your £150, read our scam checks before you do anything.

What to do if you missed the Warm Home Discount

You were eligible last winter but the money never arrived

GOV.UK's get help page covers winter 2025 to 2026. Contact your electricity supplier if you didn't get the discount by 31 March 2026 and you have confirmation you were eligible. Confirmation means a letter from the scheme saying so, being told by the helpline, or, in Scotland, being told by your supplier after you applied.

If the supplier can't help, write to the Warm Home Discount Scheme, PO Box 970, Preston, PR2 0FX. GOV.UK asks you to include:

• your name, address and date of birth
• the reference number from your confirmation letter, if you have one
• the name of your electricity supplier and your account number
• the name of the person on the electricity bill on 24 August 2025, if it isn't you

You weren't eligible on the qualifying date

There is no late claim. Eligibility for each winter is fixed on one date, which for this winter was 23 August 2026. If you started a qualifying benefit after that, the backdating point above is the only route we found for this winter. The scheme runs until 2031, so you'll be assessed again next year on whatever qualifying date the government sets.

Your supplier stopped trading

GOV.UK says you may still be eligible. Ofgem appoints a new supplier for you, and you should check with them.

You think a decision is wrong

Suppliers don't decide eligibility in the core group. British Gas says plainly that it can't help you appeal because the government made the decision. Start with the helpline.

Prepayment meters, park homes, care homes and Northern Ireland

A prepayment or pay-as-you-go meter doesn't stop you qualifying. GOV.UK says your supplier will tell you how you'll get the discount, and gives a top-up voucher as an example. British Gas says it sends pay-as-you-go customers a voucher to use at a Post Office.

Park homes are handled separately because most residents pay the site owner for electricity rather than a supplier. The Park Homes Warm Home Discount is run by Charis Grants. For 2026 to 2027 the eligibility statement says you must live in the park home permanently, pay the site owner for your electricity, and either get Pension Credit, income-related ESA or Housing Benefit, or get Universal Credit with income under £1,758 in at least one assessment period. You can also qualify by showing Charis you're in fuel poverty or a fuel poverty risk group, or that your annual household income is below £21,091. Funding is finite, applications are open for a short period, and they're dealt with in date order until the money runs out.

Some homes are outside the scheme. Care home residents aren't eligible, as noted above. Caravans are generally excluded, and letters aren't sent to addresses classed as caravans. If a caravan is your permanent home and you're named on your own electricity bill, the eligibility statement says to call the helpline with evidence. An annex with its own electricity supply does count, if the person on the benefit is named on that bill.

The Warm Home Discount doesn't run in Northern Ireland. GOV.UK points people there to the Affordable Warmth scheme.

Which energy suppliers are in the Warm Home Discount?

Ofgem says every domestic supplier with over 1,000 customers must provide the discount, and some smaller suppliers take part voluntarily. GOV.UK lists these suppliers for winter 2026 to 2027:

• 100Green (formerly Green Energy UK)
• Boost
• British Gas
• E (Gas and Electricity)
• Ecotricity
• EDF
• EnergyCoop (see Octopus Energy)
• E.ON Next
• Fuse Energy
• Good Energy
• Home Energy
• London Power
• Octopus Energy
• Outfox Energy
• OVO
• Sainsbury's Energy
• Scottish Gas (see British Gas)
• ScottishPower
• So Energy
• Square 1 Energy Ltd
• TruEnergy
• Tulo Energy
• Utilita
• Utility Warehouse

The rules look at the supplier you were with on 23 August 2026. If you have switched since then and aren't sure which supplier will apply the discount, ask the helpline once it opens.

Does the Warm Home Discount mean you qualify for a free boiler?

Not by itself. The Warm Home Discount isn't one of the ways in to ECO4, the scheme that funds boilers and insulation for low-income households. The overlap is the benefit underneath it. Universal Credit, Housing Benefit, income-related ESA and Pension Credit are all on the GOV.UK list for the Energy Company Obligation. So if you get the discount through one of those benefits, you may qualify for ECO4 as well.

The benefit is only the first test. ECO4 is for private housing. If you own your home, it needs an energy rating of D, E, F or G. If you rent privately, it needs E, F or G and you need the owner's permission. A survey then decides which measures, if any, can be funded. And time is short: ECO4 ends on 31 December 2026 after a nine-month extension (SI 2026/361; Ofgem). Our free boiler scheme guide and what the ECO4 deadline means cover the detail. If your benefit is Housing Benefit or ESA, see how those benefits work with ECO4.

In England there is also the Warm Homes: Local Grant, run by councils. GOV.UK says it's for privately owned homes rated D to G, where household income is usually £36,000 or less, or you live in certain postcodes, or you get certain benefits. The council arranges a survey and pays for the work (GOV.UK). See our Local Grant guide and the wider Warm Homes Plan.

Our view, as an installer with an obvious interest: the £150 is worth making sure of, but for a household on one of these benefits in a cold, poorly rated home, it's the smaller of the two things worth checking. The discount comes once a winter. A new boiler or loft insulation keeps working for years.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

All sources were checked on 8 October 2026.

About this guide

Who wrote it: the ApplyFreeBoiler Team. ApplyFreeBoiler.uk is run by Reliant Energy Solutions Ltd, an ECO4 heating and insulation installer. We have no part in running the Warm Home Discount. We wrote this guide because many of the households who ask us about ECO4 get the same benefits that the discount is based on.

How we checked it: every rule, amount and date was checked on 8 October 2026 against GOV.UK, Ofgem, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, legislation.gov.uk, and the Warm Home Discount pages of Octopus Energy and British Gas. Where a date comes from a supplier rather than the government, the guide says so.

What we couldn't confirm: official helpline opening dates for 2026 to 2027, and the qualifying date for winter 2027 to 2028. Neither had been published on GOV.UK or Ofgem when we checked.

Updates: we'll review this page when GOV.UK or Ofgem publish the 2026 to 2027 helpline dates, and again after 31 March 2027.

Changelog: 8 October 2026, first published.