Deadline for eligible households to be named on energy bill for automatic Warm Home Discount

Energy suppliers will rely on customer records as of Sunday 23 August 2026 to award the £150 Warm Home Discount automatically, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said in a reminder published on 31 July 2026¹. The department said around six million households across Britain are eligible this winter, including around 250,000 in Scotland who will receive it automatically for the first time¹. The qualifying date for winter 2026 to 2027 is 23 August 2026, according to the government's eligibility statement for England and Wales².

To receive the rebate without applying, a household must be a customer of a participating supplier, receive a qualifying means-tested benefit, and have the benefit recipient, their partner as notified to DWP, or a legal representative named on the electricity bill². The qualifying benefits in England and Wales are Pension Credit (both the Guaranteed element and Savings Credit), Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Housing Benefit and Universal Credit². The department said the same cohort applies as last winter¹.

"The government is issuing a call to eligible households to check they are named on their electricity bill, with suppliers set to rely on customers' records as of Sunday 23 August."

The department said someone might not be named on their electricity bill if they have recently moved house, and that eligible customers on prepayment meters using a key or card must ensure the household account is registered in their name¹. The eligibility statement says the majority of eligible households will receive rebates automatically through data matching, without having to apply². Where data matching does not establish eligibility, for instance where no participating supplier could be matched, the benefit recipient will be sent a letter asking them to contact the Warm Home Discount helpline².

Scotland's scheme is separate from England and Wales, and the discount is not available in Northern Ireland³. In Scotland, households qualify automatically on Pension Credit, an extra amount of Universal Credit because of disability or a health condition, a disability or pensioner premium of income-related Employment and Support Allowance, or a disability or pensioner premium with a Support for Mortgage Interest loan; households on other means-tested benefits apply to their supplier from October 2026³. Uswitch gives the same qualifying date of 23 August 2026 and states the scheme opens in October 2026⁴.

Sources differ on the supplier threshold for taking part. Uswitch states any supplier with more than 150,000 customers is obliged to offer the scheme⁴, while Which? states suppliers with more than 1,000 domestic customers must pay it, with smaller suppliers able to offer it voluntarily³. The government's eligibility statement does not give a threshold².

Why it matters for households

The discount is paid on electricity bills, so eligibility depends on the name on the account rather than on who pays or who lives there². A household that qualifies on benefits but has the wrong name on the bill on 23 August will not be matched automatically and will instead depend on a letter and the helpline route². Which? states that households added to the bill after the qualifying date can still receive the discount but must wait for a letter later in the year, and that anyone who has not received a letter by January 2027 should call the helpline³. Age UK states people should contact the helpline by 26 February 2027⁵.

The payment is £150, applied as a credit to an account or as a voucher to top up a prepayment meter, and is due between October 2026 and the end of March 2027⁴. Which? states households should stay with the same supplier until it is paid, and that switching to a supplier outside the scheme means losing the discount even in the core group³. Park home residents who buy electricity through a site owner are not eligible for the main scheme and apply separately to Charis Grants, with applications opening in September 2026². The government has confirmed the scheme will continue through to 2030/1¹.

What happens next

The scheme opens in October 2026, and the deadline for the discount to have been applied to energy bills is 31 March 2027⁴. Park Homes Warm Home Discount applications open via Charis Grants in September 2026³. The government also said it will remove VAT from domestic electricity bills from 1 October, which it says saves £45 off the yearly Ofgem price cap¹.

Sources5 cited

1. Millions reminded to get £150 off energy bills this winter  - GOV.UK, gov.uk
2. Warm Home Discount: eligibility statement, England and Wales, 2026 to 2027 - GOV.UK, gov.uk
3. Warm Home Discount: who's eligible and how to apply - Which?, which.co.uk
4. Warm Home Discount 2026-2027: who’s eligible & how to apply - Uswitch, uswitch.com
5. Warm Home Discount Scheme (£150 payment) | Age UK, ageuk.org.uk