Utilita started distributing the Warm Home Discount cash to smart prepay customers on January 7 and said it plans to pay everyone by the end of the month
Energy bills have just gone up again(Image: elenaleonova via Getty Images)
Thousands of UK households will receive a free £150 credit from their energy supplier this month.
Utilita started distributing the Warm Home Discount cash to smart prepay customers on January 7 and said it plans to pay everyone by the end of the month.
The Warm Home Discount is worth £150 with the money added directly to your electricity account, rather than as a cash payment to your bank.
It is available to households where someone was claiming one of the following benefits on the qualifying date, which changes every year.
For this winter, the qualifying date was August 24, 2025. You must have been claiming one of these benefits on this date to get the Warm Home Discount this year:
- Guaranteed credit element of Pension Credit
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Housing Benefit
- Universal Credit
- “Savings Credit” part of Pension Credit
If you live in England or Wales, you will receive the Warm Home Discount automatically. If you live in Scotland, the payment is only automatic if you get the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit.
For the other benefits listed above, you’ll need to apply manually by contacting your energy supplier. There is no Warm Home Discount scheme in Northern Ireland.
It comes after the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) confirmed it is removing the high energy use criteria for the Warm Home Discount in England and Wales.
For benefits other than Pension Credit, you used to have to show you had high energy costs – but this element has now been removed.
DESNZ estimates the total number of households that will receive the discount could rise by 2.7 million, to an estimated 6.1 million.
Energy bills have just gone up again, with the Ofgem price cap rising from £1,755 to £1,758 for a typical dual fuel household paying by direct debit.
You will be covered by the Ofgem price cap if you are on a standard variable rate (SVR) tariff, so if you’re not locked into a fixed rate deal.
But there isn’t actually a total cap on what you can pay for energy. Your bill is still charged based on how much gas and electricity you use.
The Ofgem price cap limits what you can be charged for units of gas and electricity, as well as standing charges, which are fixed daily amounts you pay to be connected to the energy network.
The price cap figure illustrates what someone with typical energy consumption can expect to pay each year.