THOUSANDS of households can get up to £750 off their energy bills – we explain everything you need to know.
Many people could be entitled to the cash support worth hundreds of pounds to help with soaring bills this winter.
The help is a combination of both the Winter Fuel payment and the Warm Home Discount.
We explain what you need to know about the help, who is eligible and when it will land in your account.
If you were born on or before September 26, 1956, you could get between £250 and £600 to help pay your heating bills.
This is know as the Winter Fuel Payment, and it is paid automatically to anyone who qualifies.
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You will get the winter fuel payment if:
The amount includes a one-off pensioner cost of living payment of between £150 and £300.
You can get this benefit if:
You may still be eligible if you lived in Switzerland or another EEA country in that period, but you won’t get the payment automatically and will have to apply.
The same goes for if you can prove a sufficient link with the UK, like having lived and worked here, or have family here, but were not living here in the qualifying week.
You won’t get the payment if you live in the following countries though because of the warm weather there: Cyprus, France, Gibraltar, Greece, Malta, Portugal or Spain.
You won’t get the payment if you are in hospital for more then a year getting free treatment and in some other circumstances.
You can find more about who is eligible on gov.uk.
You’ll get the cash boost from November this year, the government has confirmed.
For most pensioner households, this will be paid via a direct debit payment.
It will be added as a top up to your annual Winter Fuel Payment, which is paid around this time.
Payments will be made directly to households – so there’s no need to do anything.
It will be paid in addition to any other cost of living support you are entitled to.
For example, eight million households on Universal Credit and other means-tested benefits will get a £650 cost of living payment.
Thousands of households are eligible for the £150 Warm Home Discount.
The Warm Home Discount is available to those on the lowest incomes to help with rising costs.
You don’t need to apply to get the cash and you’ll automatically qualify if you are receiving certain benefits including pension credit.
Energy suppliers will automatically dish out the payment, worth £150 this year, as long as you were receiving pension credit on or before Sunday, August 21.
However, if you later launch a successful claim for pension credit, you may still be able to qualify after this date.
This is because your eligibility for certain benefits can be backdated.
So if you make a claim now you could be in the qualifying period for the Warm Home Discount.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), who’s overseeing the scheme, will send you a letter in October to confirm if you’ll get the payment later on in the year.
And payments for the £150 Warm Home Discount scheme will likely begin from December.
It’s up to individual energy companies to decide when they will give their customers the discount.
There are plenty of energy grants and schemes open to help you out if you’re struggling.
Some suppliers are even offering free energy-saving devices to help households slash their bills this winter.
Octopus Energy is handing out free electric blankets to some of its 3.1million customers to help keep them warm this winter.
The suppliers opened up applications for the freebie on Monday, October 10.
British Gas has recently confirmed that it’ll pay its most vulnerable customers grants worth £750 to help with sky-high bills.
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The British Gas Energy Trust has previously paid struggling households up to £1,500 – and you don’t need to be a British Gas customer to apply for this help.
Ask your supplier what’s on offer and how to apply, or check here:
