DWP urges 760,000 people to come forward and claim free £150

760,000 UK households have been warned there are just days left to claim a free £150 boost for energy bills. The Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP ) has issued an urgent warning to 760,000 households, stating there are just days left to apply for the £150 boost via the Warm Home Discount Scheme.

The Warm Home Discount provides a set £150 chunk off your electricity bill, directly paid to your supplier who then takes it off your bill. Pension Credit recipients may qualify for the discount, if they have a low income and high energy costs, provided their supplier participates in the scheme. Pension Credit claimants are also eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment—a £200 or £300 boon for those on certain means-tested benefits like Universal Credit, Child Tax Credit, and Working Tax Credit.

The full eligibility criteria for the Warm Home Discount include receiving one of the following benefits: Guaranteed credit element of pension credit, "Savings Credit" part of pension credit, Income support, Income-based jobseeker's allowance, Income-related employment support allowance, Housing benefit, Universal Credit, Child tax credit and Working tax credits.

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760,000 eligible individuals who haven't yet made a claim risk missing out on both the £150 Warm Home Discount and a £300 winter fuel payment. Miatta Fahnbulleh, minister for energy consumers, said: "From now until mid-December, letters will be sent to those eligible notifying them of their £150 discount.

"For most people, this will be applied automatically, and if not, there are easy-to-follow instructions provided in the letter." She said: "The Government believes the only way to protect consumers permanently is to speed up the transition towards homegrown clean energy and reduce our reliance on volatile international fossil fuel markets."

"The energy price cap is set by Ofgem and there are different costs included in the price cap, such as the wholesale cost of energy. Any changes to these costs will affect how much the price cap will be each time it is reviewed, and the main driver of the price cap increase for the period 1 October to 31 December 2024 was an increase in wholesale energy prices," she said.