Warm Home Discount Criteria 2024

Howdy @louise515 !

What happens if you use the tool at https://www.gov.uk/check-if-youre-eligible-for-warm-home-discount

It’s the most unclear benefit/help one might (or probably won’t)  get! I’m a pensioner in Scotland and on Housing Benefit. That seemed to be sufficient last year but this year it appears you also have to be on at least one of a limited number of other additional benefits. 

Ah, yes the rules are also different in Scotland than in England/Wales just to add some extra confusion into the mix.

As well as the qualifying for WHD being different in Scotland there is also the Winter Heating Payment rather than the WFP.

https://www.mygov.scot/winter-heating-payment

As a pensioner, now without Pension Credit, it seems I don’t get anything :(

Sadly, that will be the case for many whose income may be low, but just not low enough. Pension Credit was originally calculated to bring any pensioner on a really low income up to a fairly arbitrary minimum acceptable level. The level has been skewed over the years by varying cost-of-living increases, but it is still taken to represent what a pensioner needs to live on. If your income is above this, you’re deemed to be just not needy enough. 

The WHD and the winter fuel payment together bring a pension-credit-awardee’s annual income up to £11,694. Is yours less than that (not including Housing Benefit)?

My income is slightly over that amount so over the weekly Pension Credit limit of £218.15pw. But I was only asking about the WHD eligibility which apparently has changed since last year.

Hi @louise515,

I’m sorry to hear this,

It seems our forum volunteers have given some great advice here already. Hope it was helpful.

This thread might also be useful:

• Warm Home Discount (WHD)

Please let us know if you have any further questions.

Don’t you think I’ve already read all that? So patronising. 

@louise515 You may well have done, but this isn’t a one-on-one chat room - it’s a forum open to anyone, so there could well be others confused about the Warm Home Discount finding this page who are unaware of the helpful article referred to. Please be kind to those who are just trying to help.

I’m not being unkind. Any respondent, particularly a moderator, should take the trouble to read my OP and answer the question, if it hasn’t already answered. In this case the answer was given previously (by @Nukecad) so simply posting the link was not at all helpful and just wastes peoples’ time.

I wouldn’t have written what I did if I hadn’t thought that perhaps your remark wasn’t particularly kind.

The Scottish government’s WHD eligibility criteria haven’t changed. Whether OVO’s criteria have changed from last year, I couldn’t say, because they’re so very complex. However, the current requirements are laid out in detail; since you had a different supplier last year, it’s not unlikely that their criteria were different from OVO’s even then.

So, the answer to your original question is No, but ...

I’m not unkind but I get annoyed when people don’t read what’s already been posted. The end result of the WHD eligibility is the same -  it’s already been discussed and I have determined that I’m not eligible anymore. There’s no need to add anything more to this thread.

I’m sorry you feel that way. I would have no way of knowing if you did read that thread I’m afraid. As Firedog mentioned, the link may be useful for others who may come across this thread who have a similar question. Apologies if it isn’t helpful to you.