Four ways you can access financial support this winter

Warm Home Discount

Did you know you could be eligible for the Warm Home Discount? This is £140 deducted from your electric bill, usually paid between October and March. It can be either deducted from your final bill or made as a credit on your pre-payment meter.

There are two ways to access this:

• If you receive the Guarantee Element of Pension Credit on/before 4 July 2021, your energy provider will write to you between October and December telling you if you need to call a helpline to apply, or how to get the discount. They will write to you before mid-December.
• If you fit the “broader criteria” set by your energy supplier for their customers – often if you are on a lower income - then your electricity supplier decides who can get the discount. But the number of discounts suppliers can give is limited. You should check with your supplier as early as possible to see if you’re eligible and how to apply. Also check with them even if you were eligible for a discount last year.
• If your previous energy supplier is no longer trading, you may still be eligible for a Warm Home Discount. Ofgem will appoint your new supplier for you.

Winter Fuel Payment

If you were born before 26 September 1955, you will be eligible for a Winter Fuel Payment of between £100 and £300. You will get this automatically if you get a state pension or have received it before. It is usually paid in November or December and always by 14 January 2022.

You will receive £200, or £100 each if you are part of a couple and both of you are pensioners. This rises to £300 in total if one or both of you was over 80 on 26 September 2021.

Healthy Start Vouchers

If you have a child under 4 and are entitled to certain benefits*, you can claim Healthy Start vouchers worth £4.25 per week (£8.50 per week until your baby’s 1st birthday).

(*Universal Credit with earnings of less than £408 per month, Income Support, Job Seeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance Income-based, Child Tax Credit (with earnings of less than £16,190 per year, Pension Credit).

If you are under 18 and pregnant, you are entitled to vouchers regardless of your income.

You can access an application form online at https://www.healthystart.nhs.uk or call the Healthy Start helpline on 0345 607 6823 for an application form.

Household Support Fund

This fund is available from October 2021 and county councils and unitary authorities will have money to help vulnerable households with the essentials, including food costs and utility bills.

Councils are waiting to find out what funding they have, and then will need to devise a scheme for residents to apply. The government recommends it be used for small grants to meet daily costs and we hope to more information soon. Recently, many local authorities have used it to fund food vouchers for eligible families in school holidays.