Households warned to add names to bills for £150 energy help

Households on means-tested benefits in England and Wales risk losing the automatic £150 Warm Home Discount if they are not named on the electricity account by 23 August 2026. The government reminder says that simple billing-name step is the difference between getting the rebate automatically and missing it altogether.

The Warm Home Discount has existed since 2011 and gives eligible low-income and vulnerable households £150 off winter energy bills. Ofgem says the scheme is funded through a levy on all domestic gas and electricity customers across Great Britain, and the rebate is usually paid as a one-off credit on electricity bills. The scheme for winter 2025/26 opened at the end of October 2025.

Eligibility rules differ by nation. Ofgem’s guidance says the scheme covers England, Scotland and Wales, but the automatic core group rules in England and Wales are separate from the arrangements in Scotland. For households in England and Wales that receive means-tested benefits, being correctly named on the electricity account is essential for the automatic payment to land on time.

The government has also confirmed the discount will remain in place for five more years, with around six million low-income households set to continue receiving £150 off their winter energy bills after ministers extended it. That extension followed a consultation and a wider expansion of the scheme for 2025 to 2026, which was designed to widen eligibility.

The deadline has real consequences because the scheme depends on suppliers and account records matching properly before the cut-off. Ofgem’s annual report for scheme year 14 covers 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, while the scheme year 13 report covers 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, showing the scale of the programme and the level of oversight built around it.

That oversight has already produced enforcement action. Ofgem ordered Utilita to pay around £277,000 in compensation after the supplier failed to pass on Warm Home Discount payments on time during the 2023-2024 scheme year, affecting more than 4,000 customers.