State pensioners to receive automatic £150 payment in accounts this winter
Reach Daily Express August 22, 2025 04:39 AM

State pensioners are set to receive an instant, automatic £150 payment this winter which will appear in their energy accounts.

The Warm Home Discount scheme was launched by the coalition government in 2011 in a bid to help people on low incomes in England, Scotland and Wales.

Those who are eligible for the payment will automatically see £150 credit applied to their energy bills.

The money isn't paid directly into bank accounts, instead it is credited onto energy accounts instead. If the account is in your name, and you're eligible for the money, you'll automatically see £150 of credit to spend on gas and/or electricity, whether you're with British Gas, EDF, E.On, Scottish Power, OVO, Octopus Energy or one of the many other major energy providers in the UK.

The government says those who qualify in England and Wales are those on the 'guarantee credit element of Pension Credit', or are on a low income and have high energy costs.

In Scotland, you need to be either on the guarantee credit element of Pension Credit or are on a low income and also meet your energy supplier's criteria.

Gov.uk says: "The Warm Home Discount Scheme is a one-off £150 discount off your electricity bill.

"If you're eligible, your electricity supplier will apply the discount to your bill. The money is not paid to you."

The guarantee credit element of Pension Credit is when your state pension income is topped up by Pension Credit. For example, if you are on the old basic pre-2016 state pension and you have no other income, you'll receive £174.45 per week from your state pension. This would make you eligible for the guarantee credit element of Pension Credit, which will top up your income to about £227 per week.

Gov.uk adds: "Pension Credit tops up your weekly income to £227.10 if you're single; your joint weekly income to £346.60 if you have a partner. You may get extra amounts if you have other responsibilities and costs. The top up and extra amounts are known as 'Guarantee Credit'."

The Warm Home Discount scheme will reopen again for 2025 in October, but the eligibility criteria is not expected to be any different from last year, which was: "You qualify for the discount if all of the following applied on 11 August: your energy supplier is part of the scheme; your name (or your partner's) is on the electricity bill; you or your partner are getting the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit (even if you get Savings Credit as well)

"This is known as being in the 'core group 1' in England and Wales. In Scotland, it is the 'core group'."

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