State pensioners are set to receive a free allowance worth £150 in November to help them stay warm during the winter.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has extended its Warm Home Discount program for 2024/25 to support households experiencing fuel poverty or at risk.

The scheme offers eligible households a direct payment of their energy bill worth £150, with the discount automatically applied to bills.

If you qualify, your electricity provider will apply the discount directly to your bill, rather than paying the money directly into your bank account.

If you live in England and Wales, you will be able to benefit if you either benefit from the secured credit element of Pension Credit or if you are on a low income and have high energy costs.

You should also automatically benefit from the discount in England and Wales if you have any of the following benefits and your energy costs are high:

• Housing allowance

• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

• Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) based on income

• Income support

• the “Savings credit” part of the pension credit

• Universal Credit

If you live in Scotland the same criteria applies but you must also meet your energy supplier’s criteria for the scheme. Unfortunately, the program is not available to anyone living in Northern Ireland.

You must have claimed the pension credit by the eligibility date of August 11, 2024.

If you are eligible, you will receive a letter by early January 2025 confirming that you do not need to do anything and the discount will be automatically applied to your bill by March 31, 2025.

In some cases, the DWP You may need more information and you will receive a letter asking you to call the helpline by February 28, 2025 to confirm your details.

If you are an early payment customer you can still benefit from the discount and your electricity supplier can tell you how the discount will be applied if you are eligible. This will normally involve sending you a voucher to top up your meter.

The following energy suppliers are all part of the Warm Home Discount scheme and will provide the £150 discount to eligible households:

• 100Green (formerly Green Energy UK or GEUK)

• Allocate energy – see Octopus Energy

• Booster

• British gas

• Bulb energy – see Octopus Energy

• Co-op Energy – see Octopus Energy

• E – also known as E (gas and electricity)

• Ecotricity

• E.ON Next

• EDF

• Fuse Energy

• Good energy

• Domestic energy

• Power of London

• Octopus energy

• Outsmart the market

• OVO

• Rebel energy

• Sainsbury’s Energy

• Scottish Gas – see British Gas

• ScottishPower

• Shell Energy Retail

• So the energy

• Tomato energy

• RealEnergy

• Utility

• Utility warehouse

If you do not receive a letter by the start of January 2025 and you think you are eligible for the scheme, you should contact the Warm Home Discount Scheme helpline on 0800 030 9322 before 28 February 2025.