Warm Home Discount: 23 August is the date that decides your £150

Correction, 1 October 2026: an earlier version of this report said the property-cost test was scrapped for 2026/27, bringing in 2.7 million more households, and referred to “Core Group 2”. In fact the property-cost test was removed for winter 2025/26, and for 2026/27 Core Groups 1 and 2 in England and Wales have been merged into a single core group. The section below has been corrected.

23 August 2026 is the qualifying date for this winter's Warm Home Discount. Whichever supplier is providing your electricity on that specific day is the one responsible for paying you the £150, and that snapshot is what the whole scheme hangs on.

Switching afterwards doesn't cost you the £150

This is the part that stops people acting, and it's based on a misunderstanding. The obligation attaches to your supplier on the qualifying date. Once 23 August has passed, you can switch supplier freely and the payment still follows you — your old supplier remains liable for it.

What you should not do is switch in the next few days and assume it'll be fine. A switch that completes across the qualifying date can leave genuine ambiguity about which supplier held you on the day. If you're planning to move, either complete well before the 23rd or simply start after it.

Being on a qualifying benefit is enough

Since last winter (2025/26) the property-cost test no longer applies, so in England and Wales you don't also need to live in a home modelled as expensive to heat. For 2026/27 the old Core Groups 1 and 2 have been merged into a single core group: you qualify if you receive Pension Credit (Guarantee Credit or Savings Credit), Universal Credit, Housing Benefit or income-related ESA on the qualifying date and you (or your partner) are named on the electricity bill.

In England and Wales it's automatic — according to British Gas, DWP writes to eligible households between 20 October and 31 December. In Scotland, the Core Group is automatic but the Broader Group requires an application to your supplier, and those open and close on the supplier's own timetable.

When you're paid

The £150 is applied as credit to your electricity account between November 2026 and 31 March 2027. It's a credit against your bill rather than a cash payment — unless you're on a prepayment meter, in which case it's issued as a voucher or applied directly to the meter depending on your supplier.

Full detail on eligibility, the Scottish application process and what to do if the payment doesn't arrive is in our Warm Home Discount guide. Source: GOV.UK — Warm Home Discount Scheme; GOV.UK — eligibility statement, England & Wales 2026/27.