Help with energy bills in winter 2026/27: what you can get in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

Winter 2026/27 energy help by nation: £150 Warm Home Discount, £25 Cold Weather Payments, Scotland's £62 payment and NI's £63 discount.

2026/27 tax year

Benefits & Credits
Personal
Family & Parents
England
Wales
Scotland
Northern Ireland

The short answer

If you get Pension Credit, Universal Credit, income-related ESA or Housing Benefit in England or Wales, you should get £150 off your electricity bill through the Warm Home Discount this winter, usually without applying. If your benefit also meets the Cold Weather Payment conditions, you get £25 for each 7-day cold spell where you live between 1 November 2026 and 31 March 2027. Scotland pays a flat £62 Winter Heating Payment instead of Cold Weather Payments. Northern Ireland has no Warm Home Discount, but every household gets a £63 electricity discount. In Great Britain, VAT is off household electricity until 31 March 2027. If you were born on or before 27 June 1960, see the Winter Fuel Payment guide as well.

Check what you may get

Warm Home Discount: £150 off your electricity bill

The Warm Home Discount is a one-off £150 discount, applied by your electricity supplier to your bill. The money is not paid to you. If your supplier provides both gas and electricity you may be able to have it on your gas bill instead, and prepayment customers get it in a form such as a top-up voucher (GOV.UK). The £150 figure is the "prescribed rebate" in regulation 3 of the Warm Home Discount (England and Wales) Regulations 2026 and of the Warm Home Discount (Scotland) Regulations 2026. Both sets of Regulations run the scheme for five scheme years, the first ending on 31 March 2027 and the last on 31 March 2031. It does not affect your Cold Weather Payment or Winter Fuel Payment. It is not available in Northern Ireland.

England and Wales

You qualify if, on 23 August 2026, all of these applied: your supplier was in the scheme; you or your partner got a qualifying means-tested benefit; and your name or your partner's was on the electricity bill. The qualifying benefits for 2026/27 are (DESNZ eligibility statement):

Pension Credit (Guarantee Credit or Savings Credit)
Universal Credit
income-related Employment and Support Allowance
Housing Benefit

There is no longer an energy-cost test: the statement says the two old core groups were merged into one from this scheme year, reflecting the removal of the high-cost-to-heat threshold. In the government's words, "every billpayer on means-tested benefits now qualifies" (DESNZ, 22 October 2026). The 2026 Regulations do not list the benefits themselves; regulation 10 requires the Secretary of State to publish them in that statement each year.

Letters go out between late October 2026 and early January 2027. If yours says you are eligible, you do nothing; the supplier applies the discount by 31 March 2027.
If the letter asks for more information, ring the helpline by 26 February 2027. If you have had no letter by early January 2027 and think you qualify, contact the helpline before that date: 0800 030 9322, Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm.
Not eligible: people living permanently in a care home, and park-home residents who pay the site owner for electricity. Park-home residents can apply to the separate Park Homes Warm Home Discount run by Charis Grants.

Scotland

The same 23 August 2026 date applies, but Scotland keeps two routes (GOV.UK: if you live in Scotland). You are in the core group, and get it automatically, under Schedule 1 to the Scotland Regulations if you or your partner:

get Pension Credit (paragraph 2);
get Universal Credit that includes the disabled child amount, or get Universal Credit, are not employed or gainfully self-employed, and either have a child under 5 living with you or have limited capability for work (paragraph 3);
get income-related ESA and have a child under 5 living with you, a pensioner, severe disability or enhanced disability premium, or limited capability for work or work-related activity (paragraph 6);
get Income Support or income-based JSA with a child under 5 or one of the listed premiums (paragraphs 4 and 5), or Support for Mortgage Interest loan payments on the conditions in paragraph 7.

Everyone else in Scotland has to apply to their supplier under the broader group. Suppliers set their own criteria, but regulation 26(3)(a) only lets Ofgem approve them if they include people getting every benefit in Part 1 of Schedule 3: Pension Age Disability Payment, Adult Disability Payment, Universal Credit, Income Support, income-based JSA, income-related ESA and Housing Benefit (people in the core group are excluded). Being on one of those does not guarantee a discount: the number of discounts is limited, so GOV.UK says to apply as early as possible, even if you got it last year, and to stay with the supplier until it is paid. If you applied directly to your supplier you will not get a letter from the scheme.

Cold Weather Payment: £25 a cold spell (England, Wales and Northern Ireland)

You get £25 for each period of 7 consecutive days in which the average temperature where you live is recorded as, or forecast to be, 0°C or below, between 1 November 2026 and 31 March 2027. The amount is in regulation 3 and the 7-day and 0°C tests and the 1 November to 31 March "winter period" are in regulation 1(2) of the Social Fund Cold Weather Payments (General) Regulations 1988. It is paid automatically, and you should get it within 14 working days of the cold spell, into the account your benefit goes into. It does not affect other benefits (GOV.UK). Nothing is paid if your area has no qualifying cold spell. Check a postcode on the DWP checker (England and Wales) or the nidirect checker.

Who qualifies (regulation 1A; GOV.UK eligibility):

Pension Credit: usually no other condition.
Universal Credit: no one on the claim is employed or gainfully self-employed, and you have limited capability for work (with or without work-related activity) or a child under 5 living with you. If your award includes the disabled child amount you qualify whether or not you work.
Income-related ESA: you are in the support group or the work-related activity group, or you have a pensioner, severe or enhanced disability premium, or a child under 5 living with you. (Regulation 1A(3)(d) also names the disability element of child tax credit, but tax credits ended on 5 April 2025.)
Support for Mortgage Interest: where you are treated as getting a qualifying benefit and one of the premium or child conditions applies.

Housing Benefit on its own does not qualify. People living in a care home or an independent hospital are generally excluded (regulation 1A(4)). If you get Universal Credit or income-related ESA and have a baby, or a child under 5 comes to live with you, report it: GOV.UK says you will not get Cold Weather Payments automatically if you do not.

Northern Ireland has the same £25 payment, the same benefit conditions and the same season, 1 November 2026 to 31 March 2027 (nidirect).

Scotland: Winter Heating Payment and Child Winter Heating Payment

You cannot get Cold Weather Payments in Scotland. Social Security Scotland pays a Winter Heating Payment of £62, once a winter, whatever the weather (mygov.scot). The amount is regulation 9(1) of the Winter Heating Assistance (Low Income) (Scotland) Regulations 2023, raised from £59.75 by regulation 11 of SSI 2026/170 from 1 April 2026. You qualify through benefits you get on any day of the qualifying week, the week from the first Monday in November (regulation 2): this year 2 to 8 November 2026 (mygov.scot qualifying benefits). The benefit conditions in regulation 4 are the same as for the Cold Weather Payment: Pension Credit on its own; Universal Credit with the disabled child amount, or not in work with limited capability for work or a child under 5; income-related ESA in the support or work-related activity group, with one of the listed premiums or with a child under 5; and Income Support, income-based JSA or Support for Mortgage Interest with a child under 5 or a listed premium. It is automatic, paid from December, and shows as "WHP" on your bank statement.

Child Winter Heating Payment is £265.50 for each child or young person under 19 who gets the highest care rate of Child Disability Payment or DLA for children, or the enhanced daily living rate of PIP or Adult Disability Payment, in the third full week of September. It is usually automatic (mygov.scot; amount in regulation 10(1) of SSI 2020/352 as substituted by SSI 2026/170 regulation 7).

If you were born on or before 27 June 1960

You can also get a Winter Fuel Payment of £100 to £300 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment of £105.55 to £316.70 in Scotland. Both are usually automatic, and HMRC takes the payment back if your own income for the tax year is over £35,000. Amounts, the income charge, payment dates and claims are in our Winter Fuel Payment 2026/27 guide. Pension Credit is the key to most of the help on this page, so check the Pension Credit guide if you have not claimed it.

Northern Ireland

Household Electricity Discount Scheme: £63 for each eligible domestic property this year, applied from 6 October 2026. Suppliers decide eligibility using information NIE Networks held on 4 October 2026. It is automatic and not means-tested; prepayment and keypad customers get it as credit when they top up. It appears on bills as "NIRO & VAT Govt Credit". If your landlord holds the account, the discount goes on that account. The scheme runs from 2026 to 2028, and nidirect says the 2027 and 2028 amounts will be announced before they are applied (nidirect).
Home heating oil support: a £100 digital prepaid card, one per address, if oil is your main heating and, on at least one day of a qualifying period (1 to 30 April 2026 or 1 to 30 November 2026), you lived in Northern Ireland and either got a qualifying benefit (including Pension Credit, Universal Credit, income-related ESA, DLA, PIP and Attendance Allowance) or had a net household income below £30,000. It is not automatic: apply online before the scheme closes on 31 March 2027 (nidirect).
Cold Weather Payment and Winter Fuel Payment are paid in Northern Ireland on the same terms as in England and Wales (see above).
Affordable Warmth Scheme: grants for energy-efficiency work, not bill help, for owner-occupiers and private tenants with a total annual gross income of less than £23,000. Social housing tenants cannot apply. Contact the NI Energy Advice Service on 0800 111 44 55 (Housing Executive).
There is no Warm Home Discount in Northern Ireland, Ofgem's price cap covers England, Scotland and Wales only, and the VAT cut below does not apply.

The energy price cap and 0% VAT on electricity (Great Britain)

For 1 October to 31 December 2026, Ofgem's price cap is £1,723 a year for a household paying by Direct Debit, up 4% from £1,663 in July to September. That figure is at Ofgem's typical domestic consumption values, 2,500 kWh of electricity and 9,500 kWh of gas a year. At the same consumption it is £1,861 for standard credit and £1,678 for prepayment (Ofgem, 26 August 2026).

The cap limits the unit rate and the daily standing charge, not your total bill: use more and you pay more. The Direct Debit averages for that period are 26.32p per kWh and 54.83p a day for electricity, and 7.97p per kWh and 29.68p a day for gas. Your own rates depend on your region, payment method and meter (Ofgem rates by region). The cap covers standard variable tariffs only. Fixed tariffs, heat networks and heating oil are not covered. Ofgem resets it every three months; the level from 1 January 2027 had not been published when we checked on 29 October 2026 (Ofgem cap levels).

VAT on household electricity is 0% for supplies from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027 in England, Wales and Scotland, under article 1(2) of the Value Added Tax (Supplies of Domestic Electricity) Order 2026. It was 5%. Gas stays at 5%, and so does electricity in Northern Ireland (HMRC Brief 10 (2026)). You do not claim it. The government says it applies to fixed tariffs and prepayment top-ups as well, and expects it to save an average of £45 a year (GOV.UK). Ofgem's cap figures above already reflect it. More in our news report on the VAT cut.

Announced at Budget 2026, not yet in force

These were announced on 28 October 2026 (Budget 2026). None changes what you get under the rules above until it is legislated or delivered.

Household Energy Payment (England): a £100 payment for households in council tax bands A to D, to be delivered by local authorities through the council tax system from January 2027, plus £100 million for councils to give targeted help to households hit hardest by energy bills, including some in higher bands (paragraphs 3.5, 3.6 and 6.24). The devolved governments get funding through the Barnett formula, which the Budget says will enable them to provide similar support. If you are on a low income, see also Council Tax Reduction.
VAT cut extended to 1 July 2027: the 0% rate would run three months longer, and the Budget expects it to apply UK-wide, including Northern Ireland, from April 2027 (paragraphs 3.4 and 6.210). The 2026 Order ends it on 31 March 2027, and the extension had not been legislated when we checked on 29 October 2026.
Gas standing charges: the government has asked Ofgem to abolish them on domestic bills, aiming for the end of 2027 or as soon as possible after, with the cost moved into gas unit rates, and will set out electricity standing-charge reform next year (paragraph 3.9).

Already in effect: the Budget records that the £150 of costs taken off bills in April 2026 came from scrapping the Energy Company Obligation levy and funding 75% of the Renewables Obligation from the Exchequer (paragraph 3.7).

If you are struggling to pay

Ask your supplier first. Ofgem says you can ask for a payment plan, a payment break or reduction, a review of your payments and debt repayments, and access to the supplier's hardship funds, and you can ask about supplier grants for energy costs, energy debt or energy-saving work (Ofgem).
Join the Priority Services Register with your supplier and your network operator if you have reached State Pension age, are pregnant or have young children, have a disability or long-term condition (including mental health conditions), need powered medical equipment, or have had a recent change such as bereavement or losing your job. It gives priority help in an emergency, advance notice of planned power cuts where possible, a password scheme for callers, and bills in large print or braille. Switch supplier and you have to join again (Ofgem).
Treat energy arrears as a priority debt: see our debt prioritisation guide. Free advice: Citizens Advice on 0808 144 8844 in England, Advicelink Cymru on 0800 702 2020 in Wales, and Energyadvice.scot on 0808 196 8660 in Scotland (Ofgem).
Check you are claiming every benefit. Universal Credit and Pension Credit are what unlock the Warm Home Discount and Cold Weather Payments; see what benefits can I claim and the Universal Credit calculator.

No genuine scheme on this page will text or email you asking for bank details. GOV.UK and nidirect both warn about scam messages; use only your supplier's usual contact details.

Frequently asked questions

How much is the Warm Home Discount for winter 2026 to 2027?

£150, taken off your electricity bill (or your gas bill if the same supplier provides both). It is not paid to you as cash. Eligibility is fixed on the qualifying date, 23 August 2026, and suppliers must apply it by 31 March 2027. It is not available in Northern Ireland.

Who gets the Warm Home Discount in England and Wales in 2026/27?

Anyone who on 23 August 2026 got Pension Credit, Universal Credit, income-related ESA or Housing Benefit, was with a supplier in the scheme, and had their own or their partner's name on the electricity bill. Most people get it automatically; a letter tells you if you must ring the helpline, which you must do by 26 February 2027.

How much is a Cold Weather Payment in 2026/27?

£25 for each 7-day period when the average temperature where you live is recorded or forecast at 0 degrees Celsius or below, between 1 November 2026 and 31 March 2027. It is paid automatically to people on certain benefits in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is not paid in Scotland.

What is the Winter Heating Payment in Scotland?

A single payment of £62 from Social Security Scotland, paid from December whatever the weather, to people on certain low-income benefits in the qualifying week of 2 to 8 November 2026. It replaced the Cold Weather Payment in Scotland and is paid automatically.

What is the energy price cap for winter 2026?

For 1 October to 31 December 2026 Ofgem's cap is £1,723 a year for a typical dual-fuel household paying by Direct Debit, using 2,500 kWh of electricity and 9,500 kWh of gas. It caps unit rates and standing charges, not your total bill. Ofgem resets the cap every three months.

Is there VAT on electricity bills this winter?

Not in Great Britain. VAT on household electricity is 0% for supplies from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027, applied automatically on all tariffs. Budget 2026 announced an extension to 1 July 2027, which had not been legislated when we checked on 29 October 2026. Gas stays at 5%, and so does electricity in Northern Ireland.