More than 150,000 households will get an extra £150 to go towards their energy bills.
Shell Energy is making the payment to those who received the Warm Home Discount this year, meaning those eligible will receive a total of £300 from their supplier this winter.
The payments will be made from Tuesday, March 14, and Shell has confirmed that you will not need to apply for the money, which will be paid applied directly to your energy account or as an automatic top-up if you have a smart prepayment meter. Those with traditional prepayment meters will receive a voucher to redeem when you top up your meters.
Read more: Full list of winter energy payments that you could still get
The measure is part of a £50million support package from Shell which aims to help the most needy of its 1.4m customers during the cost of living crisis. Part of the package included doubling the size of its hardship fund from £10m to £20m to the end of 2024 to help families struggling to cope with rising bills.
Tony Keeling, CEO of Shell Energy, said: “In recognising the challenges faced by many households as a result of the cost of living pressures and high energy costs, we are providing additional support to those who need it most. By targeting those who are eligible for the Warm Home Discount, and funding a doubling of their payment, we’re providing direct support to those who we know are struggling.”
You'll get the extra £150 from Shell Energy if you joined the supplier on or before 21 August 2022 and you're eligible for the Warm Home Discount scheme. If you joined Shell on or after 22 August 2022, your previous supplier will be responsible for your Warm Home Discount and you won't get the top-up from Shell.
This is the first winter of the new eligibility criteria for the Warm Home Discount scheme, and while those on the guaranteed element of pension credit will continue to get the payment automatically, others on a low income also now need to have 'high energy costs' to qualify for the state-backed initiative funded by energy suppliers.
The change has been controversial, with fuel poverty charity National Energy Action and Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis claiming that tens of thousands of households are 'falling through the cracks', including many who were eligible for the £150 payment last year but not this.
The new criteria relies on data from the valuation office agency (VOA) to determine the size, age and type of home you live in and uses an algorithm to determine how much you might pay for your energy, rather than assessing your bills or how much energy you actually use..
The shake-up of the scheme excludes those on non-means-tested disability benefits. The Warm Home Discount Scheme used to be paid on a first-come, first-served basis, leading to a scramble every year when the scheme opened but this year, payments should have been made automatically to those eligible. The deadline to claim, or to challenge a claim, for this winter was February 28.
Read more:
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- Cost of living: A five-step plan to get debt free in 2023
- How to work out how much your heating costs per hour
- All the big money changes to look out for in 2023 month by month
