Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure all claimants of the Warm Home Discount who have been forced to reapply as a result of their energy provider ceasing trading in recent months are not excluded from that support by their new provider.

When an energy supplier leaves the market, Ofgem appoints a Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) to take over its customers. SoLRs are not obliged to provide the Warm Home Discount to transferred customers; however, all SoLRs have honoured this obligation in the past and we would expect that SoLRs continue to honour these obligations.

The Government recently concluded a consultation on the future scheme, which included a proposal to reform the scheme. Under the proposals, the vast majority of households would receive their rebates automatically, without having to apply. This would make it easier for SoLRs to make the Warm Home Discount rebate payments to newly transferred customers. BEIS will be publishing the Government’s response to the consultation in the coming months, with the reforms coming into force from the 2022/23 scheme year.