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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions his Department has had with representatives from energy suppliers to ensure eligible customers are still able to access the warm home discount once their previous energy supplier has ceased trading.

When an energy supplier leaves the market, in almost all cases, 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 the Government would expect that any future SoLRs would continue to honour these obligations. The Warm Home Discount is one of the factors that Ofgem considers when appointing a SoLR. In rare cases, the Special Administration Regime (SAR) process may be a more appropriate option to protect customers of large energy suppliers. Warm Home Discount recipients are unaffected during the SAR process.

The Government concluded a consultation on the future scheme last summer. 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 publish the Government’s response to the consultation in the spring, with the reforms coming into force from the 2022/23 scheme year.