BBC expert explains how to get £450 extra payments this winter - and who will get it

A BBC expert has revealed how people can secure an additional £150 payment this winter - and outlined precisely who will receive it.

The Warm Home Discount Scheme offers a one-off £150 reduction on people's electricity bill - and the personal finance expert explained people will receive a total £450 of additional support alongside the winter fuel payment.

Speaking on BBC Morning Live, BBC's Cost of Living Correspondent Colletta Smith said eligible individuals will have the money deducted from their charges, allowing them to afford heating their homes.

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If they qualify for the Warm Home Discount Scheme, their electricity supplier will apply the reduction to the bill.

Ms Smith explained: "It's opening again this year, and crucially, loads more people will be able to get extra help this year for this one."

"So it's £150 and it's applied directly to your energy account, so it goes through your energy company. Up until now it was just people on certain means tested benefits, but as of this summer, the government said actually this winter we're going to extend it to a lot more people by including Universal Credit in that list of eligible benefits."

You could also qualify if your household income falls below a certain threshold and you get either: Ms Smith said: "So it's people on housing benefits, employment and support allowance, jobseekers allowance, income support, and Universal Credit, which means millions more people this winter should again automatically receive this extra cash, which is basically a discount off your energy bills, and it should really help people who are struggling.

"Crucially, if you're a pensioner on a low income and you, you fit one of those means tested benefits, you should also still receive the winter fuel payments. So potentially if you're a low income pensioner, you might get £450 pounds of support this winter with those two schemes combined together which will really help cover that 2% increase we're seeing in energy bills."

Eligibility

You qualify if you either:

• get the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit
• are on a low income and have high energy costs

Qualifying benefits and tax credits

The qualifying means-tested benefits are:

• Housing Benefit
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• Income Support
• the ‘Savings Credit’ part of Pension Credit
• Universal Credit

You could also qualify if your household income falls below a certain threshold and you get either:

• Child Tax Credit
• Working Tax Credit

However, she revealed that a 'massive amount' of benefits currently go unclaimed: "£23 billion in benefits across the board that people either don't know about or don't know that they're entitled to an extra payment. Lots of people perhaps get one benefit, but don't realise that may well open the door for a lot more benefits that they could get.

"And a lot of people eople feel bad about claiming benefits, don't want to claim it necessarily because they feel like other people are struggling more or need the help more."

She recommended people should visit the government website to locate a benefits calculator, where there are links to different benefits calculators. Find it here.

Ms Smith advised: "Stick in a few details and it should point you in the right direction if you are eligible for that extra benefit help. And for anybody that that that may need financial assistance, they can apply, can't they, for an interest free budgeting advance loan. A budgeting advance loan, exactly.

"It's certainly better than getting a high-interest loan or, worst of all, turning to a loan shark. This is totally interest free. And it can be up to £800 pounds depending on your circumstances, and the lowest amount you can borrow is £100 . It automatically comes out of your benefits.

"So you just get a little bit less each month or every two weeks whenever your benefits land, you get a little bit less from the government. And you're effectively paying off that loan over about 2 years, but it could be a real bonus for people who need some help this winter to get them through to make sure that they don't fall into debt in other ways. ".

To use the government's benefits calculators resourceclick here..