Core Group versus Broader Group

Image credits: Edinburgh Castle from the Grassmarket, The keep of Cardiff Castle, A relief map of the United Kingdom. All photos: Wikimedia Commons, freely licensed.

If you have read older guides to the Warm Home Discount, you will have seen two groups mentioned: Core Group 1 and Core Group 2. Those labels no longer describe England and Wales. From winter 2026/27, England and Wales have a single Core Group, and Scotland has a Core Group plus a Broader Group. Understanding which system applies where you live is the key to knowing whether you should wait for a letter or make an application.

England and Wales: one Core Group, no application

The old split worked like this. Core Group 1 was pensioners receiving the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit, paid automatically. Core Group 2 was everyone else on a qualifying benefit, who also had to pass a high-cost-to-heat test about their property. That second test was removed for winter 2025/26, and the government has now formally merged the two groups into a single Core Group for the new scheme period. The practical result is simple: in England and Wales, every billpayer on a qualifying means-tested benefit is in the Core Group, and the rebate is paid automatically through data matching for around 96% of qualifying households. There is no Broader Group to apply for in England and Wales, and no form to fill in.

Scotland: Core Group plus Broader Group

Scotland kept a two-part structure, but its Core Group has also grown. For winter 2026/27, the Scottish Core Group is aligned with the qualifying benefits for the Scottish Winter Heating Payment as of December 2025, and it is paid automatically through data matching, like England and Wales. Alongside it, suppliers offer Broader Group rebates on application, funded from their non-core obligation. The Broader Group is targeted particularly at households receiving the Pension Age Disability Payment, the Adult Disability Payment, and other means-tested benefits. Suppliers have discretion over the details — including requirements about being named on the bill — and the qualification date is retained, so the same discipline about names and dates applies.

Industry Initiatives: the third part of the scheme

Both nations also benefit from Industry Initiatives, the part of the scheme that is easiest to overlook. Suppliers must spend part of their obligation on extra help for people in or at risk of fuel poverty, delivered directly or through charities. That can mean debt advice if you are behind on bills, energy efficiency advice and small measures for your home, and benefit entitlement checks that sometimes uncover a benefit you were not claiming — which can in turn qualify you for the main rebate in a later winter. If you do not qualify for the £150, asking your supplier what Industry Initiatives help it offers is still worth doing, and it costs nothing to ask.

One caution about old guides: any page that still tells you to apply for Core Group 2, to check whether your home is expensive to heat, or to apply for a Broader Group in England or Wales is out of date. The rules changed for winter 2025/26 and the new scheme period to 2030/31 confirms the simpler structure. If a guide contradicts this page, trust the current GOV.UK guidance and your supplier over the older page.

Sources: GOV.UK, Warm Home Discount scheme guidance and the Warm Home Discount (England and Wales) and (Scotland) Regulations; Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Continuing the Warm Home Discount Scheme government response and impact assessment (2026/27 to 2030/31); GOV.UK news, Households to receive £150 Warm Home Discount confirmation letter (22 October 2026); Ofgem scheme guidance.