Many of the elderly will miss out on the fuel poverty scheme because of poor publicity and the scheme itself being too complicated.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has released figures that show there were 25,700 excess deaths last winter. The 1.5 million strong National Pensioners’ Convention (NPC) believes that if the Government’s Warm Home Discount (WHD) scheme was simpler to understand, many of these deaths could be avoided. 
The WHD Scheme works by the energy suppliers giving qualifying pensioners a £120 rebate on their yearly fuel bill however, the ‘big six’ energy firms along with the Government have not been adequately advertising this, leaving many vulnerable pensioners unaware of the benefit.
For the first year of the scheme only older people on the £137.35 a week pension credit could apply for the rebate, although the energy companies have been given discretion to allow others on low incomes to receive the yearly rebate.
Dot Gibson, the General Secretary for the NPC said: There has not been enough publicity about the scheme – it’s too complicated and pensioners are unsure whether they qualify for extra help or not.
“The cost of fuel is rising and the government’s cut to the winter fuel allowance means pensioners need all the help they can get to keep warm this winter – yet neither the government nor the ‘big six’ energy companies seem particularly bothered about letting people know what help is available.”
The NPC want the energy suppliers to have a wider criteria, meaning more vulnerable pensioners can get the WHD. Of the ‘Big Six’ energy suppliers, EDF, npower and Scottish Power currently only offer the rebate to people who are disabled, British Gas closed their wider support scheme in October, leaving new customers in the cold and E.ON also closed the wider scheme to new customers
EDF is the only firm to have written to customers advising them of the WHD scheme.
To complicate matters further only British Gas offered support for people on lower incomes. Scottish and Southern Energy and E.ON only provide the rebate for those on pension credit guarantee, guarantee and savings, or the savings element of the pension credit.
The NCP also criticised the Department for Work and Pensions who made no reference to the WHD in their recent letters sent to pensioners regarding the winter fuel allowance. A spokesperson for the DWP shifted the blame saying it was the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s responsibility to advise pensioners of the program.
“Eligibility for the Warm Home Discount rebate and the winter fuel payment are entirely different, and it would not be appropriate to refer to the Warm Home Discount in a letter notifying a much wider group of people that their winter fuel payment has been sent.”
The DECC has so far failed to send pensioners any information about the WHD scheme but did release a statement on their website saying: “This year nearly 600,000 pensioners will be notified by Christmas that £120 will be paid automatically into their account – this is the beauty of the Warm Home Discount scheme as most pensioners don’t need to lift a finger to claim because the hard work is done for them.
“Energy companies will also be required to help more than just the poorest pensioners too – they will need to identify other vulnerable people they can help like the terminally ill or disabled. Suppliers will also be spending more money than previously – last year the voluntary agreement was worth £179m and this year they will spend £250m.”
The NPC highlighted the fact that many of the elderly do not have access to the internet so would not have seen this statement. Gibson said: “It is no good simply relying on a message on a website when the vast majority of older people don’t even own a computer,” Gibson said.
The Government hopes to have rolled out the scheme to all households in receipt of the guarantee and savings element of pension credit by 2014.
