Katy McCloskey and Chris Clements
BBC
Sammy and Annie Dougherty believe they qualify for the Warm Home Discount, but their postcode isn’t recognised by the Scottish Gas online application form.
People on low incomes could be losing out on a grant for winter heating bills because postcodes are missing from an energy supplier’s website.
Scottish Gas were warned last autumn that customers on means-tested benefits living in a specific Glasgow postcode were unable to apply for the Warm Home Discount online. More than a year later, the website has still not been fixed.
Tenants and charities have criticised the power company, with Energy Action Scotland telling the BBC that it’s “absolutely incredible” the problem hasn’t been solved.
Scottish Gas said addresses for new build properties may not have been registered correctly with Royal Mail and it hopes to have the website updated.
‘That money would make a big difference’
The Warm Home Discount of £150 is paid automatically by energy suppliers to those on the guaranteed element of Pension Credit.
Other households of any age on a low income can also be eligible via the “broader group” category, but they have to manually apply and enter details about their means-tested benefit.
Annie Dougherty, 71, lives in Govan with her husband Sammy.
She tried to apply online via the Scottish Gas website in November 2024 but found her postcode was missing from the dropdown box on the site.
This meant she could not continue her application.
Residents of a Glasgow postcode have been unable to apply for the benefit via the Scottish Gas website.
Annie believes she is eligible for the discount because she claims Housing Benefit.
She told BBC Scotland: “I think it’s ridiculous.
“I don’t know what they are playing at. They say our postcode isn’t registered with Scottish Gas website but they manage to send us bills with our postcode on them.
“We didn’t get the Warm Home Discount last year and we’re not getting it this year. That would make a big difference, it would be £150 off my bill each year.”
Annie said she worries about her bills.
“I get fed up with it, I really do.
“We only put our heating on if it’s really cold. We go to our beds early so we don’t have to have the heating on. And I only put my tumble dryer on once a week.
“I try my best to cut back on things but it’s hard.”
The flats where the Doughertys live were built in 2024.
“None of us in this block or the block next door get it,” Annie added.
Missing postcodes ‘flagged a year ago’
Gordon Brown, of local charity Glasgow Action for Pensioners, first spotted the problem in November last year, and said he flagged it with the energy supplier.
He said: “In this area we know of 46 residences where the Scottish Gas database doesn’t recognise the postcode.
“Most of them are elderly people who would be on the qualifying benefits. These people could be sitting cold.”
He said Scottish Gas had offered a “workaround” for affected customers, but he described the process as “complicated”.
“They’ve told me to use the head office postcode and then phone up with a number from the website and they can sort it manually,” he said.
“Why can’t they just fix their database?
“We don’t know how many people are in the exact same boat.
“People don’t have the ability or time to phone them up to ask what’s going on and why the website doesn’t work.”
Gordon Brown – of Glasgow Action for Pensioners – identified the missing postcode more than a year ago.
Fuel poverty charity Energy Action Scotland said it was expecting an additional 250,000 households in Scotland to receive the broader Warm Home Discount payment this winter.
Households need to be receiving a means-tested benefit such as Housing Benefit or Universal Credit.
Suppliers then check eligibility with the Department for Work and Pensions or Social Security Scotland.
Frazer Scott, chief executive at Energy Action Scotland, said he found the situation in Govan “incredible”.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous that, for a company with the resources that Scottish Gas has, they cannot get this right.
“It should have been sorted a long time ago.”
He added: “I cannot understand why it is left to the eligible person, someone who is in need of financial support and someone who is likely in difficult circumstances, that they have to try and come up with a fix for this when it should be energy supplier moving heaven and earth to help these people.
“There is a huge question mark about people’s ability to engage when many of the only routes companies seem to have available these days are electronic or web-based.
“Companies are not working hard enough to support all their customers fairly. People should be at the heart of the system, not processes.”
‘Not registered correctly’
Scottish Gas said it was “sorry to hear that some residents in Glasgow’s Govan area have had some trouble completing their Warm Home Discount application through the online portal”.
A spokesperson added: “It appears the address details for these new builds may not have been registered correctly with the Royal Mail and we’re helping to get these updated.
“To reassure customers, our advisors can help with completing the form and ensuring their application is successfully processed.”
BBC Scotland has contacted Royal Mail for comment.
