WHD payment should have been triggered when letters are issued
As @meldrewreborn says, it's a very different system this year. An automatic payment is not triggered by the letter from the DWP as that is just confirmation that you have fulfilled the income/benefit requirements of the scheme. Unless you are in receipt of pension credit (Core Group).
The second requirement for the 'Broader Group' is that you live in a 'high heating cost home. This will likely rule out people in more modern energy efficient properties that are already well insulated or built to modern building requirements. The sort of properties that will be considered by the Valuation Office Agency will be those with a larger floor area, off the main gas grid, built before a certain time, e.g. Pre-War, or properties that have particular issues because of location or construction.
That is to say if you live in a modern flat in a well designed block with an efficient heating system, you are less likely to qualify than, say, someone who lives off the gas grid, needs an alternative fuel for heating such as oil or solid fuel, has solid walls with limited scope for insulation to current standards. There will also be an element of geography involved. If you live in a sheltered area surrounded by other properties you will be less likely to qualify than a property 1000 feet above sea level in an exposed rural area.
So WHD is automatic for the Core Group, you need to Qualify on High Heating Costs for the 'Broader Group'. If you do qualify, then you go into the scheme. However, this to some extent is dependent on the 'pot' that each energy supplier has. If all qualifying payments are made to the Broader Group an there are still funds available from the supplier, then an number of 'discretionary places' may be available. On the flip side, if the pot has already run out, there are some who would perhaps qualify had the pot been bigger but who may be unable to receive the discount.
It's a complex system, but far more people will qualify than in previous years. Rather than automatically give the discount to one specific group who may not even need the benefit, it is a more targeted approach. Whether it works or not and how and when the discounts are made available remains to be seen.
What the qualifications are have not been explicitly defined, but the VOA will be looking at the UK housing stock 'in the round', choosing a level for which they deem the 'high heating cost' applies, then everything one side of that line will qualify, and anything the other side won't qualify.
