If you worry about making payments on your home energy bills over the winter period, you should be aware of the benefits you may be entitled to if you have reached pension age and are living in the UK.
Winter Fuel Allowance is one such benefit that provides a huge amount of help to many people each year. Here, we are breaking down everything you need to know about this, including what it is, how much you could receive, how you access it, whether or not you are eligible, and a few reasons you may not be eligible. We will also cover when you are likely to receive payment, how to make a claim, how to challenge a decision, and offer information on how Winter Fuel Allowance payments will work in 2024.
At Home Instead, our aim is to help people age positively and in place by bringing expert care to their home. For nearly 20 years, we have been providing the highest standard of domiciliary care, and creating industry-leading training programmes for our Care Professionals that are accredited by nursing and medical professionals. Today, we are the world’s largest global home care network, supporting over 100,000 older adults with personalised, tailored care at home. So whatever questions you have about whether or not benefits could help you access home care, we can help.
The Winter Fuel Allowance is an annual, tax-free payment from the government for pension-aged individuals living in the UK. It is designed to help them cover heating costs in winter, which are often higher than at any other point in the year.
This payment is not means tested, but it is based on age, and will not affect any other benefits that a person receives.
You may be eligible for Winter Fuel Allowance if you were born before 25 September 1957, and if you live in the UK. In certain circumstances, you might be eligible if you live abroad.
You could receive between £250 and £600 to help pay your heating bills over winter, and this amount will include a Pensioner Cost of Living Payment of between £150 and £300. You can get this on top of other Cost of Living Payments you get with your benefit or tax credits. Exactly how much you will receive depends on your age and several other factors. Here are the different brackets you could fall into:
Your payment could be different if you get Pension Credit, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or Income Support. If you do not get any of the above, you will get a payment of either:
There are some circumstances in which you may not be entitled to Winter Fuel Allowance, such as:
Many people wonder about how to make a claim for Winter Fuel Allowance so they receive it in plenty of time before the temperatures start to drop. The qualifying week for this is usually the week beginning the third Monday in September, but you do not normally need to make a claim if you already receive one of the following benefits:
If you do not receive any of the above benefits you may need to make a claim, but usually this is only if you have never received Winter Fuel Allowance before, or you have deferred your State Pension since your last Winter Fuel Allowance payment was made.
In most cases, pensioners will receive Winter Fuel Allowance automatically (if eligible), and will also receive a letter between October and November to provide information on how much will be sent, and how this will work.
If you believe you may need to fill in a Winter Fuel Allowance claim form, you can get the form at this link, and send it to the dedicated Winter Fuel Payment Centre by the date mentioned on the government website (you will find the most up-to-date information on dates on this page). Send your completed form to:
Winter Fuel Payment Centre
Mail Handling Site A
Wolverhampton
WV98 1LR
If you would like to make a claim by phone, you can do so by calling the Winter Fuel Payment Centre on: 0800 731 0160 (Textphone: contact Relay UK on 18001 then 0800 731 0160, or British Sign Language video relay service).
For this call, you will usually need to have a few bits of information to hand, such as your National Insurance Number, bank or building society details, and the date you were married or entered into a civil partnership (if relevant).
Your Winter Fuel Allowance payment should be paid into your bank account (the same one you have your pension paid into) in either November or December, and in most cases you will receive the payment before Christmas.
If you believe you might have missed a Winter Fuel Allowance payment, check that this has not been missed on your bank statement before calling the Winter Fuel Payment Centre. Your payment will usually appear with a reference that begins in the same way as your National Insurance Number, with ‘DWP WFP’ somewhere in the reference.
Sometimes benefits decisions are made based on incorrect information or a lack of available information. In these instances, you may need to challenge the decision. This is not always as difficult and stressful as it sounds.
If you think you have been wrongly denied Winter Fuel Allowance or believe you should be entitled to more than you have been paid, you can appeal the decision and ask for your situation to be reviewed. You can find out more about appealing a benefit decision on the GOV.UK website. If you still disagree with the decision after this step has been taken, you can appeal to an independent tribunal, however in many cases the issue can be resolved with the first escalation.
Knowing what benefits you are entitled to can be extremely helpful, as you could be eligible for payments that you aren’t aware of. Additional payments could relieve any financial worries you are facing and improve your quality of life, so it is always worth looking into.
It can be difficult and sometimes confusing to figure out which benefits you are eligible to claim for, but most information can be found online if you have access to the internet. If not, try speaking to a loved one to see if they can help you find what you need.
To learn more about the benefits you could be utilising, you can use the Age UK benefits calculator, or visit the GOV.UK website for a list of all available benefits you could look into.
You will also find more information on financial benefits in our guide: Financial Benefits For Pensioners: Topping Up Your Income.
Home Instead is an award-winning home care provider and part of a worldwide organisation devoted to providing the highest-quality relationship-led care for older people in their own homes. Arranging care for yourself or your loved one shouldn’t be stressful, so whatever questions you would like answered, feel free to reach out to the team to discuss your needs.