Winter Fuel Payments
Every household with a resident aged over 60 will be eligible for extra money in winter to help with fuel bills.
If you receive Pension Credit you will also receive a Cold Weather Payment of £8.50 when the weather is freezing or below.
This information covers people aged 60 and over who live in the UK. It doesn't apply to people living in a care home.
Cold Weather Payment
If you get any Pension Credit, you will get an extra payment each complete week that the weather is very cold. This Cold Weather Payment is £8.50 a week and is made for any period of seven days when the temperature is freezing or below, or it is forecast to be that cold. This payment will be sent automatically - you do not have to claim it.
Winter Fuel Payment
Every household which includes someone aged 60 or more will get a Winter Fuel Payment this winter to help with their fuel bills. The payment is £200, with an additional amount of £50, if there is someone aged at least 60 in the house; and £300, with an additional amount of £100, if there is someone aged at least 80. The qualifying date is 21 September 2008 so the £300 payment is made if the oldest person was born on 21 September 1928 or earlier and it is £200 if the oldest person was born on 21 September 1948 or earlier. It should be paid before Christmas, directly into your bank or building society account, or by cheque sent to your home.
The additional amounts are only for this year: 2008–09
Your household may get more than these amounts if there are more than two people aged 60 or more, or if two or more people are making separate claims for Pension Credit (a couple receiving Pension Credit only counts as one joint claim).
The Winter Fuel Payment is not means-tested or taxable. Nor does it count as ‘capital’ when you come to work out your entitlement to the benefits explained in this leaflet. Most people will receive their Winter Fuel Payment automatically without making a claim.
But people aged 60–64 who do not get a State Retirement Pension should claim the Winter Fuel Payment. You don’t have to be receiving any particular benefit to get a Winter Fuel Payment – you qualify simply by your age.
Up to 40,000 people of this age do not get the payment each year.
If you think you qualify for a Winter Fuel Payment but it has not arrived by the middle of December 2008, call the Winter Fuel Payments Helpline on 08459 15 15 15.
