The winter fuel payment is aimed at helping pensioners pay for higher fuel bills during the colder months. 

About 11.5 million pensioners will receive up to £600 – this amount includes a £300 per household pensioner cost of living payment.

Here is everything you need to know about when and how the payment will be made, who is eligible, and what to do if you don’t receive your payment.

Who is eligible for the winter fuel payment?

You can get a winter fuel payment if you were born before 25 September 1957.

You usually need to live in the UK to qualify for the payment.

But if you moved to an eligible country before 1 January 2021, and have a “genuine and sufficient link to the UK” – such as living and working here previously – you will qualify.

The eligible countries are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, and Switzerland.

There are some cases where you will not be eligible, including if you have been in hospital for all of the last year, if you were in prison for the whole of the week of 18 to 24 September 2023, and if you lived in a care home for the whole time from 26 June to 24 September 2023.

How much is the winter fuel payment?

The winter fuel payment is between £250 and £600.

If you live alone or no one you live with is eligible for the winter fuel payment, you will get either:

• £500 if you were born between 25 September 1943 and 24 September 1957
• £600 if you were born before 25 September 1943

If you live with someone else who is eligible for the winter fuel payment, the payment may be split between the two of you.

Exactly how that is done depends on when you were born and what benefits you receive.

Your payment may be different if you receive one of these benefits: pension credit, income-based jobseeker’s allowance (JSA), income-related employment and support allowance (ESA), and income support.

If you and your partner jointly claim any of these benefits, one of you will get a payment of £500 if both of you were born between 25 September 1943 and 24 September 1957, or £600 if one or both of you were born before 25 September 1943.

If you do not claim the benefits jointly, you will get an individual payment: again, £500 if you were born between 25 September 1943 and 24 September 1957 or £600 if you were born before 25 September 1943.

If you do not get any of the benefits, you will get a payment of either:

• £250 if you and the person you live with were both born between 25 September 1943 and 24 September 1957
• £250 if you were born between 25 September 1943 and 24 September 1957 but the person you live with was born before 25 September 1943
• £350 if you were born before 25 September 1943 but the person you live with was born between 25 September 1943 and 24 September 1957
• £300 if you and the person you live with were both born before 25 September 1943.

Care home residents can still get the payment, but it is less.

Eligible care home residents will get £250 if they were born between 25 September 1943 and 24 September 1957 and £300 if they were born before 25 September 1943.

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How do you get the winter fuel payment?

Most people get the winter fuel payment automatically.

If you’re eligible, you should have received a letter in October or November saying how much you’ll get.

You will get the payment automatically if you receive the state pension or another benefit, including pension credit, attendance allowance, personal independence payment (PIP), carers allowance, disability living allowance (DLA), income support, income-related employment and support allowance (ESA), income-based jobseeker’s allowance (JSA), awards from the war pensions scheme, industrial injuries disablement benefit, incapacity benefit, and industrial death benefit.

If you do not get any of these, you will need to claim – but only if you’ve not got the payment before.

You’ll also need to make a claim if you have deferred your state pension since your last winter fuel payment. Details on how to claim by post or phone are on the government website.

When is the winter fuel payment paid?

The winter fuel payment will be paid directly into your bank account in November or December.

It will appear in bank statements with the payment reference starting with the customer’s National Insurance number followed by ‘DWP WFP’ for people in Great Britain, or ‘DFC WFP’ for people in Northern Ireland.

What should you do if the payment doesn’t come through?

If you do not get a letter or the money has not been paid into your account by 26 January 2024, contact the winter fuel payment centre.