State pensioners born before 1953 are eligible for a cash boost of £550 before January. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) offers additional financial support to eligible pensioners struggling with essential costs during the winter.
Available is a Winter Fuel Payment worth up to £300, a Warm Home Discount worth £150, and Cold Weather Payments worth £25 per week, or £100 if issued every week in December. This means that there’s potential to claim up to £550 worth of payments from the DWP before January, providing pensioners with a much-needed cash boost at what is always a very expensive time of the year.
Pensioners who were born before 1953 will qualify for the DWP’s Warm Home Discount Scheme which provides a one-off £150 discount on your electricity bill. It is paid automatically by energy suppliers, rather than directly into your bank account, and there’s a total of 27 suppliers that are part of the scheme, including British Gas, E. On, EDF, Octopus Energy and Scottish Power. You’ll qualify for the discount if you get either the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit or you’re on a low income and have high energy costs.
Pensioners that meet the eligibility criteria will see the discount applied to their bill between now and March 31, 2025, and don’t need to do anything to apply for it – you’ll get it automatically, reports the Express.
Moreover, anyone claiming Pension Credit will be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment, which can be up to £300. If you’re not already receiving this benefit, you have until Saturday, December 21, to submit a claim for both backdated Pension Credit and your Winter Fuel Payment.
To qualify, you must have reached State Pension age and have an income less than £218.15 per week (or £332.95 for couples). If your income is between £218 and £235 per week (or £333 to £350 for couples), you may still qualify depending on your circumstances.
This means that pensioners who claim the Basic State Pension should be eligible for Pension Credit as it only amounts to £169.50. Therefore, if you’re a man born on or after April 6, 1951, or a woman born on or after April 6, 1953, you can apply for the benefit and consequently qualify for the Winter Fuel Payment.
If you were born before 1953 and receive the New State Pension, you’ll be paid at a rate of £221.20 per week, which is above the threshold for Pension Credit eligibility. In this case, you may not be eligible for Pension Credit or the Winter Fuel Payment as your income is too high, unless the amount you get is lower due to missing National Insurance qualifying years, for example.
Those who do meet the criteria should receive the Winter Fuel Payment, which is automatically paid in November or December. You should receive a letter from the DWP informing you of how much you’re entitled to and which account the money will be deposited into.
Pensioners may also be eligible for Cold Weather Payments before January if the temperature in their area is recorded as, or forecast to be, 0C or below over seven consecutive days. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will pay £25 for each seven-day period of very cold weather up to March 31, 2025.
This means that individuals could potentially receive up to £100 if temperatures are below 0C for four weeks of the month. With the Met Office predicting snow over the Christmas period, it’s likely that payments will be triggered in some postcodes.
If you’re due a payment, the money will appear in your bank within 14 days and the reference will start with your National Insurance number followed by ‘DWP CWP’.