What is the fuel payment for winter?
The Winter Fuel Payment helps pensioners pay for their energy costs during the colder months. It has usually helped all pensioners. But because of big changes for 2024, fewer people will be able to get this important help. Over 10 million people will be affected because they are pensioners or receive other means-tested payments.
Changes to Who Can Get Your Winter Fuel Payment
The Winter Fuel Payment used to be open to everyone, but now it’s only for low-income pensioners. This means that only people who get certain benefits, like pension credit, are qualified. The government made this change to focus on the most needy people, but charities, unions, and MPs said it left out many people who are still having a hard time with money. Critics point out that a lot of pensioners don’t claim benefits like pension credit even though they are qualified, which leaves big gaps in support.
How much does the winter fuel payment cost?
The amount of money is based on your age and benefits.
£200 for people who were born between September 23, 1944, and September 22, 1958 and meet the requirements.
£300 for people born before September 23, 1944.
When a couple claims benefits together, only one payment is sent to each home.
How to Be Eligible for Pension Credit
The Winter Fuel Payment is closely connected to pension credit, which gives low-income people who get a state pension extra money. In addition to adding to your income, pension credit gives you access to other benefits, such as lower council tax, free TV licenses for people over 75, and help with NHS bills.
To be eligible for pension credit, you usually need to:
less than £218.15 a week for single people or £332.95 a week for pairs.
It also takes into account savings and other factors.
The Winter Fuel Payment should be sent to you if you are eligible for pension credit for at least one day between September 16th and September 22nd, 2024. But the last day to apply for pension credit and make sure you would get the payment in 2024 was December 21, 2023.
Processing payments can be hard
Winter Fuel Payments are usually sent out in November or December, but there may be delays because more people are claiming pension credits. As of November 2023, there were already 90,000 applications waiting to be processed, and more may add to the wait time. To fix this, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has hired 500 more people to help handle claims faster.
What it means for the poorest pensioners
The change in policy makes people worry that more retirees will become poor. Official figures say that by March 2025, an extra 50,000 pensioners will be living in poverty, and that number will continue to rise each year after that. Being relative poor means making less than 60% of the median pay.
Even with these numbers, government officials are still in favor of the changes, saying that resources should go to those who need them the most. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions said that this choice was hard but essential. Critics, on the other hand, stress how important it is to get people to file for pension credits since about 760,000 eligible pensioners are not registered.
What To Do Next
If you think you might be eligible for pension credit, you can use the government’s online tool to find out. Putting in a claim can help you get other financial aid as well as improve your income.
For more help, the independent MoneyHelper website has a lot of information on benefits, such as how to fix problems with claims.
