The Funding Directory - part of SUST.org

Winter Fuel Payments

What is Funded:

A Winter Fuel Payment is a tax-free payment for older people.

Winter Fuel Payment is paid every year over the winter months to help with your fuel costs.  However, it does not matter how you use the money.  Winter Fuel Payments do not depend on how cold the weather gets.  There are other payments that are only paid when the weather reaches a certain temperature, called cold weather payments. These are made to people on some income- related benefits during cold weather.

For more information about cold weather payments, see Help for people on a low income – the Social Fund.

Funding Levels:

The rate of the Winter Fuel Payment is usually announced in the summer before the qualifying week in September.

For the winter of 2010/11 the Winter Fuel Payment is £250 per household (£400 where you or your partner are aged 80 or over).

If you live in a care home, you get a reduced rate of Winter Fuel Payment. In 2010/11, this is £125 or £200 if you are 80 or over. However, if you live in a care home and get Pension Credit, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), you will not get a Winter Fuel Payment at all.

If you are not sure which rate of Winter Fuel Payment you are entitled to, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Scotland Bureau. To search for details of your nearest branch, including those that can give advice by email, click on your nearest Citizens Advice Scotland.

Criteria:

If you're a woman, you can claim a Winter Fuel Payment when you reach state pension age. You must be state pension age in the qualifying week for the winter concerned. The qualifying week always begins on the third Monday of September.

If you're a man, you can claim a Winter Fuel Payment when you reach the state pension age of a woman with the same date of birth as you. You must be this age in the qualifying week for the winter concerned. To qualify for a Winter Fuel Payment for the winter of 2010/2011 you must have been born on or before 5 July 1950.

There are some people who cannot get a payment even if they are the qualifying age.  You will not get a Winter Fuel Payment if:

• you are in hospital, during the qualifying week, and have been there for over a year, or
• you are in prison after being sentenced, or
• you live in a care home and get Pension Credit, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, or income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), or
• your partner has reached the qualifying age for a Winter Fuel Payment  and gets Pension Credit, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or income-related ESA for both of you. The Winter Fuel Payment will be made to them.

You have to live in the UK to get a Winter Fuel Payment and have no immigration conditions on your stay here.

If you are not sure whether or not you can get a Winter Fuel Payment, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Scotland Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on your nearest CAB.

Application Process:

Most people who are entitled to a Winter Fuel Payment do not need to make a claim. If you get State Pension, Pension Credit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit, Carer’s Allowance, Severe Disablement Allowance or a Bereavement Benefit, and you are getting one of these benefits in the qualifying week you do not need to make a claim. A Winter Fuel Payment will be made automatically.

If you successfully claimed a Winter Fuel Payment the previous year and your circumstances have not changed, you also do not need to make a claim.

If you are not getting one of these benefits in the qualifying week and you have not successfully claimed a Winter Fuel Payment before, you will have to make a claim. 

If this does not happen, you can get a claim form from the Winter Fuel Payments helpline or from the www.gov.uk website

New Build: Yes

Exisiting Housing: Yes

External Links:

Winter Fuel Payments