MILLIONS of retirees can get cash worth up to £600 to help with energy bills – but they should receive it by a certain date.
Anyone on a state pension and other benefits should have automatically received a winter fuel payment by January 13.
It is designed to help older people with the cost of heating their homes over winter.
The payment is tax-free and worth between £250 and £600 per household.
How much you'll get depends on your specific circumstances.
It is usually worth less, but the government is offering further pensioner cost of living payments worth between £150 and £300 on top of the normal winter fuel payment amounts as energy bills soar.
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Anyone who is eligible but doesn't get the payment automatically needs to apply by March 31.
But for those where payments are made automatically, January 13 is the latest day the money should have arrived.
If the payment hasn't been made by this date, eligible pensioners should contact the Winter Fuel Payment Centre online, by phone or post.
The specific contact details will depend on where you live. The full list can be found on the gov.uk website.
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Either way, you'll need the following information to hand:
- National Insurance number
- bank or building society details
- BIC and IBAN numbers if you live in the European Economic Area or Switzerland
- the date you were married or entered into a civil partnership (if appropriate)
You will also need to tell the Winter Fuel Payment Centre if you were in hospital or a residential home between June 27 and September 25, 2022.
Who is eligible for winter fuel payments?
You'll qualify for a winter fuel payment if both of the following apply:
- you were born on or before September 25, 1956
- you lived in the UK for at least one day during the week of September 19 to 25, 2022, in what is known as the "qualifying week"
If you did not live in the UK during the qualifying week, you will still get the payment if both the following apply:
- you live in Switzerland or a EEA country
- you have a "genuine and sufficient" link with the UK social security system, such as having lived or worked in the UK and having a family in the UK
But there are exclusions – you can’t get the payment if you live in Cyprus, France, Gibraltar, Greece, Malta, Portugal or Spain.
This is because the average winter temperature is higher than the warmest region of the UK.
You will also not qualify if you:
- are in hospital getting free treatment for more than a year
- need permission to enter the UK and your granted leave states that you can not claim public funds
- were in prison for the whole "qualifying week"
- lived in a care home for the whole time between 28 June to 26 September 2021, and got Pension Credit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or income-related Employment and Support Allowance
You may still be able to get the postcode-based cold weather payment or apply for the warm home discount scheme, even if you don't qualify for winter fuel payment.
Do I need to apply for the payment?
Most people eligible for the winter fuel payment get it automatically. Payments should be made by January 13.
You won't need to make a claim if you receive any of the following:
- State Pension
- 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
- Industrial Death Benefit
If you do not receive any of the above, you'll need to claim if either of the following apply:
- you’ve not got the winter fuel payment since moving abroad
- you’ve deferred your state pension since your last winter fuel payment
You can claim by phone on 0800 731 0160, post or online.
If it's by post, you have to go on the government's website and fill in a form and post it to Winter Fuel Payment Centre, Mail Handling Site A, Wolverhampton, WV98 1LR.
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Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing [email protected]
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