STATE OF PAY
All the extra state pension payments landing in bank accounts this month worth up to £465
Scroll down to see who is eligible for the cash
STATE Pensioners could be in line for a windfall worth up to £465 this month.
The cash comes via the Winter Fuel Payment, Cold Weather Payments and Warm Home Discount.
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All three are worth up to £465 combined, which could come in more than handy over the colder months.
Here's everything you need to know about the payments and discount.
Winter Fuel Payment
The Winter Fuel Payment is worth up to £300 and goes to those on means-tested benefits. Read the full list below.
This winter, it should be paid to most eligible people by January 29.
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It used to be paid to all those of state pension age or older, but was axed for millions this winter.
You qualify if you were born before September 23, 1958.
If you live alone and were born between September 23, 1944, and September 22, 1958 you will get £200.
You will receive £300 if you were born before September 23, 1944.
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If you and your partner jointly claim any of the qualifying benefits, one of you will get a payment of either:
- £200 if one or both of you were born between September 23 1944 and September 22 1958
- £300 if one or both of you were born before September 23 1944
Winter Fuel Payment Changes
You must also live in England or Wales and get one of the following benefits:
- Pension Credit
- Universal Credit
- income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
- Income Support
- Child Tax Credit
- Working Tax Credit
You’ll also need to have been getting a benefit during the qualifying week of September 16 to 22, 2024.
In some circumstances, you might be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment if you live abroad, for example if you live in:
- 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
- Switzerland
You aren't eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment if you live in Scotland or have been in hospital getting free treatment for more than a year.
You also don't qualify if were in prison for the whole of the week of September 16 to 22, 2024, or you were living in a care home for the from June 24 to September 22, 2024.
You will qualify for a Winter Fuel Payment if you have lived in a care home for less than 13 weeks including the week of September 16 to 22, 2024, though.
Cold Weather Payment
Cold Weather Payments are issued to those on certain benefits in England, Wales and Northern Ireland when temperatures drop, or are forecast to drop, to zero degrees Celsius or below for seven consecutive days.
You receive £25 for each seven-day period of cold weather between November and March.
That means if you live in an area where there are a series of seven-day periods of cold weather, you could receive more than £25.
Households in Scotland aren't eligible for Cold Weather Payments but get a Winter Heating Payment instead.
More information can be found at www.mygov.scot/winter-heating-payment.
The list of qualifying benefits is:
- Pension Credit
- Income Support
- income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
- income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Universal Credit
You can also get the payments if you receive support for mortgage interest.
However, depending on each benefit, there is other criteria you might have to fulfil to be eligible.
For example, if you're on Universal Credit you will only qualify if you are unemployed or "gainfully self-employed", or your partner is unemployed or "gainfully self-employed".
You are considered gainfully self-employed if being self-employed is your main job, you work regularly and expect to make a profit.
One of the following must also apply:
- you or your partner have a health condition or disability and have limited capability for work (with or without work-related activity)
- you have a child under five living with you
You are also eligible if you have a disabled child amount included in your Universal Credit claim.
There are also other eligibility criteria attached if you claim Income Support and income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or get support for mortgage interest (SMI).
You can find all the details on the gov.uk website.
Bear in mind, if you have a baby or a child under five living with you, you will need to tell your local Jobcentre Plus if you get Income Support, JSA or ESA.
You won't get an automatic Cold Weather Payment if you don't.
Warm Home Discount
The Warm Home Discount (WHD) is a £150 reduction on your electricity or gas bill applied by energy firms once a year.
In the vast majority of cases, you will receive the discount automatically and don't need to apply.
Letters are also sent to households eligible for the discount to let them know when to expect it.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero administers the WHD each year and confirmed to The Sun that most letters should be received between October and December this year.
Households in England and Wales qualify for the WHD if they fall into two groups - "core group 1" and "core group 2".
Core group 1 is those receiving the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit who are guaranteed the discount.
Core group 2 is those receiving any number of benefits and having what's known as a high energy cost score.
The list of benefits that puts you into core group 2 is: Housing Benefit, income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Income Support, the "Savings Credit" part of Pension Credit and Universal Credit.
You may also qualify if your household income falls below a certain threshold and you get tax credits.
Your energy cost score is based on the type, age and size of your property and is assessed by the Government.
Households in Scotland don't have to apply for WHD if they are on the Guarantee Credit part of Pension Credit.
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However, if you fall outside this group, you have to apply directly via your energy supplier.
The discount is usually applied between October and March, typically as a credit on your account depending on how you pay for your energy.
Are you missing out on benefits?
YOU can use a benefits calculator to help check that you are not missing out on money you are entitled to
Charity works out what you could get.
Entitledto's determines whether you qualify for various benefits, tax credit and Universal Credit.
MoneySavingExpert.com and charity StepChange both have benefits tools powered by Entitledto's data.
You can use to determine which benefits you could receive and how much cash you'll have left over each month after paying for housing costs.
Your exact entitlement will only be clear when you make a claim, but calculators can indicate what you might be eligible for.
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