DWP will pay free £200 winter payment to people born before this exact date

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will pay a £200 Winter Fuel Payment to state pensioners born before a certain date this winter.

The eligibility criteria for Winter Fuel Payments is changing - previously, you used to receive this payment if you're over state pension age, but now, you must to be in receipt of means-tested benefits including Pension Credit. This decision by Labour means around ten million fewer pensioners will receive a Winter Fuel Payment this year.

You must have been claiming one of the following benefits between September 16 and September 22, 2024 to get a Winter Fuel Payment:

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Pension Credit
• Universal Credit

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If you're eligible, you'll get £200 if:

• You live alone and you were born between September 23, 1944 and September 22, 1958
• You live with someone and one or both of you were born between September 23, 1944 and September 22, 1958

You'll get a £300 Winter Fuel Payment if:

• You live alone and you were born before September 23, 1944
• You live with someone and one or both of you were born before September 23, 1944

Most people who are eligible will be paid automatically and you should receive a letter in October or November saying how much you’ll get. The majority of people are then paid in November and December. You won't be entitled to a Winter Fuel Payment if you lived in a care home for the whole time from June 24 to September 22, 2024. You can still be eligible if you live in a care home on a temporary basis, which is less than 13 weeks by the end of the qualifying period.

You also won't be eligible if you've been in hospital getting free treatment for more than a year, if you needed permission to enter the UK and your granted leave says that you cannot claim public funds, or if you are in prison for the whole of the week of September 16 to September 22, 2024.

If you live abroad, you'll need to make a claim for a Winter Fuel Payment You must have moved to an eligible EEA country or Switzerland before December 31, 2020 and be covered by the Withdrawal Agreement, to get a Winter Fuel Payment. As well as getting the UK state pension, you must also be getting a qualifying benefit from the country you live in. Finally, must have a genuine and sufficient link to the UK.

The DWP explains: "You will need to claim Winter Fuel Payment even if you have got it before. The payment is not made automatically. Download and fill in form IPCF091, if you’re a UK national or UK dual national living in an eligible country other than Ireland. If you’ve not claimed Winter Fuel Payment before, you’ll also need to fill in a Winter Fuel Payment claim form."

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