Thousands of state pensioners who lost their Winter Fuel Payments may be entitled to get them back.
The Department for Word and Pensions (DWP) has written to 120,000 pensioners who receive Housing Benefit and may also be entitled to Pension Credit in a bid to persuade them to claim.
To qualify for a Winter Fuel Payment you must be born before a certain date, live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, and receive on 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 or Working Tax Credit.
Those who received a Winter Fuel Payment for winter 2024-25 will have been born before September 23, 1958, and will have needed to claim one of the benefits above in the week beginning September 16, 2024.
Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall wrote to Parliament’s Work and Pensions Select Committee in November to notify members her department had written to the 120,000 pensioners.
She also told them in her letter: “In the longer term, we are working to bring together the administration of Pension Credit and Housing Benefit, to ensure that pensioner households receive the benefits to which they are entitled.”
Ms Kendall told the Committee means testing the Winter Fuel Payment wasn’t a decision the Government expected to take, but it was forced to to help plug a £22bn black hole in the UK’s public finances. That figure has been disputed by some.
Government estimates sent to the Committee show that about an extra 50,000 pensioners could be exposed to “hardship” after the means testing of the Winter Fuel Payment was introduced.
DWP has received 215,000 Pension Credit applications since April 2024, making decisions on 161,800. In total, 81,000 claimants were successful while 81,500 were not.
This includes 42,500 claims which were approved in the 16 weeks after Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced her decision to strip the payment from millions of pensioners, saving the Treasury about £1.4billion.
If you live alone, you will get either £200 if you were born between September 23, 1944, and September 22, 1958, or £300 if you were born before September 23, 1944.
However, if you and your partner jointly claim any of the benefits listed above, then 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, or £300 if one or both of you were born before September 23, 1944.
If you live in a care home and are eligible, then you will get either £200 if you were born between September 23, 1944, and September 22, 1958, or £300 if you were born before September 23, 1944.
For those who are not sure if they are eligible, call the Winter Fuel Payment Centre. But be aware that you can’t make a claim over the phone.
Telephone 0800 731 0169 or for textphone contact Relay UK on 18001 then 0800 731 0160. The centre’s operating hours are 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday.
