Seasonal support like Winter Fuel Payments will start being distributed in November
As the temperature plummets and living costs soar, the Department for Work and Pensions is set to reopen three seasonal benefit schemes in November to aid households through the winter. The absence of bank holidays during the month also means that most standard benefit payments like Universal Credit should be dispatched as usual.
People who are scheduled to receive their DWP benefits on a bank holiday or weekend will typically get their money on the first working day prior. For instance, if you’re anticipating your PIP money on Saturday, November 15, it will likely be paid on Friday, November 14 instead.
Benefits that should be paid out as normal in November:
- Universal credit
- State pension
- Pension credit
- Child benefit
- Disability living allowance (DLA)
- Personal independence payment (PIP)
- Attendance allowance
- Carer’s allowance
- Employment support allowance (ESA)
- Income support
- Jobseeker’s allowance
The precise day you receive your benefit payment usually hinges on when you began receiving it. Some benefits like Attendance Allowance, Carer’s Allowance and Pension Credit will be paid out every four weeks from the first time you receive the payment, while Universal Credit payments are sent out on the same day each month.
State Pension and Maternity Allowance, among other payments, offer individuals the choice to receive payments either monthly or weekly. The old state pension is paid every four weeks, with the exact day depending on your National Insurance number.
However, in November some households will start receiving some extra cash from the DWP as three winter benefit schemes reopen:
- Winter Fuel Payments
- Warm Home Discounts
- Cold Weather Payments
Winter Fuel payments
Winter Fuel payments provide between £100 to £300 for eligible households in a once-off payment. For this winter season, most eligible people will be paid in November or December 2025.
Most people get the Winter Fuel Payment automatically if they’re eligible. Eligibility can be checked on the Gov.uk website.
Warm Home Discounts
This benefit provides a one-off £150 discount applied directly to your electricity bill by your supplier if you are eligible. This scheme reopens at the end of October and should be automatically applied to your bill if you are eligible unless you are on a low income in Scotland in which case you’ll need to contact your energy supplier. More information can be found on the Gov.uk website.
Cold Weather Payments
This DWP benefit starts on November 1, 2025 and will run until March 31, 2026. It provides £25 for each eligible household in an area where the temperature is forecast or recorded as zero degrees or below for seven consecutive days.
The Gov.uk website has postcode checker tools that can help people figure out if their area had weather that was cold enough to qualify. The payments should be made automatically within 14 working days of the period of cold weather.
