Winter Fuel Payments are worth up to £300 and are paid to people who were born before September 22, 1959
Around two million pensioners are set to lose their Winter Fuel Payment this year despite new rules being introduced to widen the eligibility criteria.
Winter Fuel Payments are worth up to £300 and are paid to people who were born before September 22, 1959.
However, if your income is over £35,000 a year, you will have to pay back your Winter Fuel Payment. The money will be sent to you, but then HMRC will claim it back through the tax system.
In most cases, the Winter Fuel Payment will be automatically recovered through PAYE by your tax code being changed. If you already use self-assessment, then it will need to be included in your tax return.
The £35,000 income eligibility is based on your individual income – so it may be that one person in your household gets to keep their share of the Winter Fuel Payment, while someone else has to pay their bit back.
For example, if one person earns £40,000 a year and their partner earns £30,000, the higher earner would have to pay back their share of the Winter Fuel Payment but the other person would keep theirs.
You could opt out of receiving your Winter Fuel Payment although, but the deadline for this was September 15, 2025. Winter Fuel Payments are normally sent in November or December by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The payments are worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged over 80. Your eligibility will be based on your age by the end of the qualifying week.
The qualifying week for this year is September 15 to 21, 2025.. If you receive one of the following benefits, then you will be sent your Winter Fuel Payment automatically:
- State Pension
- Pension Credit
- Universal Credit
- Attendance Allowance
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- Carer’s 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 claim any of these benefit, then you will need to claim your Winter Fuel Payment if either of the following apply:
- You’ve not had the Winter Fuel Payment before
- You’ve deferred your State Pension since your last Winter Fuel Payment
You won’t be eligible if you were in hospital getting free treatment for the whole of the qualifying week, and the year before that, or if you were in prison during the qualifying week.
You also weren’t eligible if you lived in a care home for the whole time from June 23, 2025 or earlier and you claim certain benefits including Universal Credit and Pension Credit.
In Scotland, the Winter Fuel Payment has been replaced with a new Pension Age Winter Heating Payment.
