Who Will Get the Winter Fuel Payment?

On 29^th July 2024, the UK government announced that some older people will no longer be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment they received last year. So, if you’re a senior who was expecting the Winter Fuel Payment, you might now be wondering whether you’ll still be eligible in the winter of 2024-25.

In this post, we’ll discuss the Winter Fuel Payment and how its eligibility has changed. We’ll also explore changes to this type of payment for elderly people in Scotland.

What is the Winter Fuel Payment?

It’s widely known that seniors are more vulnerable during extreme temperatures – whether that’s cold spells or heatwaves. This is partly because an elderly person’s body doesn’t adapt as efficiently to heat and cold. For example, older people may not sweat as easily. And on the other end of the thermometer, elderly people with high blood pressure may face increased risks of cardiovascular emergencies like strokes during frosty weather.

That’s one reason why wintertime is risky for seniors. Another is that older people might struggle more to meet the increasing cost of living. But if they can’t afford high fuel bills, their health might suffer.

With that in mind, it just makes sense that the government has created several different ways to help elderly people keep their homes warm. In the winter of 2023-24, for example, seniors could benefit from a Winter Fuel Payment, a Warm Home Discount on their energy bill, or a Cold Weather Payment during a cold snap.

In this post, we’ll only be discussing the Winter Fuel Payment. This was a benefit that was usually paid automatically in older people’s bank accounts in November or December. The amount of the payment varied between £100 and £300 depending on an older person’s circumstances, such as their age, any benefits they received, or whether they lived with a partner who was also receiving it. In 2023, the Winter Fuel Payment was bundled together with an extra cost of living payment of between £150 and £300 – so pensioners might have seen deposits of up to £600 in their bank accounts.

The key point to know about the Winter Fuel Payment in previous years is that eligibility was based simply on age. With a few exceptions, elderly people were eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment if they were born before 25 September 1957. They received £100 more if they were born even earlier, before 25 September 1943.

What has been changed about the Winter Fuel Payment?

Two main things have been changed about the Winter Fuel Payment – the eligibility criteria and how seniors in Scotland will receive it.

Eligibility

The main difference in the eligibility rules for the Winter Fuel Payment is that age alone will no longer be enough to qualify a senior for the payment. Going forward, it will be means tested. Only elderly people who receive the following benefits will receive the Winter Fuel Payment:

• Pension Credit
• Universal Credit
• Income-Based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income-Related Employment and Support Allowance
• Income Support

Changes in Scotland

The Scottish Government announced on the 14th August 2024 that it will follow the UK Government's lead in not providing the winter fuel payment to every pensioner. Responsibility for managing the allowance was due to become the Scottish Government’s in September 2024 but this has now been pushed back until the winter of 2025. The allowance in Scotland will be titled the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment, our HAWP for short. Confirmation of who will be entitled is yet to be published.

Why Pension Credit is so important

A major point in the discussions around the Winter Fuel Payment was Pension Credit. This is a benefit that seniors receive if they are past State Pension age and their income is below certain thresholds. Generally speaking, if a single senior has a weekly income of less than £218.15, or if a couple has a joint weekly income of less than £332.95, Pension Credit will top up their income to meet these figures.

It is estimated that large numbers of elderly people – up to 800,000 or even a million seniors – who are eligible for Pension Credit don’t claim it. But the changes to the Winter Fuel Payment will make it even more important for everyone eligible for Pension Credit to receive it.

If you are not sure whether you are eligible, try going to Entitledto.co.uk. This site allows you to check whether you can get Pension Credit or another type of benefit.

What to do if you believe you are eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment, but you haven’t received it

If you don’t receive a payment in the winter and you believe that’s an error, there are ways for you to claim the Winter Fuel Payment later on. However, if the rules around claiming remain the same, then you’ll have to be careful to claim by the springtime.

How SureSafe helps seniors stay safe in extreme temperatures

As we’ve mentioned, elderly people are more at risk of health effects from heat or cold. These outcomes can include fainting or dizziness with heatstroke, or even heart attacks in cold weather. And what’s particularly concerning is that older people may be less able to detect when their bodies are becoming overwhelmed.

In this situation, it’s vital that elderly people have a way of calling for help if they begin to feel that their health is in crisis. It’s also crucially important that help is called if an older person falls unconscious.

The answer to this problem is an elderly personal alarm. SureSafe’s leading alarm, the SureSafe GO, includes one-touch alarm functionality. This means that seniors can call for help with just the touch of a button – which is essential if they are feeling too ill to get to a phone.

Another key feature is fall detection. With this feature, the alarm detects when its wearer has fallen and raises the alert immediately – even if the older person is unconscious or unable to press a button.

So, if you’re a senior living alone or if you have an older loved one who lives independently, consider the peace of mind that a personal alarm affords. If you’d like to learn more about SureSafe’s highly reviewed, easy-to-use alarms, just give us a call at 0808 189 1671, speak with us through live chat or request a call back.