The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) recently announced that 11.6million Winter Fuel Payments and Pensioner Cost of Living Payments - support worth a total of £4.6billion - have been made to older people across the UK, including 973,604 living in Scotland.
DWP also said that the vast majority of these payments, worth up to £600 per household, landed in pensioners’ bank accounts automatically. However, the payment window closed on Friday January 13, 2023 and people who have not yet received the money, and believe they are eligible are being urged by DWP to check their bank accounts to make sure they have not been missed before contacting the Winter Fuel Payment Centre online here or by calling them on 0800 731 0160.
The payments appear in bank statements with the reference beginning with the customer’s National Insurance number followed by ‘DWP WFP’.
DWP said that while the overwhelming majority of Winter Fuel Payments are paid automatically, some people need to make a claim.
This includes those who qualify but do not receive benefits or the State Pension and have never previously received a Winter Fuel Payment. People who need to make a claim have until March 31, 2023 to do so - full details on how to do this can be found on GOV.UK here.
Winter Fuel Payments have been boosted in 2022/23 by an additional £300 per household Pensioner Cost of Living payment as part of an extensive UK Government package helping people of all ages with the cost of heating their homes over the colder months.
This includes providing households with £400 towards their energy bills, with the UK Government’s £2,500 Energy Price Guarantee saving the typical household another £900 on top of this.
In addition, millions of payments of up to £650 have been made to low-income households on eligible means-tested benefits as part of the UK Government’s cost of living support - this includes pensioners receiving Pension Credit.
The average Pension Credit award is worth over £3,500 a year and the online Pension Credit calculator can quickly help older people or their friends or family members check if they’re likely to be eligible and get an estimate of what they may receive - find out more here.
Further cost of living support to be paid in 2023/24 has also been confirmed. Payments will include a further £300 for pensioner households, up to £900 for households on means-tested benefits and £150 for those on eligible disability benefits - find out more here.
To keep up to date with the latest State Pension news, join our Money Saving Scotland Facebook page here, or subscribe to our newsletter which goes out four times each week - sign up here.
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