DWP giving out free £175 fee this winter should you hit particular standards
A £175 payment from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) could be a lifeline to fill the gap left by the scrapped universal Winter Fuel Payments for state pensioners.
Labour Party MP Liz Kendall has written an open letter in response to the Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ decision but claims that the government is dedicated to supporting the elderly with initiatives like the £150 Warm Home Discount and £25 Cold Weather Payments.
“At the time of the original policy decision, the internal modelling showed that compared to the numbers that would have been in poverty without this policy, restricting Winter Fuel Payment eligibility would result in each year in question an estimated additional 100,000 pensioners in relative poverty after housing costs in 2025/26, 50,000 in both 26/27 and 27/28 and 100,000 in 28/29. For absolute poverty after housing costs, it is estimated that an additional 50,000 pensioners will be in poverty in each year in question from 25/26 to 28/29,” she explained.
READ MORE: People on these DWP benefits could get ‘additional’ £2,400
READ MORE: £10 DWP Christmas Bonus already landing in bank accounts for eligible benefit claimants
The Winter Fuel Payment, an annual payment designed to assist with heating costs during winter, now requires recipients to have reached State Pension age and receive a qualifying means-tested benefit, as announced by the Government in July 2024.
The Warm Home Discount scheme is also an annual payment which is used to help out people living off a low income or pension. To qualify, you need to either get the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit on be on a low income and have high energy costs.
Eligibility for a Cold Weather Payment may also apply during prolonged cold spells.
You may get Cold Weather Payments if you’re getting:
- Pension Credit
- Income Support
- income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
- income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Universal Credit
- Support for Mortgage Interest
Ms Kendall added: “We have also put in place extra financial support for the most vulnerable households including pensioners through the £150 Warm Home Discount to help with energy bills, the Cold Weather Payments and our extension of the Household Support Fund. Means-testing Winter Fuel Payments was not a decision this government wanted or expected to take.”
But she admitted tough choices had to be made, reasoning: “However, we were forced to take difficult decisions to balance the books in light of the £22 billion black hole we inherited.”
