Winter Fuel Allowance

I had my letter today for £300 as I was born before 22 September 1945.
However DH who also lives here had no letter but was also born before 22 September 1945.
Do you think a mistake has been made?. I read all the paperwork but no phone number to report a mistake.

I'm 80 and have been advised I'll receive £300. It will be very welcome with the way prices of everything are constantly increasing.

Actually I am in one sense better off since my husband died in that I get an increase in State Pension thanks to his contributions, and also get half his occupational pension as well as my own. Heating bills are the same (and so is WFA ) but Council Tax is discounted by 25% and water bills are less than before.
I appreciate that the same comments cannot be made for everyone and there is more than money to consider.

What I don't agree with is pension credit makes up the amount to a full pension but and it's a big but
Why do they get cost of living allowance on top
Reduced council tax too
Free TV licence over 75
Lots of other things at Reduced cost with pension credit
Someone on full pension with small amount or no savings don't get these other benefits.
So by not working all your life you are so much better off. Hundreds of £s better off every year.
All pensioners on full pension should get these extras if they don't have savings or a small amount of savings or nobody should get it
It's definitely unfair

Thank you for clarifying PaynesGray.

That had me having a quick flip of worry that my money would only be £100 - instead of £200. Right - sorted - £200 per household (which would be, in effect, £100 per person if one was married/living together - as the £200 would be shared between you both).

So £200 to my house - which uses just as much fuel as a couple would do if they were living in it - but they'd be way better off all round....because couples always are all else being equal (ie with two of them to share the bills).

One day I would love to have back all the extra that bills have cost me over the years - because I've been the only one paying them - as Mr Cariad never existed. #sighs. I'd make sure to add my share of married persons tax allowance in there too - that I used to miss every year whilst it still existed.

Have just thought of another question for Chat GPT - "Why does society make single people worse off?"

Stella14

It’s £100 per person now. It used to be £200 per household when one party reached the eligible age. Now single pensioners only get £100. Given that heating bills haven’t gone down and in fact keep rising, why isn’t this receiving any publicly?

Why isn't this receiving any publicity? It's because what you are saying is wrong.

This from the government website:

www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment/how-much-youll-get

If you live alone or no one you live with is eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment

You’ll get either:

• 200 if you were born between 22 September 1945 and 21 September 1959

• £300 if you were born before 22 September 1945

This is where I urge people to check for pension credits, because you get more and access to other things by having even a few pounds of credit, so get checking on the govt website.
If you have mobility issues and feel brave and persistent, then please go through the PIP minefield because you get it also then, and PIP is NOT means tested even though they do ask you a lot of invasive financial questions.

Stella14

It’s £100 per person now. It used to be £200 per household when one party reached the eligible age. Now single pensioners only get £100. Given that heating bills haven’t gone down and in fact keep rising, why isn’t this receiving any publicly?

That's not correct. Single pensioners will receive £200.

Elegran When the latest qualifying level came in ie under £35k ignoring tge age qualifications I did wonder at the fairness. If two people have incomes of say £30k each (annual £60k) the household will qualify for full payment. Then, taking a single occupant with £35,100 tgat oerson will receive nothing. To me heating a house with one or two occupants would cost the same. Not including heating water, just warmth. I was wrong. Recently read a piece explaining that two people moving about causes air to move disrupting the heat in the room thus requiring more energy to warm the air again. I am no way technical so this was a surprise to me. My next query woukd be - does it cost twice as much to replace the cooled air. No doubt someone will know. And thosecwho live alone and miss out by a few pounds, well just don't move, sit still for the winter.

It’s £100 per person now. It used to be £200 per household when one party reached the eligible age. Now single pensioners only get £100. Given that heating bills haven’t gone down and in fact keep rising, why isn’t this receiving any publicly?

farview

This hasn’t really been reinstated has it.. because previously,apart from last year, my H and I both received a payment…and now it’s a single payment for couples.. so we used to receive £200 each and now it’s £200 between us

It's never been that much each, during Covid the government made extra payments. This year will be £200 per household as always for pensioners under 80. FACT! If their income is over the new limit then the money will be clawed back by the Government.

Hi you would get £100 each as it’s always been I’m sure you’ll see that if you check.

Well it costs the same amount to heat a house where one person lives as it does two so what are you moaning about, £200.00 is not to be sniffed at. Presumably you are both retired, so two pensions and perhaps two private pensions. Get on with it.

PaynesGrey

Here's the criteria for WHD for 2025, growstuff.

www.gov.uk/the-warm-home-discount-scheme

Thanks. I'm still not 100% sure. I wasn't eligible last year because my house isn't energy inefficient, but the rules have changed slightly this year. I receive housing benefit, but not the full amount because it's means-tested. The scheme hasn't opened yet, so I can't contact anybody to check. Even though I think I probably am eligible, I'm not counting on it, so it will be a nice addition.

Here's the criteria for WHD for 2025, growstuff.

www.gov.uk/the-warm-home-discount-scheme

Jaxjacky

It will be £200 Cariad I believe.

That's what I'm expecting (£200), although I think I'm also eligible for the Warm Home Discount Scheme, which is worth £150.

farview

Last few years … apart from last year…as I said… we BOTH received a paymentof £200
Fact!! …

Assuming you're not yet 80:

You didn't receive enough in 2023, when (if my memory serves me correctly) it should have been £500 for the two of you.

Before that, it should have been £200 for both - you were overpaid.

Cariad. I am 70 now and was 66 in the summer of 2021 so first qualified for WFP that year.

If you live alone, like me, you would have received £200 in late 2021, £500 (the usual £200 plus a CoL payment of £300) in late 2022, £500 in late 2023 same as 2022, nothing in 2024 unless you were receiving Pension Credit, £200 due this year.

In 2022 there were additional CoL payments for people in receipt of certain benefits.

All households received £400 under the Energy Benefit Support Scheme paid from October 2022 to March 2023 as either a £66 per month credit to the energy account or customer’s bank account depending on the energy supplier.

I suspect its partly why there was such an outcry over the sudden withdrawal of the universal WFP. People had got used to receiving £500 or £600 per household for two years running and perhaps hadn’t realised it would have gone back to £200/£300 per household that year depending on age.

But the energy price cap had dropped substantally from a height of £4,279 Q1 2023 to £1,690 Q2 2024 by the time the change was announced.

The current price cap from October 1 2025 is £1,755 although it doesn’t mean a single householder will pay anything close to that especially if they have fixed.

Last few years … apart from last year…as I said… we BOTH received a paymentof £200
Fact!! …

It will be £200 Cariad I believe.

I thought I recalled it as having received £300 (ie single person amount - and I'm in my 70's).

Thinks - must check whether I'm due for my expected £300 this year - now they've reinstated it (at least for poorly-paid people - like me #sighs).

Is OP forgetting that for 2022 and 2023, the WFP was enhanced by a cost of living payment of £300 per household, so a total £500 where the occupants were under 80 (£600 where 80 or over).

farview

This hasn’t really been reinstated has it.. because previously,apart from last year, my H and I both received a payment…and now it’s a single payment for couples.. so we used to receive £200 each and now it’s £200 between us

A single person sitting alone needs the same amount of heat as two sitting together. If the two of you share the same house, you don't heat it twice as much.

i did get a £140 payment for a couple of years and now scotland has stopped it, i am disabled but under the pension age. in scotland Payments are set to begin in November 2025, with the amount varying between £101.70 and £305.10 depending on age and household circumstances.

Age UK say:

If you or your partner receive Pension Credit, Universal Credit or income related Employment and Support Allowance, one person will be paid the whole Winter Fuel Payment for the household.

If you and your partner do not receive one of these benefits the payment is split between you and the other qualifying people you live with.

www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/money-legal/benefits-entitlements/winter-fuel-payment/