Cost of living and Winter Fuel Payments in December and January

More than 11 million people have received the £600 boost since the rollout began in November, with payments continuing until January 13.

Pensioners who have not yet received their payment should not be concerned, as payments are continuing into January.

However, pensioners who have not received their payments by January 13 should contact the Winter Fuel Payment Centre online or by telephone.

The payments appear in bank statements with the payment reference beginning with the customer’s National Insurance number followed by ‘DWP WFP’ for people in Great Britain, or ‘DFC WFP’ for people in Northern Ireland.

Pensioners are being asked to double check their bank statements for this reference number before contacting DWP.

The overwhelming majority of Winter Fuel Payments are paid automatically but some people need to make a claim, such as those who qualify but do not receive benefits or the State Pension and have never previously received a Winter Fuel Payment.

Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said: “As the cold weather bites, it is good to be able to confirm that over 99 percent of eligible pensioners have already received as much as £600 to help with their energy bills this winter.

“These payments are just one part of the wider support package we are delivering to help with rising bills, with additional help to follow next year – including the biggest State Pension increase in history.”

How to apply for Winter Fuel Payments

Those who need to make a claim have until March 31 to do so, with further information on who needs to make a claim available on the GOV.UK Winter Fuel Payment page.

Winter Fuel Payments are part of an extensive package helping people of all ages with the cost of heating their homes this winter.

This includes providing households with £400 towards their energy bills, with the Government’s Energy Price Guarantee saving the typical household another £900 on top of this.

In addition, millions of payments of up to £650 have already been made this year to low-income households on eligible means-tested benefits as part of the 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 is on hand to help pensioners check if they’re likely to be eligible and get an estimate of what they may receive.

Further cost of living support to be paid next year was recently announced by the Chancellor. 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.

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