Are YOU due the Winter Fuel Payment? Important date approaches this week for those expecting £600

 Contact Winter Fuel Payment Centre after January 26 if it hasn't arrivedREAD MORE: Are YOU due to receive new £600 Winter fuel payment from today? How to check if you're eligible for allowance 

Millions of older Brits are eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment this year, which is worth up to £600.

This is a payment for people born before 25 September 1957 to help you pay your heating bills, between £250 and £600.

Time has fast approached to double-check whether you are eligible for the payment, and when to expect the money to arrive.

If you have yet to receive your payment, you will soon be able to put in a claim, asking when your money will arrive. The date for when you can put in this claim is after January 26.

Rising energy costs mean that more and more people are feeling the pinch when it comes to heating their home (stock image)

The winter fuel payment will be paid directly into your bank account in November or December.

It will appear in bank statements with the payment reference starting with the claimant’s National Insurance number followed by ‘DWP WFP’ for people in Great Britain.

It will start with ‘DFC WFP’ for people in Northern Ireland.

If you do not get a letter or the money has not been paid into your account by 26 January 2024, contact the winter fuel payment centre on the government website.

The payment you get if you’re eligible may be up to £600.

However, it could be less than this depending on several factors.

Normally worth £300, the Winter Fuel Payment you get is dependent on various living circumstances and arrangements.

However, everyone eligible this year will also receive an extra £300 pensioner cost of living payment, meaning some households will receive up to £600.

That is why some may get less than £600.

You are eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment for winter 2023/24 if you were born before September 25, 1957.

Additionally, you must have lived in the UK (although under some circumstances, you can claim if you moved abroad for at least a single day between September 18-24, 2023).

It’s worth noting that the qualifying period changes annually, however, is usually the week beginning from the third Monday in September.

It is also worth noting that the people who receive the following benefits will receive the Winter Fuel Payment automatically:

State Pension

Pension Credit

Attendance Allowance

Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

Carers Allowance

Disability Living Allowance (DLA)

Income Support

Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)

awards from the War Pensions Scheme

Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit

Incapacity Benefit

Industrial Death Benefit

The factors that affect whether you need to apply for the payment (rather than receiving it automatically) include deferring your state pension, living abroad, or not receiving these pensions.

The latest winter fuel payment has been made available to millions of pensioners to help them pay for an increase in fuel bills during the colder months (stock image)

Those who do not live in the UK, are only eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment if they moved to an eligible country before January 1, 2021, were born before September 25, 1957, and have a genuine and sufficient link to the UK,

This, for example, could include having lived or worked in the UK, and having family in the UK.

You won’t receive the payment if both the following apply and you live in a care home:

You receive Income Support, Pension Credit, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), or income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).

You are also not eligible if you lived in a care home from June 26 to September 24, 2023, for the whole time.