HOUSEHOLDS who are eligible for winter fuel payments are being urged to check their payments are correct.
It comes as almost 60,000 letters have been sent out by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) with the wrong bank account details.
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The winter fuel payment is an annual tax-free benefit to help with heating costs through the cold months.
The cash – between £100 and £300 depending on your individual circumstances – is paid out to Brits born on or before October 5, 1954.
Households usually get it automatically between November and December, plus a letter confirming your estimated payment and the payment date.
However, the DWP has confirmed that tens of thousands of incorrect letters have been sent out this year, with either one or two issues, which was first reported by MoneySavingExpert.
Who’s eligible for the winter fuel payment?
MOST people who are eligible for it get it automatically, for instance if you receive the state pension or other social security benefits.
You won’t qualify just because you claim housing benefit, council tax reduction, child benefit or Universal Credit.
If you meet the criteria but don’t automatically get the payment then you will need to apply.
The deadline for claiming payments for winter 2020 to 2021 is 31 March 2021.
People qualify for a winter fuel payment if both of the following apply:
- you were born on or before October 5, 1954
- you lived in the UK for at least one day during the week of September 21 to 27, 2020 – this is called the “qualifying week”
If you did not live in the UK during the qualifying week, you might still get the payment if both the following apply:
- you live in Switzerland or a EEA country
- you have a genuine and sufficient link with the UK social security system, such as having lived or worked in the UK and having a family in the UK
But there are exclusions – you can’t get the payment if you live in Cyprus, France, Gibraltar, Greece, Malta, Portugal or Spain.
This is because the average winter temperature is higher than the warmest region of the UK.
Firstly, the DWP said 59,000 letters were sent out with incorrect bank details due to an issue with its systems printing previous accounts on the letters.
However, it insisted payments will be made to the correct accounts, and eligible households don’t need to do anything as the issue has been fixed.
Yet it’s still worth keeping an eye out for the payment – if you haven’t received it by January 13, you should speak to your local benefits office.
Secondly, some letters included incorrect information about the amount of money people are entitled to.
The DWP told The Sun this issue comes up every year as people’s circumstances change, meaning it may hold the wrong information about you.
This, in turn, could affect the amount of cash you’re entitled to.
For example, if you live alone and were born before October 5, 1954, you are entitled to £200 towards the cost of your energy bills.
But if you live with someone under 80 who also qualifies, you’ll only get £100.
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If your letter lists the wrong eligibility, you should contact the DWP as soon as possible as it could mean you’ve been underpaid.
To get in touch, you can fill in an enquiry form on the GOV.UK website or you can call 0800 731 0160.
Any money you get will not affect your other benefits.
If you don’t qualify for winter fuel allowance, you may still be able to get the cold weather payment or apply for the warm home discount scheme, .
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We also round up other ways to get help paying your energy bills this winter – and it can save you over £1,000.
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Check out our full guide to lowering your energy bills, including cheaper tariffs to using less.
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