When will I get the £300 winter fuel discount?

HARD-up pensioners will get a one-off £300 payment for soaring energy bills – we explain when the cash will land in your account.

The help will be dished out to millions of retirees in November or December this year.

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The cash boost was announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak today as part of a £15billion emergency package of support for struggling households amid a cost of living crisis.

It will aim to help ease the squeeze when energy bills are set to soar by a further £830 on average in October.

That’s when the energy price cap could jump from £1,971 to somewhere “in the region of £2,800”, according to Ofgem’s boss.

A raft of support measures were announced by Rishi today, including:

Addressing MPs, Mr Sunak said: “We need to make sure that for those whom the struggle is too hard and for whom the risks are too great they are supported.

“This Government will not sit idly by while there is a risk that some in our country might be set so far back they might never recover.”

One of the measures announced was a £300 winter fuel discount for pensioners – we explain what it is and when you’ll get it.

What is the £300 winter fuel discount?

A £300 one-off payment “Pensioner Cost of Living Payment” will be dished out to eight million households.

It will be given to those who receive the Winter Fuel Payment – which is worth between £100 and £300 that those over state pension age get already.

The £300 help will be paid on top of this support – which means eligible households will see their payments double this winter.

You are eligible for a Winter Fuel Payment if:

• you were born on or before 26 September 1955
• you lived in the UK for at least one day during the week of 20 to 26 September 2021 – this is called the ‘qualifying week’

You may still be eligible if you lived in Switzerland or another EEA country in that period, but you won’t get the payment automatically and will have to apply.

The same goes for if you can prove a sufficient link with the UK, like having lived and worked here, or have family here, but were not living her in the qualifying week.

You won’t get the payment if you live in the following countries though because of the warm weather there: Cyprus, France, Gibraltar, Greece, Malta, Portugal or Spain.

You won’t get the payment if you are in hospital for more then a year getting free treatment and in some other circumstances.

You can find more about when you’re not eligible on gov.uk.

When will I get the £300 discount?

You’ll get £300 boost in November or December this year, the government has confirmed.

For most pensioner households, this will be paid via a direct debit payment.

It will be added as a top up to your annual Winter Fuel Payment, which is paid around this time.

Payments will be made directly to households – so there’s no need to do anything.

It comes as EVERY household in the UK will receive a £400 energy bill discount.

It will replace current plans for a £200 energy rebate, which households were told they would have to pay back over five years.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk