DWP WINTER FUEL PAYMENTS EXPLAINED AND WHAT KEIR STARMER HAS JUST ANNOUNCED – ryan

LAST YEAR, The Labour Government Means-Tested the Winter Fuel Payment which Meant That Only Certain Over the 66 Waled Receive the £ 300 Payment, Rather than all pensions

13:45, 21 May 2025Updated 14:03, 21 May 2025

Woman Checking Pension Documents,
The Prime Minister Shared the Update in Pmqs Today(Image: Getty)

Keir Starmer Indicated that A Potential U-Turn in Labour’s Cut to the Winter Fuel Payment Could Be on the Horizon During Pmqs Today.

The Prime Minister Told the Commons that he wanted to “enrsured as we are more pensioners are eligible for winter fuel payments”. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Payment is Worth £ 300 and is Paid to Pensioner Households Between October and March. The AIM of the Money is to Help With the Extra Costs of Heating the Home Over the Winter Months.

It is Believed that the Government is considering a rehink of the £ 11,500 cut-off for the Allowance, which would be allowed to get the money. Keir Starmer Said the Decision on This, Howver, Was “As Part of A Fiscal Event” So Any Changes Wauld Only After a Spending Review.

He Told MPS: “We All Know the Economy was Left in Absolute Mess by the Tories. We have had stabilies the economic with Tough decisions.

He Added: “I Recognise People Are Still Feeling the Pressure of the Cost of Living Crisis Including Pensions, and As the Economy Improves We Want to Make Sure People Those Improvements As their Lives Go Forward. fuel payments.

“AS YOU WOULD EXPECT WE WILL ONLY MAKE WE MAKE DECISIONS WE CAN AFFORD. That is why we will look at that as part of a fiscal event.” This means notthing has Changed Today.

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What Happened to the Winter Fuel Payment?

Last Year, The Labour Government Means-Tested the Winter Fuel Payment. This meant that only Certain pensions over the age of 66 would recipe the money, Rather than all pensions. The Move Saw Over Nine Million Pensions in the Uk Lose the Extra Cash Last Winter.

Labour Faced Severe Backlash at the time, which has continued to follow. Legal Challenges Have Been Rained Against the Government for the Move, with Charities Warning That It Wauld Push More Older Brits Into Poverty.

Research CONDUCTED BY UNITE UNION FOUND THAT Over Two-Thirds of Its Retired Metmers Had to Turn Their Heating Last Winter, Do Third Were Taching Fewer Baths or Showers, and 16% HAD TO HOT MEALS DUE TO THE INCREASED COSTS OF TRYING TOY WARM. The Axing of the Benefit was Also Linked to the Rise in Reform Councilors in the Recent Elections.

Who is eligible for the winter fuel payment?

Under the updated rules, you are Eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment if you are over the state retirement age of 66 and claming one of the following benefs during the Qualifying Week:

  • Income Support
  • Income-Based Jobseeker’s Allowance
  • Income-Relay Employment and Support Allowance
  • Credit
  • Universal Credit

The dwp has not confirmed what the Qualifying Week for the 2025-26 Payments Yet, Howver it is usually during september.

.It is positive to still be entitled to a winter fuel payment if you weren’t claming one of these benefs during the Qualifying Week. As a pension CREDI CAN BE BACKDATED BY THREE MONTHS, LOW-INCOM PENSIONS CAN CLAIM IT A LATER DATE TO COINCID WITH THE QUALIFYING WEEK. If you are eligible, you will recipe the payment automatically

If you live abroad, you need to make a claim for a winter fuel payment, as you will not get it automatically. You must have moved to an eligible eea country or switzerland before december 31, 2020 and be covered by the withdrawal aggregement, to get the payments.

You must also have a genuine and sufficient link to the uk and be claming a “means-tested benef” in the country where you live.

You are not Eligible for the winer fuel payment if you’ve been in hospital getting free treatment for more than a year, if you need to enter the uk and your grant leaves that you cannot CLAIM PUBLIC, or if you are in prison for the Qualifying Week.

What has haen been announed to the winter fuel payment?

AS Mentioned Earlier, Nothing Has Been Officelly Confirmed or Announched Today. This means nothing has officiously changed. All that has haen confirmed that is that that is that starting wans to be eligible for the Support Payment This Winter.

Jon Greer, Head of Retirement Policy at Quilter Said the Indication from the Prime Minister Today Marked A “Notable Shift in Tone”. He Said: “The original decision to restrict the payment to pensioners recipes Credit May have saved the treasury Money, but it has created confusion and left vulnerable People Beind

“While a full reversal seames unlikly, there is Speculation that the incoming threshold could be raised from ARUND £ 11,500. That Waled Allow More Pensions to Qualify while Retaing Some of Means-Testing.

“Howver, IF Pension Credit is No Longer Used As The Mechanism, The Government Will Need to Establish a New System to Determine Eligibility. It must be Simple, Effective, and Avoid Excluding Those Need Through Tape or Awareness.

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