Millions of households will be getting a £300 payment to help with energy costs, under new measures announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak. The one-off payment for pensioners will be made in early winter.
Mr Sunak also confirmed an energy bills discount of £400 for all homes. That replaces the planned £200 'rebate' that homes had to pay back.
The £300 'Pensioner Cost of Living' payment will be made to nearly all pensioner households, no matter how little or how much that household earns. But there are some pensioners who will not qualify for the Winter Fuel Payment, which they need to receive to get the £300 one-off top-up.
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The Treasury says "pensioners are disproportionately impacted by higher energy costs, and many low-income pensioner households do not claim the means-tested benefits they are entitled to". That's why it has chosen to make the Pensioner Cost of Living Payment to every household with a pensioner living there (with a few exceptions).
Do all pensioners get a £300 payment this winter?
Households with a pensioner living there will get the £300 payment. To qualify, the household must also receive the annual Winter Fuel Payment - sometimes known as the Heating Allowance. That is paid automatically to households containing a person who is of State Pension age.
Only people who have reached the State Pension age - 66 or above - qualify for their household to get the payment. Those who have retired early and have not yet reached State Pension age do not qualify. If you do not receive the Winter Fuel Payment, but think you should, you can apply here.
The Treasury says: "This additional one-off payment will go to the over 8 million pensioner households across the UK who receive the Winter Fuel Payment and will be paid on top of any other one-off support a pensioner household is entitled to, for example where they are on pension credit or receive disability benefits. Eligible households currently receive between £200 - £300, so the payment will represent at least double the support for this winter."
There is more than one pensioner in my household, do we get more than £300 under the Pensioner Cost of Living Payment?
The £300 payment is for households, not individuals. So a household with two pensioners would get the same £300 as a household with just one.
"The definition of a household with a pensioner is any household containing any person who has reached state pension age," says Gov.uk
The Treasury can work out who is eligible and who to pay the £300 to based on Winter Fuel Allowance payments.
When will I get the £300 pensioner payment, and how will it be paid?
Payments will be made by direct debit in early winter to most households. The Treasury says: "All pensioner households will get the one-off Pensioner Cost of Living Payment as a top-up to their annual Winter Fuel Payment in November/December."
Which pensioners do not qualify for the £300 payment?
If a pensioner does not receive the Winter Fuel Allowance - which is an automatic payment - they will not get the £300. The Treasury says there are a few reasons why a pensioner may not qualify. They are if the person:
- is in hospital getting free treatment for more than a year
- need permission to enter the UK and your granted leave states that you cannot claim public funds
- were in prison for the whole week from 20 to 26 September 2021
- lived in a care home for the whole time from 28 June to 26 September 2021, and got Pension Credit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) or income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
To be eligible, households must have a person aged 66 or above between September 19 and September 25, 2022. So, if you reach the state pension age over autumn or winter but after September 25 2022, you may not get the payment this winter, despite being of State Pension Age.
How many households will get £300?
Around eight million households have a pensioner who received the Winter Fuel Allowance. Those homes will qualify for the £300 payment.
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