My mum is 84 and lives by herself with only a small pension plus her state pension as income.
She told me that she won’t get a Winter Fuel Payment this year, but I think she should qualify.
What do I need to do to help her check if she can get one and how much would she get?
Can I do the work for her, rather than her having to do all this herself?
Sam Barker of This is Money replies: I am sorry to hear your mother is losing her Winter Fuel Payment this year.
From this winter, all Winter Fuel Payment will be means tested, rather than the old system of giving it to all pensioners.
Your mother is one of millions of retirees that have lost a benefit worth up to £300 a year.
In short, the good news is that your mother may still be able to get Winter Fuel Payment, and you can help claim this on her behalf.
The bad news is that I suspect your mother may earn too much to qualify, but it is still worth giving it a go.
Winter robbery: Millions of pensioners will no longer get Winter Fuel Payment from this year
Who qualifies for Winter Fuel Payment?
I will lay out the new qualification criteria to get Winter Fuel Payment, so that you can check if your mother is eligible.
These are:
- She was born on or before 22 September 1958
- She gets Pension Credit; Universal Credit; Income Support; income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance; Child Tax Credit or Working Tax Credit worth at least £26 in the 2024/25 tax year
- She lived in England or Wales between 16 and 22 September 2024
Clearly, your mother is old enough to qualify, and I assume she lived in England and Wales for that week in September.
That just leaves the point of whether her income is low enough to qualify her for any of the means-tested benefits mentioned above.
If she does not claim any of the means-tested benefits above, then she will not be able to get Winter Fuel Payment.
Given your mother’s age, the big benefit to check for is Pension Credit, as this is not claimed by 60 per cent of retirees that are eligible for it.
If your mother’s weekly income is less than £218.15 a week, Pension Credit will top it up to that level.
Income for these purposes includes her state pension, private pension and any wages she may earn.
These are very likely to add up to more than £218.15 a week, therefore ruling her out of claiming Pension Credit at all, but it is still worth checking.
But if she is eligible for Pension Credit, then she will automatically get Winter Fuel Payment too.
Our guide to claiming Pension Credit is here.
However you will need to act fast, as the cut-off point to apply and still get Winter Fuel Payment for this winter is 21 December.
If she cannot get Pension Credit then it is still worth checking that she does not get any of the other benefits on the list, but I think this is very unlikely given her age.
How much Winter Fuel Payment will I get?
Your mother would have got £300 in Winter Fuel Payment – and perhaps still can.
For single people, this payment is worth £200 for those born between 23 September 1944 and 22 September 1958.
It is worth £300 if you were born before 23 September 1944, and if your mother is 84 then she would have been born around the year 1940.
Can I claim Pension Credit for someone else?
Yes, it is possible to claim Pension Credit on behalf of someone else, opening the door to getting Winter Fuel Payment.
But you will first need to register as an appointee with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), which administers Pension Credit and Winter Fuel Payment.
You can do this if your mother is too disabled or mentally incapable of doing it herself.
You can register as an appointee by contacting the DWP, here.
However, the process involves someone from the DWP coming and visiting your mother in person, which can take up to 12 weeks.
That will mean missing the Winter Fuel Payment for this winter entirely.
