A government scheme to help people with their heating bills when it gets exceptionally cold this winter will reopen next week.
The Cold Weather Payment is a £25 grant paid out to households whenever the average temperature in the area is zero or below over seven consecutive days.
This is triggered whenever such temperatures are either forecast or recorded between November 1, 2024, and ends on March 31, 2025.
Average winter temperatures in the UK tend to clock in around 2–7°C, so it’s unlikely to be paid out regularly.
But the scheme will support those in the coldest areas, as well as households all over the country during the frostiest winter periods.
Who’s eligible for the Cold Weather Payment?
The scheme is only available in England, Wales and Northern Ireland – there is no equivalent scheme in Scotland, though people there can claim a one-off Winter Heating Payment of nearly £60.
The DWP says payments will ‘usually’ be made to certain groups of people who already receive certain benefits, explained below:
Pension Credit: Everyone who receives Pension Credit.
Income Support: Everyone who receives this and has either a disability or pensioner premium; a child who is disabled; Child Tax Credit (where disability is a factor); or a child under five living with them.
Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA):Everyone who receives this and has either a disability or pensioner premium; a child who is disabled; Child Tax Credit (where disability is a factor); or a child under five living with them.
Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA): Everyone who receives this and is in a work-related activity or support group, or has one of the following: a severe or enhanced disability premium, pensioner premium, a child who is disabled, Child Tax Credit (where disability is a factor), or a child under 5 living with them.
Universal Credit (UC): Everyone who receives UC, is not employed, ‘gainfully self-employed’, or living with a partner in that situation, and has one of the following: a health condition or disability which limits the ability to work; a partner in the same situation; or a child under five living with them.
Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI): Everyone who gets SMI and has one of the following: severe or enhanced disability premium; pensioner premium; a child who is disabled; Child Tax Credit (where disability is a factor); or a child under five living with them.
People who are eligible do not need to apply for the Cold Weather Payment: they’ll receive it automatically.
Anyone who receives one of the above benefits and who has a baby, or begins looking after a child under five, this winter is encouraged to tell Jobcentre Plus.
The DWP warned they will not automatically receive the payments otherwise.
The Cold Weather Payment does not replace other support schemes, which remain on offer.
These include the Household Support Fund, Winter Fuel Payments and Warm Home Discount scheme.
Full details of the Cold Weather Payment scheme can be seen on the Gov.uk website.
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