Winter Fuel Payment 2026/27: Who Gets It and How Much

The amount you get is based on when you were born and your circumstances between 21 to 27 September 2026, which GOV.UK calls the qualifying week. If you live with someone else who is eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment, your payment may be different if you get Pension Credit, Universal Credit or income-related Employment and Support Allowance.

You can get a Winter Fuel Payment if you were born on or before 27 June 1960 and usually live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland.

You will not be eligible if you:

• ✗No: usually live outside England, Wales or Northern Ireland
• ✗No: were visiting England, Wales or Northern Ireland on 21 to 27 September 2026, but usually live somewhere else
• ✗No: were in hospital getting free treatment for the whole of the week of 21 to 27 September 2026 and the year before that
• ✗No: need permission to enter the UK and your granted leave says that you cannot claim public funds
• ✗No: were in prison for the whole of the week of 21 to 27 September 2026

If you live in a care home, you can still get a Winter Fuel Payment. You won't be eligible only if both of the following apply: you get Universal Credit, Pension Credit or income-related ESA, and you lived in a care home for the whole time from 29 June 2026 or earlier.

Most people get the Winter Fuel Payment automatically if they are eligible. You do not need to claim if you get any of the following:

• State Pension
• Pension Credit
• Universal Credit
• Attendance Allowance
• Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
• Carer's Allowance
• Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• awards from the War Pensions Scheme, Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit, Incapacity Benefit or Industrial Death Benefit

If you do not get any of these, you need to claim if you have not got the Winter Fuel Payment before, or you have deferred your State Pension since your last Winter Fuel Payment.

• By post, from 21 September 2026: fill in a Winter Fuel Payment claim form and send it to the Winter Fuel Payment Centre, Mail Handling Site A, Wolverhampton, WV98 1LR.
• By phone, from 19 October 2026: call the Winter Fuel Payment Centre on 0800 731 0160.
• The deadline for a claim for winter 2026 to 2027 is 31 March 2027.

If you disagree with a decision about your claim, you can ask for a mandatory reconsideration.

Most eligible people will be paid in November or December 2026. If you are eligible, you will receive a letter in October or November saying how much you will get and which bank account it will be paid into, which is usually the same account as your State Pension or other benefits.

If your total income is over £35,000, HMRC will take your Winter Fuel Payment back. Your partner's income does not count towards your total income. In Northern Ireland, nidirect says the Winter Fuel Payment is tax free and does not affect your other benefits or income.

HMRC will usually collect the amount you owe through your tax code. If you complete a Self Assessment tax return, you will pay it through your tax bill instead. You can check if your income is over the threshold. You will need to provide the total amount of income you expect to receive in the tax year before any deductions.

If HMRC changes your tax code to pay back your Winter Fuel Payment, it will contact you by email or post, and the tax deducted from your wages, salary or pension will increase. If you complete a Self Assessment tax return, you must include your Winter Fuel Payment on it each year you get it. If you file tax returns online, HMRC will usually include the amount automatically and it will be included in your tax calculation.

If you live in Scotland, you cannot get a Winter Fuel Payment. Instead you might be eligible for Pension Age Winter Heating Payment, which replaced Winter Fuel Payment for people in Scotland and is paid by Social Security Scotland.

To be eligible for Pension Age Winter Heating Payment you must have been born on or before 27 June 1960 and have lived in Scotland on at least the last day of the qualifying week, which for winter 2026 to 2027 is Monday 21 September to Sunday 27 September 2026. You could get a payment of between £105.55 and £316.70. If you live alone or no one you live with is eligible, you get £211.15 if you were born between 28 September 1946 and 27 June 1960, or £316.70 if you were born before 28 September 1946. If your total income is over £35,000, HMRC will take your Pension Age Winter Heating Payment back. This only applies to individual incomes, and not joint incomes over £35,000.