The Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering (CIPHE) published consumer advice on the Winter Fuel Payment for winter 2021 to 2022 on 24 January 2022. The article sets out the qualifying criteria, the amounts payable by age and household circumstances, and a deadline for claims.
The payment is described as "an annual, tax-free payment, to help with the costs of heating"1. The qualifying week for winter 2021 to 2022 was 20 to 26 September 20211. To qualify, a person must have been born on or before 26 September 1955 and have lived in the UK for at least one day during that week1. Those receiving a state pension or other social security benefits are likely to be paid automatically, and most payments were made between November and December, with the majority due by 14 January 20221. The deadline for claiming is 31 March 20221.
Amounts depend on age and who else lives in the home. For those born between 27 September 1941 and 26 September 1955, the payment is £200 for a qualifying person living alone, or where nobody else in the household qualifies; £100 where they live with someone under 80 who also qualifies; £100 where they live with someone 80 or over who also qualifies; and £100 for a qualifying person in a care home who does not get certain benefits1. For those born on or before 26 September 1941, the amounts are £300, £200, £150 and £150 respectively1. CIPHE notes that payments may differ where the claimant or their partner receives Pension Credit, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance or Income Support1.
"The Winter Fuel Payment is an annual, tax-free payment, to help with the costs of heating."
CIPHE lists several groups who do not qualify. These include people living in Cyprus, France, Gibraltar, Greece, Malta, Portugal or Spain, because the average winter temperature there is higher than the warmest region of the UK; those in hospital receiving free treatment for more than a year; those who need permission to enter the UK and whose granted leave states they cannot claim public funds; those in prison for the whole week of 20 to 26 September 2021; and those who lived in a care home for the whole period from 28 June to 26 September 2021 while receiving Pension Credit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance or income-related Employment and Support Allowance1. People who did not live in the UK during the qualifying week may still qualify if they live in Switzerland or a European Economic Area country and have a genuine and sufficient link to the UK1.
Why it matters for households
The Winter Fuel Payment is paid directly and does not affect any other benefits a household receives1. For a home heated by gas, it offsets part of the winter bill at a time when, as CIPHE notes, gas prices have risen. It is not a heating measure or an efficiency upgrade: it does not change how much energy a home uses or how well it retains heat, so it does not alter a property's underlying energy independence. It is a cash payment tied to age and residence in the qualifying week, not to the fuel used or the condition of the property. Households that receive it automatically need take no action; those who believe they qualify but were not paid automatically must claim before the deadline1. The eligibility rules differ from those of other support, including the Warm Home Discount.
What happens next
The claiming deadline is 31 March 20221. CIPHE directs readers to the government's Winter Fuel Payment page for further information1. The criteria change each year, and CIPHE states it is worth checking whether a household is now eligible1. No figures for the following winter have been reported.
Sources1 cited
- Winter Fuel Payment for 2021-2022, ciphe.org.uk