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Winter fuel payment - claim now to make sure you receive it by Christmas

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If you were born on September 27, 1949 or earlier you should get the £250 winter fuel payment this year. If you were born on September 27, 1929 or earlier you will get £400. Most people do not have to claim. But if you have not had the payment before and you will not be getting a state pension or pension credit, then you normally will have to claim, as the Department for Work and Pensions will not know about you. Claim by September 25 to make sure you get the payment before Christmas

And do not leave it beyond March 30, 2010. After that you will lose your right to the payment.

Not everyone gets the full amount. If you are the only person in your household to qualify you get the full payment. If two (or more) people qualify, they normally get half each. If one of them is over 60 and the other over 80, the 60 to 79-year-old will get £125 and the one over 80 will get £275. People who get pension credit get the full amount. But a married couple on pension credit will get one full payment to share.

If you are in a care home and get pension credit you will not receive the winter fuel payment.

If you do not get pension credit – which normally means you pay all the fees yourself – you will get the winter fuel payment but it will normally be paid at the half rate, £125 if you are 60-79, or £200 for people aged 80 or over.

This winter is the last that the qualifying age for the payment will be 60. This qualifying age rises as the age for getting a state pension rises. Next year the qualifying birth date for winter fuel payments will be July 5, 1950 and for winter 2011 it will be January 5, 1951 or earlier. By winter 2020 the qualifying age will be 65.

More information online from: thepensionservice.gov.uk/winterfuel, or call 08459 15 15 15.

* Written by Paul Lewis, this article first appeared in the September 2009 edition of Saga Magazine. Paul's opinions are his own and for general information only. Always seek independent financial advice.

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