Millions will get the winter fuel payment this year - here's how to boost your chances of getting it

Most pensioners will get the winter fuel payment this year, in news that will be welcomed by millions of people.  

But it will no longer be paid to all pensioners, as it was until the highly unpopular decision last summer to remove the payment from everyone except people claiming pension credit.  

Here we explain who will get the payment and who will have to pay it back – and if there's anything you can do to make sure you get it.  

What’s on this page:

• Who will get winter fuel payments and how much will they get?
• How to claim the winter fuel payment
• How will the payment be paid back by higher earners?
• What’s the situation in Scotland and Northern Ireland?
• Pension credit and the winter fuel payment

Who will get winter fuel payments and how much will they get? 

Nine million pensioners in England and Wales will be entitled to winter fuel payments this winter, an increase of 7.5 million on last year. Around two million others will miss out because they are on higher incomes. The government says the change will cost around £1.25 billion in England and Wales.

The payments will be made as follows:

• Everyone over the state pension age with an income at or below £35,000 a year will get a winter fuel payment.
• A single person above state pension age will get £200, or £300 if they are over 80.
• For a couple where both people have an income of less than £35,000, they will get £100 each, or £150 each if one person is over 80.
• For a couple where one person has an income of more than £35,000 and one less, they will both get £100 (or £150) but the higher earner will have to pay theirs back.
• For a couple where both people have an income of more than than £35,000, they will get get £100 (or £150) each but will both have to pay it back.
• If a pensioner couple live with an elderly parent, so that there are three pensioners in the household, one of whom is over 80, the two under 80 will get £100 each, and the one over 80 will get £200 – so £400 in total for the household. 
• A new system will be introduced so that people on higher incomes can choose not to receive the payment in the first place.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: “The decision to restore the winter fuel payment to 9 million pensioners – all but those on the highest incomes who should be able to pay their heating bills without it – is the right thing to do and something that will bring some much-needed reassurance for older people and their families.

“We have always said what really matters is that the estimated 2.5 million older people who lost their winter fuel payment when they couldn't afford it get the money back, by one means or another. These 2.5 million comprise older people entitled to pension credit but not claiming it; those whose small incomes take them just above the line; and a third group who face extremely high bills because of severe ill health or disability. This new policy will help all these people by restoring their winter fuel payment and we welcome it as a result.”

How to claim the winter fuel payment

You don't need to do anything to claim winter fuel payment – it will be paid automatically as long as you're over state pension age. Eligibility is based on a person’s age and where they live on 15 to 21 September 2025 (and the third week of September for the following years). 

How will the payment be paid back by higher earners?

If you need to pay it back, it will be reclaimed automatically through PAYE taxation – you won't have to do anything. Or for the smaller number of pensioners that pay tax via a self-assessment tax return, the repayment will added into your tax bill there. 

This is similar to how child benefit works.

What if your income is over £35,000 - can you still get the payment?  

The £35,000 threshold for having to repay the payment is based on your individual taxable income. It's usually based on a financial year, so for winter 2025 the relevant financial year is 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026. 

Taxable income includes:

• pay and any benefits from a job or from self-employment
• some state benefits, including bereavement allowance (widow's benefit), carer's allowance and incapacity benefit
• most pension income, including the state pension, company and personal pensions and retirement annuities
• rental income (unless you rent out a room in your home and get less than the Rent a Room Scheme limit)
• income from a trust
• interest on 'normal' savings (although you don't pay tax on this unless the interest is more than your personal savings allowance - but it might potentially affect your entitlement to winter fuel allowance)

It does not include:

• income from tax-exempt accounts, like ISAs, premium bonds and National Savings Certificates
• some other state benefits, including pension credit, bereavement support payment, disability living allowance and free TV license for over-75s
• the first £1,000 of income from self-employment
• the first £1,000 of income from property you rent (unless you’re using the Rent a Room Scheme)
• dividends from company shares under your dividends allowance
• rent you get from a lodger in your house that’s below the Rent a Room Scheme limit
• capital gains
• the winter fuel payment itself

 If you're likely to have taxable income just over £35,000 and are keen to keep your winter fuel allowance, you may have these options:

• Reduce the amount of income you drawdown from your pension: If you're in drawdown from a defined contribution scheme, it's up to you how much income you withdraw each year. If you're only just above the £35,000 threshold, you could consider whether you reduce it. But bear in mind if it's going to affect your standard of living, it may not be worth it.
• Reduce your taxable savings income: If you earn savings interest, move it into tax-free accounts like ISAs, if you haven't used up your ISA allowance. If you're paying tax on savings interest (because it's above your personal savings allowance), then this will save you money in tax, even before considering the winter fuel payment. Premium bonds and offshore bonds are other ways to reduce your taxable income on savings, but should be considered carefully as they might not be the right choice for everyone.
• Defer your state pension: This is only relevant if you haven't started taking it yet, and if you have enough other income that the state pension will take you over the £35,000 threshold. And if your other income is enough for you to live on without the state pension. The winter fuel payment is based on age, not whether you're actually receiving the state pension. 
• Salary sacrifice if you're still working: Some employers allow you to make pension contributions or receive other benefits via salary sacrifice. Essentially you pay for these benefits by giving up some of your income before you've been paid it, which lowers your taxable income. As well as pension contributions, cycle to work schemes, electric vehicle schemes and payroll giving (where you give to charity via your employer) are some other examples of salary sacrifice schemes. 

You might be wondering whether paying more into your pension (if you're under 75), or giving to charity are ways to reduce your taxable income so that you still get the winter fuel payment. At this point the answer is 'not necessarily'.

Technically, those reduce your 'adjusted net income', not your total taxable income (unless you do it via salary sacrifice, as outlined above). So they may not make a difference to the winter fuel payment. However, child benefit repayments for higher earners are based on 'adjusted net income', not total taxable income. So it seems possible that winter fuel payment repayments will be based on the same measure, even though the thresholds are different.

If the measure used is taxable income, then all interest on savings (apart from ISAs) will be counted as income. But if it's 'adjusted net income', that only includes interest that is above your personal allowance.   

Right now the government has not yet published all the details on exactly how the winter fuel allowance repayment will work. We'll update this page when more information is published. 

What’s the situation in Scotland and Northern Ireland? 

The winter fuel payment is a devolved matter in Scotland and Northern Ireland, which means that the Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive set their own policies. But they also rely on funding from the Westminster government. When the winter fuel payment cut was made last year, those administrations initially said that funding cuts meant that they had no choice but to match the situation in England and Wales. But both administrations then announced plans for a £100 payment for all pensioners this winter. 

They will now receive additional funding from the Westminster government. So it seems likely that the full payments will be restored to many pensioners to match those in England and Wales. The Northern Ireland Communities minister Gordon Lyons has already said he plans to do this. In Scotland, this has not yet been confirmed. But pensioners in Scotland will definitely get some level of winter fuel payment.

Pension credit and the winter fuel payment 

Until 2024, households with someone over the state pension age could receive a winter fuel payment worth £200 each year (or £300 for households with a member over age 80).  

All pensioners were eligible, regardless of their income or assets. 11.6 million pensioners in 8 million households in Great Britain received the payment at a total cost of £2.2 billion in 2023/24, the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) calculated. 

In 2024 it was restricted to only those claiming pension credit, just 1.5 million people (in England and Wales). This saved the government around £1.5 billion a year, according to IFS calculations. 

One issue with pension credit is that not all those entitled to it actually claim it. The Department for Work and Pensions estimated that up to 760,000 eligible households were not claiming it in 2022/23.

Since then there has been an increase in take-up of pension credit. The government says that nearly 60,000 extra pensioners are now claiming. But there are concerns that there many are still missing out. 

Sarah Pennells, consumer finance specialist at Royal London, said: “Even though there was a lot of publicity last year encouraging people to apply for pension credit, and therefore qualify for the winter fuel payment, our research showed that three in ten people over state pension age who were on a low income hadn’t checked to see if they were entitled to pension credit, while one in ten pensioners who had been told they qualified for pension credit hadn’t applied for it.”

Rachel Vahey, head of public policy at investment platform AJ Bell, says that the increase in pension credit claimants combined with the £1.25bn cost of reinstating the winter fuel payments for most people. plus the cost of reclaiming it for higher earners, means that “the net saving from the whole exercise is likely to be miniscule.”

But others have welcomed the fact that more people are now accessing pension credit. Stephen Lowe, group communications director at retirement specialist Just Group, said: “There has been a significant boost in take-up with more than 162,000 claims awarded since the means-testing of the winter fuel payment was introduced. This is a notable success that will see these low-income pensioner households receiving this much-needed financial support as well as unlocking the gateway to other valuable benefits, like the winter fuel payments and free TV licence.”

He added: "It remains a concern that there are still hundreds of thousands of pensioners that are entitled to pension credit payments but not receiving it.”