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Who can get a pension age winter heating payment

You can get a pension age winter heating payment if you live in Scotland and you are pension age or over on any day in the qualifying week. The qualifying week is the week beginning on the third Monday in September. It is 15 to 21 September in 2025.

In winter 2024, you had to be getting a qualifying benefit on any day in the qualifying week in order to be eligible for a pension age winter heating payment. The Scottish government plans to remove this rule from winter 2025 but the rules have not yet been finalised.

Who cannot get a pension age winter heating payment

It is expected that you will not be able to get a pension age winter heating payment if throughout the qualifying week you are:

  • getting free treatment in hospital and you’ve been there for 52 weeks or more
  • serving a custodial sentence under a sentence imposed by a court
  • living in a care home or independent hospital and you’ve been there for the 12 weeks immediately before the qualifying week

How much is a pension age winter heating payment

It is expected that the pension age winter heating payment will be a single annual payment of:

  • £100 if you do not get a qualifying benefit
  • £203.40 if you get a qualifying benefit and you are aged between pension age and 79 inclusive in the qualifying week; or
  • £305.10 if you get a qualifying benefit and you or your partner are aged 80 or over in the qualifying week.

It is expected that the qualifying benefits for the higher amounts of pension age winter heating payment will be pension credit, universal credit and income-related employment and support allowance. 

How to claim a pension age winter heating payment

It is expected that you will not have to make a claim for pension age winter heating payment. You should be paid automatically if you’re eligible.

The DWP paid the pension age winter heating payment to eligible people in Scotland for winter 2024/25. Social Security Scotland intends to start making the payments for winter 2025/26.

You should get a letter telling you that you’ll be paid a pension age winter heating payment. You should usually get the payment in November or December.

If you think you were entitled to a payment for winter 2024 and you have not received a payment, you should contact the DWP's winter fuel payment centre on 0800 731 0160. From winter 2025, you should contact Social Security Scotland on 0800 182 2222 with enquiries about payments.

If you’re unhappy with a decision about pension age winter heating payment, you can challenge the decision. For winter 2024, you could ask the DWP to look at the decision again. From winter 2025, you can ask Social Security Scotland to look at the decision again. This is called a ‘redetermination’. You should ask for a re-determination within 31 days of being informed of the right to do so.

More information

For information about pension age winter heating payment, see chapter 66 of the Welfare benefits handbook. You’ll need a subscription to be able to log in and read the content.

Read the pension age winter heating payment regulations on legislation.gov.uk.