DWP urged to scrap Winter Fuel Payment qualifying date to help more older people
dailyrecord.co.ukThe Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) recently updated online guidance for millions of older people who qualify for a £300 one-off ‘Pensioner Cost of Living Payment’ on top of their Winter Fuel Payment later this year.
In order to help people over State Pensions age manage energy bills this winter, more than 8 million eligible households who receive the Winter Fuel Payment across the UK will receive an extra £300 from November, 2022.The Winter Fuel Payment, including the extra Pensioner Cost of Living Payment, is not taxable and does not affect eligibility for other benefits.
However, the full amount that a person will get for winter 2022 to 2023 depends on their circumstances.The main criteria for the benefit is that a person needs to have reached State Pension age during the qualifying week in the Autumn.
For winter 2022/23, this is the 19th to the 25th of September.This is something SNP MP, Martyn Day, recently asked the DWP to reconsider and urged Therese Coffey to “make it her policy to remove the qualifying date for the Winter Fuel Payment to ensure that all those in receipt of the State Pension will be eligible to receive this payment by the end of the calendar year”.
Read more on dailyrecord.co.uk