DWP says state pensioners can still get £300 Winter Fuel Payment after deadline passed

DWP has confirmed there is still a way you can qualify for the Winter Fuel Payment this year even if you didn't qualify during the qualifying week.

The Department for Work and Pensions has explained how you can STILL get the £300 Winter Fuel Allowance - even though the deadline has passed. The DWP has confirmed there is still a way you can qualify for the Winter Fuel Payment this year even if you didn't qualify during the qualifying week.

Pensioners on a low income may still be able to qualify for the £300 payout from the DWP. In order to be eligible for a Winter Fuel Payment this year, you must have been born before September 23, 1958 and claiming one of the following benefits between September 16 and September 22, 2024.

The qualifying benefits include all of Income Support and Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance as well as Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Pension Credit and Universal Credit which is the DWP's most-claimed benefit.

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But if you weren’t claiming one of these benefits during the qualifying week, the DWP says you can qualify becasue Pension Credit claims can be backdated by three months, which means you have until December 21 to apply and still be entitled to the Winter Fuel Payment.

Figures released on Friday by the Department for Work and Pensions figures showed there were around 74,400 pension credit claims in the eight weeks since 29 July. This is up from 29,500 claims in the eight weeks before the announcement.

The new Labour government announced in July that only elderly people in receipt of benefits such as pension credit and universal credit would receive help worth up to £300 with their fuel bills over winter, whereas previously it was universal.

Labour has sought to justify its decision by saying it needs to stabilise the economy after the Tories left behind a £22bn financial "black hole". Ministers launched vast efforts to boost take-up of pension credit among eligible pensioners, with the Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall saying "thousands" were missing out on the payment of an average of £3,900 per year.