DWP will pay state pensioners born before this date £200 within weeks

The Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed that those born before September 22, 1958 will receive the Winter Fuel Payment this year

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced a significant alteration to the £200 Winter Fuel Payment amidst the ongoing Cost of Living crisis.

The DWP has confirmed that those born before September 22, 1958 will be eligible for the £200 Winter Fuel Payment this year, provided they are also recipients of certain benefits such as Pension Credit, Universal Credit or Income Support.

Eligibility for Guarantee Credit may apply if you've reached State Pension age, currently set at 66 for both genders. You can claim Guarantee Credit if your weekly income is less than £218.15 for singles or £332.95 for couples.

However, even if your weekly income exceeds these thresholds, you could still claim Guarantee Credit if you meet one of several criteria: being a carer, having a severe disability, incurring certain housing costs like service charges, or being responsible for a child or young person who usually resides with you.

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Typically, claimants who have reached their qualifying state pension credit age are not entitled to Universal Credit due to the UC upper age limit. An exception to this rule applies to 'mixed age couples', where one partner is below the state pension credit qualifying age and the other has already reached it.

The payment is usually automatically made to those who meet the criteria and should arrive between mid-November and Christmas. The Government's decision to reduce the payments this year has sparked criticism from some charities, reports Birmingham Live.

Pensioners over the age of 80 will receive £300. The last date for backdating a claim for Pension Credit to 22 September is 21 December, assuming the claimant met the Pension Credit entitlement conditions throughout the previous three months.

Anyone who is entitled to Pension Credit for at least one day of the Winter Fuel Payment qualifying week will have automatic entitlement to Winter Fuel Payment. DWP recently shared new rules on the Winter Fuel Payment for those who live abroad.

Under the old rules, older Brits who lived in 25 different EU countries and over the state pension age could be eligible for the payment and this included countries such as Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Hungary and Iceland. In the update shared with The Mirror last week, the DWP confirmed that people living abroad will be impacted by the changes to eligibility and they will only be able to claim the £300 payment if they receive: "Pension Credit or a benefit equivalent to Pension Credit or another qualifying benefit from the EEA country or Switzerland."

The countries eligible for the payment have remained the same. However, the DWP has not officially published which benefits from the full list of countries could make you entitled - nor has it officially confirmed what people who are claiming these benefits need to do in regard to this year's payment.