The Cold Weather Payment is paid to anyone living in an area where the temperature is recorded as being 0° or lower for 7 consecutive days.
The payment is made to those eligible after a run of 7 days of freezing temperatures between November 1st and March 31st.
How Much is the Cold Weather Payment? Cold Weather Payments are a £25 payment that gets paid after 7 days of cold weather.
How Cold Does it Need to be?
For the Cold Weather Payment to be made to eligible customers, one of the following needs to happen:
- 7 consecutive days whether the average daily temperature is recorded as 0°C or lower
- 7 consecutive days that is is forecast to be 0°C or lower
Who is Eligible for Cold Weather Payments?
You’re eligible to receive Cold Weather Payments if you’re in receipt of any of the following:
- Pension Credit
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Universal Credit
- Support for Mortgage Interest
Pension Credit
If your weekly income is topped up with Pension Credit, then you’re eligible to receive the £25 payments.
Income Support
Anyone receiving income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or Income Support as well as a disability, pension premium, a disabled child, child tax credit or a child under the age of 5 living in the home.
Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
As well as receiving income-related ESA, you will also need to be part of a work-related activity or support group. If you’re not, you can still be eligible if you have a disability premium, pensioner premium, a disabled child, a child under the age of 5 living in your home or you receive Child Tax Credits.
Universal Credit
In addition to receiving Universal Credit and not being employed or self-employed, you must also have a disability of health condition or a child under the age of 5 living with you.
Support for Mortgage Interest
Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) is paid to homeowners in need of help with making mortgage payments or paying back home improvement loans.
How to Claim Cold Weather Payments
If you meet the eligibility requirements, then you don’t need to apply for Cold Weather Payments. You’ll be enrolled onto the scheme automatically.
Do Cold Weather Payments Affect Benefits?
Receiving Cold Weather Payments won’t affect your benefit payments in any way whatsoever.
Receiving Cold Weather Payments
Those eligible to receive a Cold Weather Payment will receive the £25 payment into the same bank or building society that benefit payments are paid into around 14 working days after the period of freezing temperatures.
Should you not receive the £25 payment and believe that you should have done, then you can contact your pension centre or Jobcentre Plus.
How Do I Know if I’ll be Receiving a Payment?
The Cold Weather Payment process is completely automatic, so it will go into your account without any warning. You can, however, check to see if a Cold Weather Payment is due in your area using the Cold Weather Payments Checker.
Warm Home Discount
The Cold Weather Payment isn’t the only scheme aimed to help homeowners through the winter. So, if you’re not eligible (or even if you are), you might be able to receive an annual £140 discount on your energy bills through the Warm Home Discount.
Looking to Save Money on Your Energy Bills?
If you’re struggling to pay your energy bills during the cold winter months and your boiler is 8 years old or more, a new energy efficient boiler could lower those energy bills. See how much a new boiler could be at Boiler Guide.
Boiler Finance
We understand that a new boiler isn’t affordable for everyone which is why you might want to consider boiler finance. A boiler finance scheme allows you to spread the cost of a brand new, energy efficient boiler over a number of years so that you don’t have to pay anything upfront. Boiler Guide can help you with everything you need to know about how to apply for boiler finance.
