- Homes in the north of England and the Scottish Borders will receive the money soon
Thousands of households will receive £25 government cold weather payments to help with energy bills during the current cold snap.
Recent winter weather has covered parts of the country in snow, with temperatures dropping as low as -11.2°C in some parts of the UK.
In response, the Government has started sending out £25 cold weather payments.
Cold weather payment is a benefit paid by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to households in areas where the temperature is at or below zero degrees Celsius for seven days in a row.
Around 10,000 households will receive this first batch of cold weather payments by 2024.
To be eligible, households in affected areas will need to apply for benefits including income support, pension credit, income-based jobseeker’s allowance, income-related employment and support allowance, universal credit and income support. mortgage interest.
Snow joke: Many parts of the country face colder temperatures this week
However, some caveats apply. For example, households on Universal Credit may not receive the payment if they are in work.
The plan will be active from November 1, 2024 and will be in force until March 31, 2025.
Currently, the payment is being made to eligible households in 18 ZIP code areas:
- Main gate CA9 (Cumbria)
- CA10 Cumbria (Cumbria)
- CA11 Catterlen (Cumbria)
- CA12 Keswick (Cumbria)
- CA16 Appleby in Westmorland (Cumbria)
- CA17 Kirkby Stephen (Cumbria)
- DG14 Border with Dumfries (English homes)
- LA8 Kendal (Cumbria)
- LA9 Kendal (Cumbria)
- LA10 Sedbergh (Cumbria)
- LA21 Coniston (Cumbria)
- Lakes LA22 (Cumbria)
- LA23 Windermere (Cumbria)
- NE19 Elsdon (Northumberland)
- NE47 Allendale (Northumberland)
- NE48 Bellingham (Northumberland)
- NE49 Haltwhistle (Northumberland)
- TD9 Scottish Borders (English homes)
In postcodes between the English and Scottish borders, only English homes will receive cold weather payments.
This is because Scotland does not pay this benefit.
Instead, Scotland has a unique benefit called the Winter Heating Payment, which is paid to households on qualifying benefits, regardless of how cold it is.
Do I need to claim cold weather payment?
Cold weather payments should be paid directly by the DWP into bank accounts, without households having to claim.
After each period of very cold weather in a region, eligible households should receive the £25 payment within 14 working days.
The payment is tax-free and does not affect any other benefits.
The average energy bill is now £1,717 a year and is expected to rise to £1,736 from 1 January 2025.
