There is a cut-off date to be born by – or miss out on this year’s winter fuel payment (Image: Getty Images)
A BBC expert has confirmed a ‘cliff edge’ cut-off for this year’s £300 winter fuel payment — meaning some people who are 66 when it is paid out will miss out entirely, while others of the same age will receive it. Radio 4’s Moneybox programme was informed that the crucial date is 27 June — anyone born after this date will not qualify.
This will leave thousands of 66-year-olds without the winter fuel payment, despite many of their peers — born just a little earlier — receiving it. Presenter Paul Lewis explained that those whose 66th birthday falls on 27 June — meaning they were born in 1960 — are central to the payment.
He said: “They are the last group born in 1960 who will get the winter fuel payment in December, despite many being 66 for most of the winter. The qualifying date is in the autumn, but the rising state pension age means that only people born on this day in 1960 or earlier reach state pension age in time to qualify.
“This winter there will be more than ever who will reach 66 but are too young to get the money they need to take the chill off their bills.”
The DWP has stated: “You can get a Winter Fuel Payment if you were born on or before 27 June 1960 and usually live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland.”
Payments range from £100, £200 or £300, depending on age and living arrangements. Pensions Minister Torsten Bell confirmed that the crucial date of birth for eligibility was tied to State Pension age and the qualifying week, which runs from September 21 to 27 for the 2026/27 payment: “The Winter Fuel Payment is an age-related payment payable to everyone who has reached State Pension age on or before the end of the qualifying week and is ordinarily resident in England or Wales.”
Over nine million elderly people received assistance with energy bills after the Government reinstated Winter Fuel Payment eligibility for pensioners with annual incomes below £35,000 last year.
However, as the State Pension age was incrementally increasing from 66 to 67 between now and 2028, not all those approaching retirement would be entitled this year.
Mr Bell explained that those born between April 6, 1960 and March 5, 1961 now reach State Pension age at 66, plus a specified number of additional months, depending on their exact date of birth.
He stated: “Therefore, a person needs to be born on or before 27 June 1960 to have reached State Pension age by the end of the qualifying week to be eligible for a Winter Fuel Payment for winter 2026/27.”
Sarah Weston, technical officer at the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group, said there is no need to apply for the winter fuel payment — it’s made automatically to anyone who’s eligible. In limited circumstances you may need to claim if you’ve deferred your state pension, but the vast majority of people will just receive it automatically.
Mr Lewis said: “We should warn people that if they get a text about claiming, that’s from a thief it’s not from the government. ” Ms Weston said: “The way you’ll be informed is you’ll get a letter in the early autumn and that will confirm the amount that you’re entitled to and also it’ll tell you how you’ll receive it. Usually it’s into the same bank account that you receive your state pension or any other state benefits. You certainly shouldn’t be notified by text or email from HMRC or any other body.”
Mr Lewis said: “Everyone that age gets it, but as we heard some have to pay it back if their income is more than £35,000. Indeed, those people are already paying back last winter’s payment. How is that money taken back by HMRC?”.
Ms Weston said: “So if your taxable income in the year you received the winter payment is over £35,000 you will have to pay it back, and it’s taken back in the form of a tax charge. So HMRC will collect that through the tax system. If you’ve filed a tax return it’ll be collected that way, through the self-assessment system.
“If you pay tax through PAYE which will be the case for a lot of pensioners because they’ve got some income from a personal or a workplace pension the winter fuel payment would be collected by an adjustment to the tax code.”
When asked whether the payment remained crucial for pensioners, she continued: “There’s no denying that for many this payment is going to be a very helpful amount to help them meet their living costs and live comfortably. Obviously it arrives in the winter just as the heating costs are spiking. We know that particularly for people on lower fixed incomes this is particularly helpful.
“There may be people receiving it who don’;t need it and haven’t opted out for whatever reason and they will have it taken back. You can opt out voluntarily even if your income isn’t over £35,000.”
To listen to the Moneybox show click here.
