Cold Weather Payment checker 2024

Cold Weather Payments are made to people on low incomes to help them pay for heating their home during prolonged cold temperatures.

Payments are made if the temperature in your area is recorded as, or forecast to be, 0C or below for seven consecutive days.

That means people around the country will be eligible for payments at different times. It is calculated by looking at the first part of your postcode.

This is not the same as the Winter Fuel Allowance, Warm Home Discount, or the Cost of Living payments.

Read below to see if you or your postcode is eligible for a Cold Weather Payment and if not, what other options are available to you.

Who gets Cold Weather Payment?

The Cold Weather Payment is available for people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who receive certain benefits or Support for Mortgage Interest.

A different system is in place in Scotland, which you can read more about below.

To be eligible for the Cold Weather Payment you must first be in receipt of:

There are further criteria for many of these benefits, such as having a young child living with you. You can find out more about these on the Government website.

How much is Cold Weather Payment?

The Cold Weather Payment is £25 for every time there is seven consecutive days of cold weather between November 1 and March 31.

The temperature must be 0C or below for this timeframe.

There is no limit to the amount of Cold Weather Payments that can be made during this time, as long as the weather is cold enough.

When will I get my Cold Weather Payment?

If your postcode has 0C forecast or recorded for seven days straight, a £25 Cold Weather Payment will be made to you automatically, via the bank account the DWP has linked to your benefit payments.

The payment will be made within 14 days.

If you haven't received a Cold Weather Payment and you think you should have done, you should tell Jobcentre Plus or the Pension Service.

Cold Weather Payment postcode checker

Cold Weather Payments are made based on the forecast or temperature recording for the first part of a postcode.

The weather station closest to your postcode records the temperatures for your area.

If you're not sure if you qualify, you can use the Cold Weather Payment postcode checker on the Government website.

Cold Weather Payment for pensioners

The Cold Weather Payment can be paid in addition to the Winter Fuel Payment which is paid to every pensioner household in the country, regardless of wealth.

It is also in addition to the Warm Home Discount, which is worth £150 for those receiving the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit, or working age people on low incomes. The Warm Home Discount is applied automatically to your electricity bill between October 2023 and March 31 2024.

To receive the Cold Weather Payment a pensioner must be in receipt of Pension Credit.

It's estimated 850,000 eligible households are not claiming Pension Credit, according to Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) figures stated in June 2023. That means hundreds of thousands of people could be entitled to a Cold Weather Payment, along with a number of other funds and discounts that come with Pension Credit.

Cold Weather Payment Scotland

The Cold Weather Payment scheme doesn't run in Scotland. Instead, the Scottish Government runs the Winter Heating Payment. The Scottish Winter Heating Payment is £55.05 for the 2023/24 winter.

Unlike the rest of the UK, the Scottish payment does not depend on the temperature and is paid automatically.

The Scottish Winter Heating Payment is available to people on the same benefits as the rest of the UK:

Like the rest of the UK, there are other criteria that must be met by those benefits recipients. You can find details here.

Cold Weather Payment NI

The Cold Weather Payment in Northern Ireland (NI) works exactly the same as England and Wales.

A £25 payment is made to those in receipt of qualifying benefits when the temperature is below 0C for seven consecutive days in your postcode.

This temperature must either be forecast or recorded by a weather station near you, and the scheme runs from November 1 to March 31.

To check whether your NI postcode is eligible for the Cold Weather Payment, you can use the NI postcode checker here.

Other help to pay energy bills

There are a few other payments available to help with energy bills. You may qualify for Warm Home Discount or Cost of Living payments, and pensioners can get the Winter Fuel Allowance.

There may also be grants available, and some extra funding from your local council.

Click here to read what to do if you’re struggling to pay your energy bills.

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