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Winter Fuel Payments restricted to PC claimants
If you live in a care home
You can get Winter Fuel Payment if you live in a care home. You will not be eligible if both of the following apply:* you get Pension Credit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) or income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
* you lived in a care home for the whole time from 24 June to 22 September 2024Not sure where the three-month period comes from and have sought clarification.
Is that ‘not’ in the first sentence wrong? The dates might seem to be the run up to the qualifying date.
That’s is what I am trying to get clarified Gareth. We’d assumed that care home residents would be completely excluded as previously, you didn’t get a payment if, during the qualifying week, you were a care home resident receiving Pension Credit (PC) or a working age means-tested benefit, except Income Support .
So when entitlement was linked to the same benefits, it appeared to us as if care home residents were going to be excluded whatever their situation. But this content suggests otherwise.
I was thinking about this at lunchtime and the three month period is also equivalent to how much backdating is possible with a PC claim so wondered if it was linked to that although not sure why it would be?
We’ve had a reply which offers some clarification (to be fair, they acknowledge the content was drafted in a hurry).
The position is WFPs will not be payable to anyone in a care home for the period from 24 June to 22 September 2023. A person can get a Winter Fuel Payment if they are in a care home in the qualifying week but their stay is short or temporary (ie less than 13 weeks by the end of the qualifying week.) This is so not to exclude people who may have a short stay of eg respite care.
So permanent care home residents are excluded it seems, regardless of what benefits they do or don’t get.
Presumably the lower payments (£100/£150) are payable if you are a temporary care home resident in receipt of PC during the qualifying week and resident in that qualifying week but you haven’t been in the care home for the whole period noted i.e. 24 June to 22 September.
Which is pretty absurd if you think about it, because you’re probably going to be back at home during the winter when bills are at their highest but you’ll get a lower amount due to being in a care home temporarily in September?
So, in a similar way to how backdating worked for Cost of Living Payments, if the qualifying week is 16th to 22nd September 2024 will someone who is 66 or older before 23rd September be able to claim a WFP if they make a claim for PC by 15th December and successfully request 3 months PC backdating?
And, if that is the case, how will the WFP system cope if/when the PC claim takes several weeks/months to be processed because of increased take up activity?
So, in a similar way to how backdating worked for Cost of Living Payments, if the qualifying week is 16th to 22nd September 2024 will someone who is 66 or older before 23rd September be able to claim a WFP if they make a claim for PC by 15th December and successfully request 3 months PC backdating?
And, if that is the case, how will the WFP system cope if/when the PC claim takes several weeks/months to be processed because of increased take up activity?
That would appear to be the case Keith, i.e. PC claims up to a date that allows for a full three month backdate covering the qualifying week would qualify for WFP. I make it 9 December to ensure coverage over this period, as PC paydays rely on your NINO and they don’t make part-week payments usually.
We’ve also heard today that the £100/£150 split payments aren’t being made, so people will get either £200 or £300 if eligible depending on their age.
Just hoping to get that confirmed and we’ll be updating out web content and factsheets (again).
So, in a similar way to how backdating worked for Cost of Living Payments, if the qualifying week is 16th to 22nd September 2024 will someone who is 66 or older before 23rd September be able to claim a WFP if they make a claim for PC by 15th December and successfully request 3 months PC backdating?
And, if that is the case, how will the WFP system cope if/when the PC claim takes several weeks/months to be processed because of increased take up activity?
That would appear to be the case Keith, i.e. PC claims up to a date that allows for a full three month backdate covering the qualifying week would qualify for WFP. I make it 9 December to ensure coverage over this period, as PC paydays rely on your NINO and they don’t make part-week payments usually.
We’ve also heard today that the £100/£150 split payments aren’t being made, so people will get either £200 or £300 if eligible depending on their age.
Just hoping to get that confirmed and we’ll be updating out web content and factsheets (again).
Thanks for the reminder about paydays!
If PC processing doesn’t speed up people might be applying for the winter 2024/25 payments in September 2025…
I think Rachel needs to start funding more staff in Pension Credit. I currently have a new claim with no decision from 01/05/24 and a MR request outstanding from 22/02/24.
We’ve got one PC claim outstanding from October 2023 and another from January 2024.
Are either of them in Greater Manchester? :D
I think Rachel needs to start funding more staff in Pension Credit. I currently have a new claim with no decision from 01/05/24 and a MR request outstanding from 22/02/24.
We’ve got one PC claim outstanding from October 2023 and another from January 2024.
Are either of them in Greater Manchester? :D
Not these ones Dan but will give you a shout if we do get any similar.
So, in a similar way to how backdating worked for Cost of Living Payments, if the qualifying week is 16th to 22nd September 2024 will someone who is 66 or older before 23rd September be able to claim a WFP if they make a claim for PC by 15th December and successfully request 3 months PC backdating?
And, if that is the case, how will the WFP system cope if/when the PC claim takes several weeks/months to be processed because of increased take up activity?
That would appear to be the case Keith, i.e. PC claims up to a date that allows for a full three month backdate covering the qualifying week would qualify for WFP. I make it 9 December to ensure coverage over this period, as PC paydays rely on your NINO and they don’t make part-week payments usually.
We’ve also heard today that the £100/£150 split payments aren’t being made, so people will get either £200 or £300 if eligible depending on their age.
Just hoping to get that confirmed and we’ll be updating out web content and factsheets (again).
Any confirmation from DWP yet, Paul, as to whether entitlement to PC during the qualifying week, established at a later date, will enable people to make a claim for the Winter Fuel Payment?
Any confirmation from DWP yet, Paul, as to whether entitlement to PC during the qualifying week, established at a later date, will enable people to make a claim for the Winter Fuel Payment?
In a meeting with DWP, they said claim by 21 December but that doesn’t work I think for various reasons but the most obvious one being that is a Sunday.
I worked out earlier this week the following, whether it stacks up or not is another question (happy to be put right if I have it wrong Sarah).
I think the last day you could claim PC and guarantee that you will get 3 months backdating to bring you within the qualifying week of 16-22 September would be Tuesday 17 December 2024. The reason I’m not 100% confident is that PC has strange rules of entitlement that will disallow part-week payments for most people who might be able to take advantage of these rules. It’s very complex and it’s taken me ages to work this through. From section 7.1 of our PC factsheet:
PC is paid in arrears and your payday is the last day of benefit week, allocated according to the last 2 digits of your NI number.
Last two numbers of NI number Benefit week PC payday
00-19 Tues-Mon Monday
20-39 Weds-Tues Tuesday
40-59 Thurs-Weds Wednesday
60-79 Fri-Thurs Thursday
80-99 Sat-Fri Friday
Entitlement to PC begins on the first day of the benefit week if that is the day on which it is awarded. If PC is not awarded on the first day of the benefit week, entitlement begins on the first day of the following benefit week.
So, I make it that a PC claim made on Tuesday 17 December for someone with NINO ending 00-19 would have a benefit week starting on Tuesday 17 December so three months’ backdating goes back to 18 September which is within the qualifying period. There will be other people who can claim slightly later than this if they have other NINO’s but using these dates could mean some people miss out potentially. However, if the person with a NINO ending 00-19 claimed on Wednesday 18 December or later, they would have a benefit week starting on Tuesday 24 December and with three months backdating, that goes back to 25 September, thereby missing out completely.
[ Edited: 14 Aug 2024 at 08:55 pm by Paul_Treloar_AgeUK ]
This is complex! Thanks for doing that work Paul.
Looks like I was wrong on the PC backdating, reply from DWP below.
It is correct to say that the first date in respect of which a person will be paid Pension Credit is usually the first day of their first complete benefit week, as Pension Credit is not normally payable for part-weeks. This was relevant for determining the last “safe” date for making a backdated claim in order to qualify for a cost-of-living payment because a condition for entitlement to a CoLP was that the person had to have been entitled to a payment in respect of any day in the qualifying period. However, for a Winter Fuel Payment, the condition is only that the person is entitled to Pension Credit on any day in the qualifying week so they will qualify if their claim starts in the qualifying week, even if the first day we can pay them for falls after the end of that week. A claim made on 21 December would therefore be the last possible date for backdating a claim to start on 22 September. As you point out, only people applying online could in practice apply on that date, but of course we urge people not to delay, but get their claim in as soon as they can.