If you were born before 1959, you should look out for a key DWP letter
James Rodger Content Editor and Rory Poulter
12:16, 26 Sep 2025
The DWP will distribute a payment of £200 per household(Image: Miljan Živković via Getty Images)
State pensioners are set to receive important letters regarding the £300 Winter Fuel Payment – provided they were born before 1959. An extension of the eligibility requirements from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will provide older people with £300.
The DWP will distribute a payment of £200 per household, or £300 per household where someone is over 80, automatically this winter. You must have been born on or before September 21, 1959 to be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment. Most recipients will receive the money automatically in November and December, reports Birmingham Live.
Correspondence will be sent in advance detailing whether you’re entitled to the payment and the amount you’ll receive. However, cautioning older people, Money Saving Expert – the website established by BBC and ITV personality Martin Lewis – warned: ” You don’t need to do anything to get the Winter Fuel Payment – beware scams. One of the benefits of the new system is that everyone who is getting the State Pension will be paid the Winter Fuel Payment automatically – so there is no need to apply to claim it.
READ MORE: How to know if you are under DWP investigation
State pensioners are set to receive vital correspondence regarding the £300 Winter Fuel Payment(Image: StefaNikolic via Getty Images)
“Yet sadly scam texts and on social media, and likely email too, have already started to spring up with links or phone numbers trying to get people to claim. If you see one of these it is a scam. Do not reply. On Friday 27 June, scam reporting body Action Fraud said it had already received 571 crime reports relating to Winter Fuel Payments.”
If you’re in receipt of the State Pension or Pension Credit, as well as Universal Credit, Attendance Allowance, Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Carer’s Allowance, there’s no need to apply for the payment.
Likewise, those claiming Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Income Support, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) and recipients of awards from the War Pensions Scheme are not required to apply.
READ MORE: DWP PIP update as payments increasingly refused to claimants
Claimants of Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit, Incapacity Benefit or Industrial Death Benefit also do not need to apply.