The “qualifying week” for the Winter Fuel Payment begins TOMORROW – meaning state pensioners face being stung by a HMRC clawback method.
BBC Morning Live finance expert Laura Pomfret says if the person’s income is over £35,000, HMRC will take the Winter Fuel Payment back. The DWP is handing £200 and £300 payouts to state pensioners this winter after a u-turn.
Speaking out ahead of the payouts, Ms Pomfret said: “People over 80 get a higher amount, couples both entitled to a payment that live together, get a different amount and most people won’t need to do anything.
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“This is an automatic payment. you received in about November, December, just when you need it, paid directly into your bank account or via the usual method where you collect your benefits or your pension.
“This year to be eligible, you have to have been born before the 23rd of September 1959, which broadly anyone aged 66 and above.”
She said: “Eligibility is assessed during what we call the qualifying week, which is coming up. It’s the 15th to the 21st of September.
“And essentially the government looks at what you earn during that week, and if you earn over £673 then you won’t be eligible, but if you earn less than that, well, if you get £673 or less, you will be entitled to it, and that’s just over a week away, so one frustration with some people is whatever they earn, they’re going to have to get it and have to give it back.”
The update comes after Chancellor Rachel Reeves u-turned and handed the payout to millions more pensioners following a backlash to tightening eligibility criteria last year.
She went on and said: “You won’t receive a bill for it. If you have to pay it back, it’ll come back through your tax code.”