DWP benefit, state pension and seasonal support payment dates confirmed for November

PIP, UC and state pension payment dates in November should remain unchanged due to a lack of bank holidays, but a few new benefit schemes are reopening this month

01:09, 25 Oct 2025Updated 14:19, 28 Oct 2025

As temperatures drop and living costs increase, the Department for Work and Pensions is reopening three seasonal benefit schemes in November to help support households through the winter. A lack of bank holidays during the month will also mean most normal benefit payments like Universal Credit should be sent out as normal.

People who are due to be paid their DWP benefits on a bank holiday or weekend will usually receive their money on the working day before. For example, if you’re expecting your PIP money on Saturday, November 15, it will likely be paid on Friday, November 14, instead.

Benefits that should be paid out as normal in November:

Universal creditState pensionPension creditChild benefitDisability living allowance (DLA)Personal independence payment (PIP)Attendance allowanceCarer’s allowanceEmployment support allowance (ESA)Income supportJobseeker’s allowance

The exact day you receive your benefit payment usually depends on when you started receiving it. Some benefits like Attendance Allowance, Carer’s Allowance and Pension Credit will be paid out every four weeks from the first time you receive the payment, whereas Universal Credit payments are sent out on the same day every month.

Other payments like the State Pension and Maternity Allowance may allow people to choose if they want to receive payments monthly or weekly, in the case of the State Pension. The old state pension is paid out every four weeks, with the exact day depending on your National Insurance number.

However, in November, some households will start receiving some extra cash from the DWP as three winter benefit schemes reopen:

Winter Fuel PaymentsWarm Home DiscountsCold Weather PaymentsWinter Fuel payments

Winter Fuel payments provide between £100 to £300 for eligible households in a once-off payment. For this winter season, most eligible people will be paid in November or December 2025.

Most people get the Winter Fuel Payment automatically if they’re eligible. Eligibility can be checked on the Gov.uk website.

Warm Home Discounts

This benefit provides a one-off £150 discount applied directly to your electricity bill by your supplier if you are eligible. This scheme reopens at the end of October and should be automatically applied to your bill if you are eligible unless you are on a low income in Scotland in which case you’ll need to contact your energy supplier. More information can be found on the Gov.uk website.

Cold Weather Payments

This DWP benefit starts on November 1, 2025 and will run until March 31, 2026. It provides £25 for each eligible household in an area where the temperature is forecast or recorded as zero degrees or below for seven consecutive days.

The Gov.uk website has postcode checker tools that can help people figure out if their area had weather that was cold enough to qualify. The payments should be made automatically within 14 working days of the period of cold weather.