If you were born on or before 27 June 1960 and normally live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, you will get a Winter Fuel Payment of £100 to £300 this winter, paid automatically in November or December 2026. The qualifying week is 21 to 27 September 2026, and HMRC will take the whole payment back if your own total income for the tax year comes to more than £35,000 — a cliff edge, not a taper.
This is a benefit run on deadlines, and most of them fall in one week of September. Here is who qualifies, exactly how much you get, the dates that matter, how the £35,000 recovery works through PAYE and Self Assessment, whether opting out is ever worth it, and what happens in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Who qualifies this winter
Two tests decide it. You must have been born on or before 27 June 1960, and you must usually live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. Scotland runs its own scheme, covered further down. Beyond that, GOV.UK is clear that most people get the Winter Fuel Payment automatically.
Everything else hangs on the qualifying week of 21 to 27 September 2026. Your circumstances during those seven days — where you live, who with, which benefits you are on — fix both entitlement and amount. Move house in October and it makes no difference to this winter’s payment.
You will not qualify if you were in hospital getting free treatment for the whole of that week and for the year before it, if you were in prison for the whole of that week, or if you need permission to enter the UK and your leave says you cannot claim public funds. There is also a care home exclusion: you miss out if you were living in a care home for the whole period from 29 June 2026 or earlier and you receive Pension Credit, Universal Credit or income-related Employment and Support Allowance.
Note what is missing from that list: any means test at the front door. Since the 2025 reversal you do not need to be on a benefit at all, so the old advice to claim Pension Credit purely to unlock the Winter Fuel Payment is out of date. Pension Credit is still worth checking on its own merits — it just no longer acts as the gateway.
Exactly how much you will get
The amount turns on your date of birth and your household in the qualifying week. Anyone born before 28 September 1946 sits in the higher band; everyone else born up to 27 June 1960 sits in the lower one. These are the full winter 2026 to 2027 rates.
| Your circumstances, 21–27 September 2026 | Born 28 Sep 1946 – 27 Jun 1960 | Born before 28 Sep 1946 |
|---|---|---|
| Living alone, or with nobody else eligible | £200 | £300 |
| Living with someone else eligible in the same age band, neither on a means-tested benefit | £100 each | £150 each |
| Living with someone else eligible in the other age band, neither on a means-tested benefit | £100 | £200 |
| You and your partner on a joint means-tested benefit claim (one payment between you) | £200 | £300 |
| Living in a care home, not on a means-tested benefit | £100 | £150 |
The mixed-age row is the one people query. Where two eligible people share a home outside a joint benefit claim, the older takes £200 and the younger £100 — £300 into the household, but as two separate payments to two separate people. That split matters, because the amount is set by your household while the £35,000 clawback is assessed on you as an individual.
The dates that matter between now and March
Almost every decision you can still make falls in the next few weeks. After that the payment runs on rails.
- Before 6pm on 18 September 2026 — last chance to opt out by phone, on 0800 731 0160.
- By 11:59pm on 20 September 2026 — last chance to opt out online, either through the Manage your State Pension service or the standalone opt-out form.
- 21 to 27 September 2026 — the qualifying week. Your circumstances in these seven days decide everything.
- From 21 September 2026 — claims open for the minority who are not paid automatically.
- October or November 2026 — DWP sends a letter telling you how much you will get.
- November or December 2026 — most eligible people are paid, straight into the account that receives their State Pension or benefits.
- Before 31 March 2027 — the point by which you must contact the Winter Fuel Payment Centre if you previously opted out and want a payment for this winter after all.
GOV.UK has not yet published a claim deadline for winter 2026 to 2027. The equivalent cut-off for winter 2025 to 2026 was 31 March 2026, so a late-March deadline is the sensible assumption — but treat that as an expectation rather than a confirmed date.
How the £35,000 clawback actually works
Everyone eligible receives the payment. Recovery happens afterwards, through the tax system, and it is all or nothing. HMRC’s policy paper on the Winter Fuel Payments charge describes it as a charge equal to the full value of the payment, applied where your income clears the threshold.
The measure is total income as defined in section 23 of the Income Tax Act 2007 — not adjusted net income, and not income after your Personal Allowance. It sweeps in your State Pension, workplace and personal pensions, earnings, taxable interest, dividends, taxable benefits, trust income and self-employment profits.
Two features do most of the damage. First, there is no taper: on £35,000 you keep the payment in full, on £35,001 you lose all of it, and a single pound of extra interest can cost you £300. Second, the test is individual. A couple with £30,000 each keep both payments while a single person on £36,000 keeps nothing, and one half of a couple can be charged while the other is not.
You are exempt regardless of income if you receive Pension Credit, Universal Credit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or income-related Employment and Support Allowance in the qualifying week. And the State Pension on its own never triggers the charge: the full new State Pension is £241.30 a week in 2026/27 in DWP’s benefit and pension rates, which on 52 weekly payments is a little over £12,500 a year.
If you are taxed through PAYE
Around 1.3 million people will have the charge collected through a tax code change, with no form to fill in. The timing runs a year behind, and HMRC’s guidance on paying back the Winter Fuel Payment spells out the catch-up.
Your winter 2025 payment is being recovered through your 2026 to 2027 tax code right now, at roughly £17 a month extra on a £200 payment. Then the system catches up: HMRC collects two years of charge — 2026 to 2027 and 2027 to 2028 — through the 2027 to 2028 tax code, which on two £200 payments is about £33 a month. From 2028 to 2029 onwards it is collected in the year you receive the payment, and the deduction settles back down.
So if your deduction roughly doubles in April 2027, that is the design working, not an error. HMRC’s PAYE manual entry on the charge confirms codes are adjusted automatically for people outside Self Assessment.
If you file a Self Assessment return
Roughly 900,000 people fall here. The payment goes on your return for the tax year you received it, so this winter’s belongs on the 2026 to 2027 return, due online by 31 January 2028. File online and HMRC pre-populates the charge where it can; file on paper and you must add it yourself. One gap: if you report through Making Tax Digital software you cannot yet settle the charge in the submission, and HMRC will contact you afterwards with the amount and how to pay.
The House of Commons Library briefing on the Winter Fuel Payment from 2025/26 puts about 12.3 million people in line for a winter payment across the UK, with around 2.2 million above the threshold. Against the roughly 1.5 million paid in 2024/25 under the old Pension Credit link, that is a very different scheme, costing an estimated £1.3 billion to £1.4 billion more a year.
Is opting out ever the right call?
Usually not, and it is worth being blunt about why. Opting out is not a tax saving. The charge is equal to the full value of the payment, so taking £300 and repaying £300 leaves you in precisely the same place as never taking it. What you avoid is the admin, not the money.
On cash flow, opting out is actively worse. Keep the payment and it lands in November or December 2026, while the tax is not collected until the 2027 to 2028 tax year — over a year of holding money you would otherwise never have seen.
There is also uncertainty. Total income is measured over the whole tax year, and interest, dividends and drawdown withdrawals are rarely known in September. Opt out and land at £34,000, and you have given up £200 or £300 for nothing. Keep it and the tax system reaches the right answer either way.
The honest case is narrow: you are certain you are well over the threshold, you would rather not have your tax code changed, or you simply do not want a payment you feel you do not need. Opting out does not affect your State Pension, and you only do it once — it carries forward until you opt back in.
A one-pound rise in income can cost you the whole payment.
If you are hovering near £35,000, knowing your real annual income to the nearest hundred pounds is worth doing properly.
Explore GetSmartSaver →Do you have to claim it?
Most people never touch a form. Payment is automatic if you receive the State Pension, Pension Credit, Universal Credit, Attendance Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Carer’s Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, income-related ESA, a War Pensions Scheme award, Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit, Incapacity Benefit or Industrial Death Benefit.
You do need to make a claim if you get none of those — typically someone who has never claimed their State Pension — or if you have deferred your State Pension since your last Winter Fuel Payment. Claims for winter 2026 to 2027 open from 21 September 2026.
The payment reference on your statement starts with your National Insurance number, followed by “DWP WFP”. Do not chase in December: last winter DWP asked pensioners to contact the Winter Fuel Payment Centre on 0800 731 0160 only if nothing had arrived by 28 January, and a similar late-January cut-off is likely this time.
The Winter Fuel Payment also sits alongside, rather than instead of, other winter help. It does not affect your other benefits, and it has no bearing on the £150 electricity bill discount under the Warm Home Discount — England, Wales and Scotland only, as Northern Ireland runs its own Affordable Warmth scheme — or on Cold Weather Payments of £25 per qualifying cold spell, which cover England, Wales and Northern Ireland while Scotland pays a Winter Heating Payment instead. Each is assessed separately.
Scotland and Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is the simple case: the same scheme applies on the same GOV.UK rules, with the same 27 June 1960 birth date, the same 21 to 27 September 2026 qualifying week, the same £100 to £300 amounts and the same £35,000 recovery. Payments are automatic and letters go out in October or November.
Scotland is genuinely different. Social Security Scotland pays the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment instead, at higher, uprated amounts rather than round hundreds.
The Scottish eligibility rules use the same birth date of 27 June 1960 or earlier and the same qualifying week, but you must have lived in Scotland on at least the last day of that week. Someone living alone gets £211.15, rising to £316.70 if they are 80 or over, with reduced awards of £105.55 or £158.35 in some shared households and for care home residents. Letters go out from November 2026, and the same £35,000 HMRC charge applies.
Watch out for the repayment scams
The clawback has created an obvious opening for fraud. HMRC received more than 25,000 Winter Fuel Payment scam referrals in twelve months, most of them texts and emails demanding repayment.
The defence is simple, because there is no legitimate way to repay the money directly. Recovery happens through a tax code change or a Self Assessment entry, never a bank transfer, and HMRC will never text or email asking you to repay or for bank details. Forward suspicious texts to 60599 and emails to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk.
Next steps. Work out where your total income will land for the year before September closes, because that one number decides whether the payment is yours to keep. If the winter energy budget is the real question underneath all this, our budget planner shows what £200 or £300 actually covers against your own bills.
Frequently asked questions
When will the Winter Fuel Payment be paid in 2026?
Most eligible people are paid in November or December 2026, into the account that receives their State Pension or benefits. A letter confirming the amount arrives in October or November. The payment reference on your statement starts with your National Insurance number, followed by “DWP WFP”, so it is easy to identify.
How much is the Winter Fuel Payment for winter 2026 to 2027?
Living alone, it is £200 if you were born between 28 September 1946 and 27 June 1960, or £300 if you were born before 28 September 1946. Where two eligible people share a home outside a joint benefit claim, those amounts are usually halved to £100 and £150 each. Care home residents get £100 or £150.
What happens if my income is over £35,000?
You still receive the payment, then HMRC recovers all of it. There is no taper: at £35,000 you keep it, at £35,001 you lose the lot. The test uses your individual total income, so a partner’s earnings do not count. Anyone on Pension Credit, Universal Credit, Income Support or income-related ESA is exempt regardless of income.
Should I opt out of the Winter Fuel Payment?
Usually not. The charge equals the full payment, so repaying leaves you exactly where opting out would — you only save the admin, and you lose the use of the money from December 2026 until the 2027 to 2028 tax year. If your income ends up at or under £35,000 you would have kept it. The deadline is 11:59pm on 20 September 2026 online.
Do I need to claim the Winter Fuel Payment?
Not if you receive the State Pension, Pension Credit, Universal Credit, Attendance Allowance, PIP, Carer’s Allowance or several other benefits — payment is automatic. You must claim if you get none of those, or if you have deferred your State Pension since your last payment. Claims for winter 2026 to 2027 open from 21 September 2026.
What do pensioners in Scotland get instead?
Social Security Scotland pays the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment. Someone living alone born on or before 27 June 1960 gets £211.15, rising to £316.70 at 80 or over, with reduced awards of £105.55 or £158.35 in some shared households and care homes. The qualifying week and the £35,000 HMRC clawback are the same.
Last reviewed: August 2026. Figures relate to winter 2026 to 2027 and the 2026/27 tax year, which runs from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027, and are taken from GOV.UK, HMRC, DWP and Social Security Scotland publications current at the time of writing. England, Wales and Northern Ireland share the same Winter Fuel Payment scheme; Scotland pays the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment instead, at different rates. This article is general information, not personal financial advice — check your own position on gov.uk, or get free help from Citizens Advice, Age UK or MoneyHelper, before acting on it.
