Who can get a Winter Fuel Payment
If you're a woman, you can claim a Winter Fuel Payment when you reach State Pension age. You must be State Pension age in the qualifying week for the winter concerned. The qualifying week always begins on the third Monday of September.
If you're a man, you can claim a Winter Fuel Payment when you reach the State Pension age of a woman born on the same day as you. You must be this age in the qualifying week for the winter concerned.
To qualify for a Winter Fuel Payment for the winter of 2016/2017 you must have been born on or before 5 May 1953.
There are some people who cannot get a payment even if they are the qualifying age. You will not get a Winter Fuel Payment if:
you are in hospital getting free treatment throughout the qualifying week, and have been there for over a year, or
you are in prison serving a sentence, throughout the qualifying week, or
you live in a care home and you get Pension Credit, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, or income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). (You can get a Winter Fuel Payment if you are in a care home and not getting one of these benefits), or
your partner has reached the qualifying age for a Winter Fuel Payment and gets Pension Credit, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or income-related ESA for both of you. The Winter Fuel Payment will be made to them.
You normally have to live in the UK to get a Winter Fuel Payment and have no immigration conditions on your stay that would prevent you getting help from the Department for Work and Pensions.
If you have been getting a Winter Fuel Payment and move to another European Economic Area country or to Switzerland you may be able to continue to receive payments. If you live in an eligible European Economic Area country or in Switzerland, you may be able to get a Winter Fuel Payment even if you have not previously received one in the UK. However, you will only be able to get a payment in these circumstances if you can show that you have a 'genuine and sufficient' link with the UK, for example, you are receiving a UK pension or you have spent a significant part of your life in the UK, or you have worked in the UK and paid national insurance contributions there. You must also be covered by certain European rules on social security.