The payment should arrive in November or December.
State pensioners born before this year to get automatic HMRC £300 payment (Image: Getty)
State pensioners born before 1960 could get an automatic HMRC payment up to £300 in their bank accounts this winter. The annual tax-free payment helps older poeple on lower incomes pay for heating costs during the colder months.
The previously universal Winter Fuel Payment is now means-tested. After intense backlash, Labour U-turned on its decision to only provide winter fuel support to pensioners on benefits, and relaxed the rules slightly to include everyone with an income below £35,000. The Government will decide how much money you can receive, between £100 and £300, depending on your situation.
The amount you get is based on when you were born and your circumstances next week between September 21 to 27, which is called the ‘qualifying week’.
If you were born on or before June 27, 1960, and you are eligible, you’ll receive a letter in October or November saying how much you will be paid.
Most people receive the Winter Fuel Payment automatically into their bank accounts in November or December 2026, to help with this upcoming winter.
However, if your total income is over £35,000, HMRC will take your Winter Fuel Payment back, either through taxing your salary, or adding the amount to your Self Assessment tax return. Your partner’s income does not count towards your total.
Labour came under fierce criticism after Chancellor Rachel Reeves scrapped the previously universal Winter Fuel Payment, so only pensioners receiving benefits could claim for the support, in a money-saving mission.
But in June last year, Reeves made a major U-turn and announced that more than 75% of pensioners in England and Wales would be entitled to the winter fuel payment, so anyone earning less than £35,000 would be paid.
The cost of this change was projected at £1.25 billion. The fuel payment does not apply to Scotland and Northern Ireland, where devolved policies are in place.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch called the U-turn “humiliating” and called on Keir Starmer, who was prime minister at the time, to apologise. Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said the Government had “finally realised how disastrous this policy was”.