DWP warning as this group are 'not eligible' for £300 pensioner payment
DWP warning as this group are 'not eligible' for £300 pensioner payment
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The DWP has clarified who is eligible for a £300 payment after a question from an MP about the policy. The qualifying criteria for the Winter Fuel Payment changed for this winter. Previously the £200 or £300 payment went out to most people of state pension age but now you have also be on a qualifying means-tested benefit, such as Pension Credit. Conservative MP Alberto Costa asked if when reviewing the policy, if the department had made a distinction between pensioners living in care home and those in assisted living accommodation.
The Government advice page states you can get the payment "if you live in a care home" as long as you also get one of the qualifying benefits. For this winter's payment, you also need to have lived in the care home for less than 13 weeks including the week of September 16 to 22, 2024, which is the qualifying week for the payment. But the guidance also clarifies that you will not get the payment if you "were living in a care home for the whole time from 24 June to 22 September 2024". However, in responding to Mr Costa, pensions minister Torsten Bell explained some other restrictions on who is eligible.
He said: "Pensioners who are in receipt of a means-tested benefit such as Pension Credit, and who live in a care home are not entitled to a Winter Fuel Payment. This is because most will have their care and accommodation costs met by the local authority.". He added that for the purpose of the Winter Fuel Payment, a care home is defined based on two pieces of legislation, the Care Standards Act 2000 and the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 in Wales. Mr Bell said that assisted living accommodation "does not fall under this definition".
