Five payments worth £1,085 you could get before Christmas including DWP cash

James Rodger & Sonia Sharma
·4-min read
Households may be able to get some financial help this year
-Credit: (Image: Getty Images)


Households struggling with their finances may be able to get some help in the run-up to Christmas.

The Department for Work and Pensions is set to make certain payments and there are also other schemes to be aware of. As well as the Winter Fuel Payment, there's help to be had for British Gas, OVO, EDF, EON and Octopus customers.

This help comes in the form of the Warm Home Discount scheme which gives eligible households £150 off their electricity bill, with the money credited to their energy account or made available in the form of vouchers for prepayment customers, reports BirminghamLive. The scheme is available in England, Scotland and Wales and is set to reopen in October. Take a look at the list below and see if you could be eligible for any financial assistance.

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Winter Fuel Payment - £300

If you were born before 23 September 1958 you could get either £200 or £300 to help you pay your heating bills for winter 2024 to 2025. This is known as a ‘Winter Fuel Payment’. You may be eligible if you or your partner get certain benefits. If you are eligible, you’ll normally get the Winter Fuel Payment automatically. You will not get the extra Pensioner Cost of Living Payment given in 2022 and 2023. It stopped in winter 2023.

Cold Weather Payments - £25

You could also get a Cold Weather Payment - if you get certain benefits and the temperature drops to zero degrees Celsius or below for 7 days in a row. Payments are worth £25 and are awarded when the average temperature where you live is recorded as, or forecast to be, 0C or below over seven consecutive days. It is possible to get multiple payments, if you go through several spells of freezing weather.

The scheme normally opens in November and runs until the end of March, covering the winter period. You need to be living in England or Wales and claiming one of these benefits or Support for Mortgage Interest to be eligible for a Cold Weather Payment: Pension Credit, Income Support, Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Universal Credit or support for Mortgage Interest.

Warm Home Discount - £150

You could also get a Warm Home Discount - this is a £150 discount on your bills if you get Pension Credit or live in a low-income household. The Warm Home Discount Scheme gives a one-off payment of £150 to electricity customers who are potentially struggling to pay their energy bills during the cold winter months.

Warm Home Discount is a Government-led scheme which requires electricity suppliers to offer additional support to people who are at risk of being fuel-poor by way of a rebate of £150 to eligible customers.

There are three elements to the WHD rebate scheme:

  • Core Group 1
    Eligible customers in receipt of Guarantee Pension Credit will be identified by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and should receive their rebate from us automatically

  • Core Group 2
    Eligible customers in England and Wales no longer need to apply and will be identified by the DWP automatically

  • Scotland Broader Group
    Customers in Scotland who are not eligible for Core Group 1 must apply each year

Household Support Fund - £600

You can get cash if you’re eligible under your local council’s rules - check on your local council’s website. Some hard-up households will receive £600 to help cover food, energy costs, and clothing. The help comes via the Household Support Fund (HSF) which is worth £421 million. The fund offers financial help to low-income households who can use the money to pay for their shopping, bills or other essentials.

DWP Christmas bonus - £10

Usually paid in the first week of December, the bonus is a tax-free £10 payment to people claiming certain benefits. These include carer’s allowance, personal independence payment (PIP), and pension credit, but those claiming Universal Credit as a standalone benefit are not eligible.

An online petition to increase the payment has attracted more than 15,000 signatures. It urges the DWP to consider lifting the amount in line with inflation – pointing out that the £10 sum has remained unchanged since 1972.

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