Thousands MORE state pensioners told their £300 Winter Fuel Payment is at risk

Thousands MORE state pensioners told their £300 Winter Fuel Payment is at risk
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


Thousands more have been told their Winter Fuel Payments are at risk. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has explained the eligibility criteria for people who claim benefits and live abroad as expats, having quit the UK.

Today, the DWP told the Mirror pensioners abroad will only be able to claim the £300 payment if they receive: "Pension Credit or a benefit equivalent to Pension Credit or another qualifying benefit from the EEA country or Switzerland."

It comes two weeks after the Telegraph newspaper speculated pensioners living in Europe are set to keep the winter fuel allowance this year while millions of the elderly at home are stripped of the payment. Retirees on the Continent can still in line to get the £300 handout if they claim Pension Credit, though, the DWP says.

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Expats living in the European Union plus Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland will get the allowance thanks to the Brexit withdrawal agreement. Age UK has warned the move will leave as many as two million pensioners in “serious trouble” and struggling to heat their homes this winter.

Retirees in 23 countries across Europe will be able to carry on claiming the allowance if they qualify for Pension Credit. It includes pensioners living in Germany, Ireland, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands, the Telegraph newspaper reports.

Some nations, including France and Spain, are not covered by the deal, the newspaper added previously. Retirees abroad are still eligible for the allowance because their access to social security payments was written into the Brexit withdrawal agreement.

Most payments are made automatically in November or December. You’ll get a letter telling you how much you’ll get and which bank account it will be paid into - this is usually the same account as your Pension Credit or other benefits.

If you do not get a letter or the money has not been paid into your account by 29 January 2025, contact the Winter Fuel Payment Centre.