Cold Weather Payments

Please don't comment if you just want to say something negative about people in receipt of benefits, this thread is intended to provide helpful information only.

Cold Weather Payments have kicked in for lots of postcodes across the UK due to the recent weather and are payable to anyone in receipt of pension credit, income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance, income-related employment and support allowance or universal credit.

The Cold Weather Payment scheme runs from 1 November to 31 March and is triggered if the average temperature in your area is recorded as, or forecast to be, zero degrees celsius or below for 7 consecutive days. You get a payment of £25 for each 7 day period of very cold weather between 1 November and 31 March. They are different and separate to Winter Fuel Payments.

Cold Weather Payments should be paid automatically but who anyone who believes they should have received a payment but hasn’t after 14 days is advised to alert their pension centre or Jobcentre Plus.

You can check if your postcode is eligible here: https://coldweatherpayments.dwp.gov.uk/

 

Thanks for posting this here. Really important that people take advantage of such schemes during these harsh months if they need it. Hope everyone is keeping warm and safe in this cold weather.

 

Yes, even though it should be paid automatically it may be too late for people who are unaware of it and so avoided using their heating through fear of not being able to pay the bill when it arrives. As it arrives 2 weeks after the cold snap it means that those on meters will have to pay upfront but at least they know they will be reimbursed for anything up to £25 extra they spend during this time.

 

Why don't the government force the robbing energy suppliers to drasticly cut the prices that way the tax payers dont have to subsidise the needy

 

Very useful info JD for folks who have to claim benefits. I am one of the lucky ones who have savings
and a good pension, so I don't have the dilemma of choosing between whether I eat and heat so I have sympathy
with genuine claimants who have to rely on these types of payments.
As a society, we should make a concerted effort to see if some of the empty properties up and down the country
could be used to give the homeless/streetsleepers a roof over their heads.

 

Not intended to be a negative post but am I alone in thinking the cold weather payment thing is a bit weird? It only gets paid when the weather is exceptionally bad so why is it only in force between certain dates? If it's freezing in October is it just though luck?

 

I did think that as I was typing it. I get that they obviously think it is only needed during those times but any set of consecutive 7 days would see people needing to put their heating on a bit more.

 

or indeed support the energy companies.

 

No legislation is perfect, but it's better than nothing. Probably just the way it had to be formulated to be passed in the first place.

 

I'm glad it isn't something obvious that I'm missing then

 

Support em how?

Nationalise em

 

I have to agree with that RS. Its a rare occurrence when you and I concur, but that would be a good idea. Its time privatization stopped in many areas. NHS is the next that's facing it, I hope ffs that does not happen.

 

My energy supplier IS nationalised - it's 84% owned by the French government!

It's really doing my head in sat here thinking that's where the cost of keeping missen warm is going.

Another reason to vote Jezza in.

 

I've had a think about it and I've got a theory. In winter you generally use more gas for heating as it's colder and you spend more time at home too because it's darker so your household bills are higher than in the warmer months. With the unexpected extra cold 7 days that could push some people's bills beyond their means while in the warmer months when bills are lower they should in theory have some money left over to pay for the unexpected cold spell.

Just a guess but it's the only thing I can think of

 

£25 seems very generous, I've left the heating on while I've been at work this week to keep the house warm and had the fire on constantly when I've been in, smart meter says I've only spent £8.50-odd on gas since Monday.

 

£25 extra to spend in Chambers. Ker-ching.

 

It's shut, they're all in Corner Pin now.

 

It may seem generous at first but there's way more to it once you scratch the surface. Lots of people don't have gas and are running cheap to buy but expensive to run electric heaters. Lots of people do not have have well insulated houses or even double glazing so it is harder to heat the house and maintain a decent temperature. That's just looking at heating but other costs are higher in extreme bad weather such as the need for warmer clothing. Lots (and lots) of kids at my last school didn't own a winter coat, a lot of them didn't even own a jumper and the shoes and socks they wore had big holes in. It's possible to get by with those arrangements in slightly cold weather but when you are talking about 7 consecutive days of sub zero, with snow on the floor, they are going to need something better than that. £25 doesn't go very far towards shoes and coats for even one person, nevermind a whole family.

 

Yeah electric heating is ridiculous, I moved into a new apartment about 7 years ago, absolutely loved that place but two winters paying £800 to heat it for three months just wasn’t sustainable so I moved into a house where my total dual fuel bill is only about £480 for the year.

 

Interestingly (and whilst slightly off topic i.e. it is not related to weather) the Energy companies/UK Govt approach to customers is in stark contrast to what goes on in Italy.
For example, you may be aware of the severe Earthquakes we had here in Central Italy late 2016. Soon after that date, a list of all affected comunes (councils) was published and ALL electricity and gas payments for residents in those comunes were (are) suspended for 18 months (although many like us being rural have LPG which we still continue to pay as normal which is fair enough).
The OS amounts will be paid over 3 payments thereafter starting April 2018 BUT normal taxes and charges are excluded (obviously no monthly service charges are taken since many houses were left uninhabitable). Therefore the bill will be approximately 50% of what it would normally have been .
ALL water rates are cancelled for 4 years!!.
NO competitive domestic market exists in Italy for electricity. ENEL is the sole supplier.

All this is covered by various Government decrees. It is probably as well since energy prices in Italy are amongst the highest in Europe.