DWP Cold Weather Payment - Full List of Eligible Areas

If you claim certain means-tested benefits and you experience 7 consecutive days of cold weather in the UK, you could be eligible for a DWP Cold Weather Payment. This is a £25 grant paid by the Department for Work and Pensions.

This payment aims to help people through the cost of living crisis during very cold periods when heating bills are often higher. Some areas were eligible for three separate Cold Weather Payments from 2022 to 2023, meaning £75 per household.

Here’s whether you’re eligible, when the next scheme starts and how to claim.

In this article:

1. What is the Cold Weather Payment?
2. Who is eligible for a Cold Weather Payment
3. Full list of eligible postcodes
4. How to claim
5. Challenging a decision

What Is the Cold Weather Payment?

The Cold Weather Payment runs from the 1st of November to the 31st of March. If eligible, you’ll get a £25 payment for every seven consecutive days where the temperature in your area is recorded as 0°C or below.

The 2022/2023 Cold Weather Payment scheme has now ended. The 2023/2024 scheme is due to begin on the 1st of November 2023. You’ll be able to check if people in your area are due a payment from November 2023 onwards.

How much you’ll get

You’ll get £25 a week for every seven days of cold weather between November and March. The 2023 to 2024 Cold Weather Payment scheme is due to begin on the 1st of November 2023.

During the 2022 to 2023 scheme, some areas experienced three separate periods of cold weather, meaning eligible people got a £75 payment.

The DWP has said that over £130 million of Cold Weather Payments were made to households in England and Wales during 2022/23. Around two million payments were made to pensioners and another three million to working-age households.

Approximately 80% of these payments were triggered in December, with this being the coldest month across the UK.

If you live in Scotland

You’re unable to receive Cold Weather Payments when living in Scotland. You may instead be able to claim a Winter Heating Payment. This is worth £50 and is paid automatically if you’re eligible.

Who Is Eligible For a Cold Weather Payment?

You could be eligible for a DWP Cold Weather Payment if the average temperature in your area is recorded as 0°C or less over seven consecutive days (or was forecasted as this).

You can use the Cold Weather Payment postcode checker from the DWP to see if people living in your area are due a payment.

You’ll also need to receive one of the following benefits:

• Pension Credit
• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Universal Credit
• Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI)

Pension Credit

If you claim Pension Credit, you’ll usually be eligible for a Cold Weather Payment. However, you won’t be eligible if you live in a care home.

Income Support or Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance

You’ll usually receive Cold Weather Payments if you get either of these benefits and have any of the following:

• A disability or pensioner premium
• A child with a disability
• Child Tax Credit that includes a disability or severe disability element
• A child aged under five who lives with you

Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

You’ll usually get a payment if you receive income-related ESA and are in a work-related activity group or support group. If you aren’t in one of these groups, you could also be eligible if you have any of the following:

• An enhanced or severe disability premium, or a pensioner premium
• A child with a disability
• Child Tax Credit that includes a disability or severe disability element
• A child aged under five who lives with you

Universal Credit

You’ll get a Cold Weather Payment when claiming Universal Credit, provided you aren’t employed or self-employed and one of the following also applies:

• You have a disability or health condition and a limited capability to work
• You have a child under five living with you
• You have a disabled child (in this case, you’ll be eligible regardless of whether you’re employed or self-employed)

Full List of Postcodes That Were Eligible For a Cold Weather Payment

You can use the Cold Weather Payment postcode checker from the DWP to see if people living in your area are due a payment. You’ll be able to check when the next scheme begins in November 2023.

To figure out which postcodes are and aren’t eligible, the DWP uses a network of 72 weather stations. These stations measure an area’s average temperature over each seven-day period. For the scheme, every residential postcode is assigned one of these weather stations.

Below, we’ve listed all the weather stations that were confirmed as having qualified for at least one DWP Cold Weather Payment up to the 13th of January 2023 (64/72), along with their corresponding postcodes and how many separate payments each area qualified for. This will give you an idea of whether where you live could be eligible for future payments.

How To Claim the Cold Weather Payment

If you receive one of the relevant means-tested benefits, you should be paid automatically after every seven days of cold weather. This payment should be received within 14 working days.

If a change in circumstances means you’re now eligible (such as having a baby or a child aged under five has started living with you), you should contact Jobcentre Plus and let them know.

Challenging A Cold Weather Payment Decision

If you think you should have received a payment but it hasn’t arrived, let the Pension Service or Jobcentre Plus know.

If the benefit you receive is Universal Credit, you should sign in to your account and add a note to your journal. You can also call the Universal Credit helpline on 0800 328 9344.

If you disagree with the decision on your eligibility, you’re usually able to ask for this to be looked at again. This is known as a ‘mandatory reconsideration’. The DWP will then review your claim, before telling you whether they’ve changed their mind. If you still aren’t happy with the decision, you can appeal to an independent tribunal.

You’ll usually have one month to dispute a decision, so be sure to act quickly.

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