An estimated 647,000 households could receive the £25 payment after temperatures plummeted and snowfall
A family braving the snow on Newcastle’s Quayside(Image: PA)
More than 400 postcode areas in England and Wales could be eligible for the DWP’s Winter Weather Payment this week. As temperatures plummeted across the UK, an estimated 647,000 households could receive £25 towards heating their homes.
The new payments could be given in a total 441 postcode areas, including large parts of the South East of England, South Wales and Yorkshire. That figure includes 18 postcode areas in Cumbria and Northumberland that were triggered on Tuesday on Tuesday last week (December 30).
Areas in the South East affected include parts of Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk. However, a payment has not been triggered at the Heathrow weather station which covers most of Greater London.
This would be the most costly Cold Weather Payment for the DWP, affecting 664,000 households at a total sum of £16.6m Birmingham and Manchester are also not included in the latest Cold Weather Payments, which are largely along the East of the Pennines and in the Home Counties.
The full list of 194 postcodes in England and Wales to receive the payments triggered Friday, January 2, is:
- BD23, BD24, CB1, CB2, CB3, CB4, CB5, CB6, CB7, CB10, CB11, CB21, CB22, CB23, CB24, CB25, CF37, CF38, CF39, CF40, CF41, CF42, CF43, CF44, CF45, CF46, CF47, CF48, CF81, CF82, CF83, CM1, CM2, CM3, CM4, CM5, CM6, CM7, CM8, CM9, CM11, CM12, CM13, CM14, CM15, CM16, CM17, CM18, CM19, CM20, CM21, CM22, CM23, CM24, CM77, CO9, DH1, DH6, DH7, DH8, DH9, DL4, DL5, DL8, DL11, DL12, DL13, DL14, DL15, DL16, DL17, IP24, IP25, IP26, IP27, IP28, LD3, MK1, MK2, MK3, MK4, MK5, MK6, MK7, MK8, MK9, MK10, MK11, MK12, MK13, MK14, MK15, MK16, MK17, MK18, MK19, MK40, MK41, MK42, MK43, MK44, MK45, MK46, NE18, NE20, NE44, NE45, NE46, NN1, NN2, NN3, NN4, NN5, NN6, NN7, NN8, NN9, NN10, NN11, NN12, NN13, NN29, NP4, NP11, NP12, NP13, NP22, NP23, NP24, NP44, NR1, NR2, NR3, NR4, NR5, NR6, NR7, NR8, NR9, NR10, NR11, NR12, NR13, NR14, NR15, NR16, NR17, NR18, NR19, NR20, NR21, NR22, NR23, NR24, NR25, NR26, NR27, NR28, NR29, NR30, NR31, NR32, NR33, NR34, NR35, PE12, PE13, PE14, PE19, PE30, PE31, PE32, PE33, PE34, PE35, PE36, PE37, PE38, RM4, SG5, SG6, SG7, SG8, SG9, SG10, SG11, SG15, SG16, SG17, SG18, SG19, TS21, TS28, TS29
And the following 229 postcode areas in England and Wales will also receive a payment, which was triggered on New Year’s Day:
- AL1, AL2, AL3, AL4, AL5, AL6, AL7, AL8, AL9, AL10, BB4, BB8, BB9, BB10, BB11, BB12, BB18, BD1, BD2, BD3, BD4, BD5, BD6, BD7, BD8, BD9, BD10, BD11, BD12, BD13, BD14, BD15, BD16, BD17, BD18, BD19, BD20, BD21, BD22, BN5, BN6, BN44, CB8, CB9, CO1, CO2, CO3, CO4, CO5, CO6, CO7, CO8, CO10, CO11, CO12, CO13, CO14, CO15, CO16, DE4, DE6, DE45, EN6, GU5, GU6, HD3, HD7, HD8, HD9, HP1, HP2, HP3, HP4, HP5, HP6, HP7, HP8, HP9, HP10, HP11, HP12, HP13, HP14, HP15, HP16, HP17, HP18, HP19, HP20, HP21, HP22, HP23, HP27, HX1, HX2, HX3, HX4, HX5, HX6, HX7, IP1, IP2, IP3, IP4, IP5, IP6, IP7, IP8, IP9, IP10, IP11, IP12, IP13, IP14, IP15, IP16, IP17, IP18, IP19, IP20, IP21, IP22, IP23, IP29, IP30, IP31, IP32, IP33, LS21, LS29, LU1, LU2, LU3, LU4, LU5, LU6, LU7, ME6, ME14, ME15, ME16, ME17, ME18, ME19, ME20, OL13, OL14, OX9, OX10, OX33, OX39, OX44, OX49, RG9, RH1, RH2, RH3, RH4, RH5, RH6, RH7, RH8, RH9, RH10, RH11, RH12, RH13, RH14, RH15, RH16, RH17, RH18, RH19, RH20, S32, S33, S36, SG1, SG2, SG3, SG4, SG12, SG13, SG14, SK13, SK17, SK22, SK23, SL7, SL8, SL9, ST8, ST9, ST10, ST11, ST13, TN1, TN2, TN3, TN4, TN5, TN6, TN7, TN8, TN9, TN10, TN11, TN12, TN13, TN14, TN15, TN16, TN17, TN18, TN19, TN20, TN22, TN27, WD3, WD4, WD5, WD6, WD7, WD17, WD18, WD19, WD23, WD24, WD25
Minister for Pensions Torsten Bell said: “As temperatures plunge, Cold Weather Payments will automatically get support directly to vulnerable households. Combined with the biggest ever Pension Credit take-up campaign and our Triple Lock commitment – set to increase the State Pension by up to £2,100 over this Parliament – we’re ensuring pensioners get the support they need this Winter.”
The first Cold Weather Payments of the winter were triggered on Tuesday (December 30) in 18 postcode areas in Cumbria and Northumberland. Cold Weather Payments are made to people in England and Wales who receive a range of benefits.
A separate scheme is operated in Northern Ireland along similar lines but in Scotland the support for heating bills is paid every winter and not linked to specific spells of cold weather. For England and Wales, a payment is triggered whenever an area is forecast to record average temperatures below zero on seven consecutive days.
Forecasters are predicting a spell of cold weather heading into the New Year with sub-zero temperatures expected in many areas. There are an estimated 3.9 million people eligible for Cold Weather Payments under the DWP scheme and of these 1.2 million are in receipt of Pensions Credit.
The DWP says those claiming the following benefits may be eligible for the Cold Weather Payment; Pension Credit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Universal Credit, Support for Mortgage Interest.
Not all those receiving these benefits will automatically receive a Cold Weather Payment. There are a number of factors which will determine whether a payment will be made.