Cold Weather Payments are designed to support vulnerable households during spells of severe weather throughout the winter months. The scheme will be closing within weeks, but the Government has now confirmed that over £35million has already been distributed this winter season.

Certain postcodes have even been issued more than one payment as Storm Goretti delivered freezing temperatures and snowfall in the early weeks of 2026. Whilst most people will receive the payments automatically, some may need to claim depending on their location and how they are eligible for the payments.

To be eligible for the payment, you must be receiving at least one of the following benefits:

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

Several of these benefits have additional criteria that people will need to satisfy to be eligible. For instance, those claiming JSA will need to be receiving a disability or pensioner premium, have a disabled child or a child under the age of five living with them to qualify.

People qualifying through ESA will need ot be in a work-related activity group or support group. If not, they’ll need to have one of the following:

• a severe or enhanced disability premium
• a pensioner premium
• a child who is disabled
• a child under 5 living with you

People on Universal Credit who are neither employed nor ‘gainfully self-employed’ will typically receive the benefit, provided that either you or your partner has a health condition with limited capability for work, or a child under five resides with you.

If your claim includes a disabled child amount, you’ll be entitled to Cold Weather Payments regardless of whether you’re employed or self-employed.

You’ll qualify through Support for Mortgage Interest if you have one of the following:

• a severe or enhanced disability premium
• a pensioner premium
• a child who is disabled
• a child under 5 living with you

In the majority of cases, you won’t need to apply or claim the benefit, unless you qualify because you’ve had a baby or a child under five has come to live with you.

In such circumstances, you’ll need to inform Jobcentre Plus if you receive Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or income-related Employment and Support Allowance, as you won’t automatically receive Cold Weather Payments otherwise.

The scheme delivers £25 for each seven-day period during which an area experiences or is predicted to have freezing temperatures. The payments ought to be processed automatically, with eligible people receiving the payment within a fortnight of their postcode experiencing severe weather.

Anyone who thinks they qualify but hasn’t received the payment should get in touch with the Pension Service, Jobcentre Plus or add a note to their Universal Credit journal.

Throughout the Cold Weather Payment season, the DWP runs a postcode checker enabling people to see if their postcode has experienced sufficiently low temperatures to warrant a payment.

Northern Ireland operates a separate scheme which mirrors the scheme for England and Wales. Social Security Scotland has launched Winter Heating Payment, its substitute for Cold Weather Payment, for eligible claimants residing in Scotland from 1 November 2022.