Pensioners have been urged to apply for a benefit scheme worth at least £300 before Saturday, December 21, with the combined potential total of three benefits rising to £500.

Pension credit is handed out by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). It is worth £300 and goes towards helping with heating costs; December 21 is the final date that state pensioners can make a backdated claim for Pension Credit.

Claiming pension credit means pensioners can then claim the Winter Fuel Allowance.

The decision to scrap the Winter Fuel Allowance for pensioners who are not claiming Pensions Credit has seen new claims for the benefit soar by 145 per cent in the 18 weeks after the move was announced.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said it received around 150,000 Pension Credit claims after the announcement on July 29, compared to around 61,300 Pension Credit claims in the 16 weeks before the announcement.

The Winter Fuel Payment, is a separate benefit from the DWP that goes towards helping with heating costs worth between £200 and £300, depending on the applicant’s date of birth.

Statistics reveal that around 880,000 pensioners households who are eligible for Pension Credit fail to claim it, missing out on hundreds of pounds of government aid.

Pension Credit is a gateway to other financial support too including reduced council tax and assistance with NHS costs. It’s estimated that Pension Credit is worth £3,900 per year, on average.

Who is eligible for Pension Credit and Winter Fuel Payment?

Households of state pension age or above, and have a weekly income of less than £218.15, or £332.95 for couples, are eligible to claim for Pension Credit and these applications can be backdated by three months.

If successful, applicants also receive the Winter Fuel Payment for 2024, which is worth between £200 and £300. State pensioners born between September 23, 1944, and September 22, 1958, will get £200. While state pensioners born before September 23, 1944, will get £300.

As part of the application process, if state pensioners were entitled to Pension Credit for at least one day between September 16 and 22 at the earliest this year, they will also receive the Winter Fuel Payment.

Other help with winter heating costs

Warm House Discount

Warm Home Discount Scheme is a one-off payment worth £150, issued households as a discount on electricity bills. If you are eligible, you will be sent a letter by your energy supplier in January 2025 and the discount will be applied to your bill.

Cold Weather Payment

The Cold Weather Payment is paid out when the average temperature in your area is recorded as – or forecast to be – 0C or below for seven consecutive days. Depending on the weather, eligible households will be sent £25 for each seven-day period of freezing weather between November 1 and March 31. If this happened for the whole of December, pensioners could get an addition £100.