{"id":1773,"date":"2025-11-29T07:50:39","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T07:50:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/?p=1773"},"modified":"2025-11-29T07:50:43","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T07:50:43","slug":"not-an-automatic-payment-dwp-terror","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/not-an-automatic-payment-dwp-terror\/1773\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Not an automatic payment&#8221; \u2015 DWP spreads terror on long-awaited benefit this winter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After one of the coldest nights on record for the season, many people may have realised that it is high time to start preparing for the upcoming winter months, especially their associated high electricity bills. One of the vital preparations is one&#8217;s winter budget. However, <strong>a long-awaited benefit is &#8220;not an automatic payment&#8221;<\/strong> for some this winter, leaving many chilled as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) spread terror. Discover who will not be receiving an automatic payment this winter.<\/p>\n<h2>DWP spreads terror over the long-awaited benefit this winter<\/h2>\n<p>Things that often come to mind when we think of winter in the UK include snow, shorter daylight times, Christmas festivities, ice skating, and more time spent inside trying to stay warm and cosy. As we spend more time indoors, we tend to use more utilities such as electricity for heating and lighting, which may or may not result in significantly higher utility bills.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, along with winter comes an entire list of winter support programmes to help us afford the increased cost of essentials during the season. One particular programme distributes a long-awaited benefit each winter, but now, the<strong> DWP has spread some terror over the long-awaited benefit<\/strong>. Some people may not receive an automatic payment due to the requirements&#8217; fine print.<\/p>\n<h2>It is not an automatic payment for some<\/h2>\n<p>The long-awaited seasonal benefit we are referring to is none other than the Cold Weather Payment, which typically <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/25-weekly-payments-start-this-november\/1614\/\">automatically distributes weekly \u00a325 payments to eligible Britons<\/a>. The payments are distributed within 14 working days after a day has reached, or is predicted to reach, a temperature of zero degrees Celsius or lower for a full week. However, this winter, it is not an automatic payment for some.<\/p>\n<p>If you claim one of the qualifying means-tested benefits<strong>, you must also meet the following criteria, or you will no longer be eligible<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Jobseeker&#8217;s Allowance and Income Support claimants must have\n<ul>\n<li>A disability or pensioner premium, or<\/li>\n<li>A child under age 5 living with them, or<\/li>\n<li>A child with a disability<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Employment and Support Allowance and Support for Mortgage Interest claimants must have\n<ul>\n<li>A severe or enhanced disability premium, or<\/li>\n<li>A child under age 5 living with them, or<\/li>\n<li>A child with a disability, or<\/li>\n<li>A pensioner premium<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Universal Credit claimants must\n<ul>\n<li>Be unemployed, or<\/li>\n<li>&#8216;gainfully self-employed&#8217;, and must have<\/li>\n<li>A disability or health condition and limited capability to work, or<\/li>\n<li>A child under age 5 living with them, or<\/li>\n<li>A child with a disability<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>This is what you are advised to do<\/h2>\n<p>According to the UK Government&#8217;s official information on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/cold-weather-payment\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cold Weather Payment<\/a>, there is another condition under which you will no longer qualify for automatic payments. If the following conditions change, you<strong> must report them to Jobcentre Plus<\/strong>, or risk losing out:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Claimants of Income Support, or Employment and Support Allowance, or Jobseeker&#8217;s Allowance, who have\n<ul>\n<li>Had a baby, or<\/li>\n<li>Had a child under age five come live with them<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The UK Government also recommends informing Jobcentre Plus or your Pension Service of any hospitalisations, as they may or may not affect your eligibility for a Cold Weather Payment. Universal Credit claimants who are hospitalised can log it in their online Universal Credit journal, or phone the Universal Credit helpline instead.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion, it is always recommended to read the fine print, regardless of the context. In this case, the fine print could mean the difference between you receiving or losing out on a weekly benefit payment when it counts the most. If you have determined that you may not be eligible after all, there are <strong>other winter support programmes to consider<\/strong>. For example, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/new-payout-available-christmas-households\/1247\/\">qualifying households could receive a grant of up to \u00a32,000<\/a>, thanks to a certain fund from the British Gas Energy Trust.<\/p>\n<p><em>Disclaimer: Our coverage of one-off payments, support payments, tax reliefs, tax refunds, tax credits and other payments is based on the official sources listed in the article. All payment amounts and dates, as well as eligibility requirements, are subject to change by the governing institutions. Always consult the official source we provide to stay up to date and obtain information for your decision-making.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After one of the coldest nights on record for the season, many people may have realised that it is high time to start preparing for the upcoming winter months, especially their associated high electricity bills. One of the vital preparations is one&#8217;s winter budget. However, a long-awaited benefit is &#8220;not an automatic payment&#8221; for some &#8230; <a title=\"&#8220;Not an automatic payment&#8221; \u2015 DWP spreads terror on long-awaited benefit this winter\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/not-an-automatic-payment-dwp-terror\/1773\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about &#8220;Not an automatic payment&#8221; \u2015 DWP spreads terror on long-awaited benefit this winter\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1775,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1773"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1844,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1773\/revisions\/1844"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}