Cold weather payment: Over 1m households set for £25 – check if you’re eligible

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More than a million cold weather payments have been triggered after the January cold snap, with some households set to receive up to £50 to go towards the cost of heating their home.

To help support people during freezing weather, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) runs the cold weather payment scheme for qualifying households. This is a one-off payment of £25 that is triggered for every seven-day period where the temperature in your area is at or below zero degrees.

In the week ending 17 January, there were 1.2 million of these payments triggered, a dramatic increase from 161,000 the week before. This means millions of households are set to get a £25 payment soon – with some will get even more as they felt the freezing weather for over two weeks.

Cold weather payments have been triggered for 793 postcode areas so far this year, most for the first time in January. These areas span across England and Wales, with most regions affected. Only the East of England, South West and London didn’t see the freezing weather last long enough to trigger any payments, for the most part.

Here is a map of all the latest areas to qualify:

You are eligible for the payment if you receive any of the following:

You must also live in an area that has experienced seven days of zero or sub-zero temperatures.

The DWP uses its own equipment to measure temperatures across all UK postcodes. If you disagree with the judgement, it is possible to appeal directly to the department.

You do not qualify for this scheme if you live in Scotland, as the Scottish government has recently replaced the scheme with Winter Heating Payments.

If you’re eligible, you will get these payments automatically. They should arrive in the same bank account you receive benefit payments, within 14 working days of the cold period.

If you believe you are eligible but have not received the payments, you should contact the DWP.

Here are all the postcode areas where cold weather payments have been triggered since November:

Source: independent.co.uk