How to claim Winter Fuel Payment, and the 31 March 2027 deadline
Most eligible people do not need to fill in a form
The official “check if you need to claim” page, re-fetched on 13 November 2026, starts with automatic payment. Most people get the Winter Fuel Payment automatically if they are eligible. You do not need to claim if you get any of the following: State Pension, Pension Credit, Universal Credit, Attendance Allowance, Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Carer’s Allowance, Disability Living Allowance (DLA), income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), awards from the War Pensions Scheme, Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit, Incapacity Benefit, or Industrial Death Benefit. That list is longer than the three benefits that change the amount table (Pension Credit, Universal Credit and income-related ESA). Being on State Pension or PIP can mean you are paid automatically even if you are not on a means-tested benefit.
If you do not get any of those benefits, you need to claim if either of two situations applies: you have not got the Winter Fuel Payment before, or you have deferred your State Pension since your last Winter Fuel Payment. Those are the official “you need to claim” tests. They are not the same as “you are definitely eligible”. You still need to have been born on or before 27 June 1960, to usually live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, and to avoid the official exclusions for visitors, hospital, prison, no recourse to public funds, and some care-home cases. The Winter Fuel Payment calculator can walk through those tests and then show the official claim-or-automatic guidance. It will not submit a claim for you, and it will not ask for a National Insurance number.
How to claim, and the 31 March 2027 deadline
You can claim by post from 21 September 2026, or by phone from 19 October 2026. The deadline to make a claim for winter 2026 to 2027 is 31 March 2027. Those dates were still the live official dates when this guide was written. A claim after the deadline is not something this site can waive or extend. If you are reading this close to the deadline, use the official form or the phone line rather than waiting for an unofficial tool to “register” you — we cannot register anyone.
To claim by post, official pages say you should fill in a Winter Fuel Payment claim form and send it to Winter Fuel Payment Centre, Mail Handling Site A, Wolverhampton, WV98 1LR. To claim by phone, call the Winter Fuel Payment Centre. The official number is 0800 731 0160, with a textphone route via Relay UK on 18001 then 0800 731 0160, and a British Sign Language video relay service. The published hours are Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. Before you call, official pages say you will need your National Insurance number, the date you were married or entered into a civil partnership if appropriate, and your bank or building society details. Payments cannot be made into a National Savings and Investments (NS&I) account unless you already get other benefits paid into that account. You will also need to say whether, during the qualifying week of 21 to 27 September 2026, you were in hospital getting free in-patient treatment, in a residential care home or Ilford Park Resettlement Home, or in prison.
If the money or the letter does not arrive
Most payments are made automatically in November or December. You should get a letter telling you how much you will get and which bank account it will be paid into, usually the same account as your State Pension or other benefits. If you do not get a letter or the money has not been paid into your account by 27 January 2027, official pages say you should contact the Winter Fuel Payment Centre. That 27 January date is a contact trigger, not a new claim deadline. The claim deadline remains 31 March 2027 for people who need to claim. If you disagree with a decision about your claim, you can ask for mandatory reconsideration — the official wording for challenging a decision.
Opt-out and opt-in sit on the same official telephone and postal routes. You can no longer opt out of Winter Fuel Payment for 2026 to 2027. Opt-out for 2027 to 2028 opens on 21 December 2026. If you want to opt in again after an earlier opt-out, you must contact the centre before 31 March 2027 to get a payment for this winter. When you contact them you will need personal details such as your name, address, date of birth and National Insurance number. Give those details to the official payment centre, not to a calculator or to an unsolicited caller. The scams guide explains why a message that asks for bank details is a warning sign. If you also need to think about an income over £35,000, use the official HMRC checker and the tax-charge guide before you assume a payment you claim will be yours to keep.
A practical order of steps, without inventing extra forms
First, check whether you are even in the group the official eligibility page describes: born on or before 27 June 1960, usually living in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, and not caught by the visitor, hospital, prison, public-funds or care-home exclusions. Second, check whether you already get a benefit on the automatic-payment list. If you do, official pages say you do not need to claim; watch for the October or November letter and the November or December payment, and contact the centre if nothing is there by 27 January 2027. Third, if you do not get those benefits, ask the official “need to claim” questions about a first-time payment or a deferred State Pension. Fourth, if you need to claim, use the official form or the 0800 731 0160 line, and keep 31 March 2027 in sight.
People in Scotland should not send the English and Welsh claim form as a workaround. Winter Fuel Payment is not paid there. Pension Age Winter Heating Payment has its own “check if you need to apply” page, which on 13 November 2026 still said applications for winter 2025 to 2026 were closed and that the page would be updated when applications opened for winter 2026 to 2027. Late applications can be considered for a good reason, and Social Security Scotland is the official contact, not the Wolverhampton postal address. For other winter help that uses different dates, such as Warm Home Discount’s 23 August 2026 qualifying date, use the combined checker rather than assuming one claim covers every scheme.