This winter (late 2025/early 2026), eligible UK pensioners receive the automatic Winter Fuel Payment (around £100-£300+), plus potential Cold Weather Payments if it's freezing, the Warm Home Discount, and help via local councils' Household Support Fund, all while the standard State Pension rises due to the Triple Lock. For low-income pensioners, Pension Credit offers significant extra support, including the Fuel Allowance in Ireland.
Get up £300 to help with energy bills each winter
Winter Fuel Payments will be reinstated to all pensioners in in the UK this winter – but will be clawed back automatically from those earning over £35,000 a year.
For Australian pensioners, the main "additional payments" are the Pension Supplement, the Energy Supplement, and potentially Rent Assistance, forming three key components on top of the basic Age Pension, helping with living costs like utilities, phones, medicines, and housing, though some older supplements like Pharmaceutical and Telephone Allowances have mostly been rolled into the main Pension Supplement.
All pensioners in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will receive a Winter Fuel Payment during winter 2025/26, unless you choose to opt out. You will be eligible if: You were born before 22 September 1959, and. you lived in England, Wales or Northern Ireland during the qualifying week, which is 15 to 17 September 2025.
From 1 December 2022 to 31 December 2023, all new pension recipients over age pension age also received a $4,000 starting credit in their work bonus income bank. From 1 January 2024, the increased maximum balance of $11,800 and the $4,000 starting credit for new eligible recipients were made permanent.
The Christmas Bonus is paid to long-term social welfare recipients such as pensioners, carers, people with disabilities, lone parents and long-term unemployed people. The full list of qualifying payments for the Christmas Bonus is available on our website.
Yes, pensioners often receive extra payments or supplements, primarily through automatic indexation linked to living costs (like recent increases in early 2026) and additional allowances like the Pension Supplement for bills (utilities, phone), Rent Assistance, and the Work Bonus for those who work, with specific amounts depending on individual circumstances.
You can get Winter Fuel Payment if you live in a care home. You will not be eligible if both of the following apply: you get Universal Credit, Pension Credit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance ( JSA ) or income-related Employment and Support Allowance ( ESA )
From 20 September 2025, the maximum full Age Pension will increase by: $29.70 per fortnight for singles.
This is an annual one-off payment between £100 and £300 to help you pay for heating this winter. For the 2025 payment, you're State Pension age if you were born before 22 September 1959. If you're eligible, you'll get a letter in October or November saying how much you'll get.
Set to roll out from late December 2025, this cash payment is part of a national cost-of-living relief package aimed at supporting pensioners, carers, jobseekers, and low-income households facing ongoing financial strain.
While there's no “$280 bonus,” the figure is not entirely random. It is often a misinterpretation of the standard indexation increase that occurs every March and September. These adjustments raise the base rate of pensions to keep up with the cost of living.
Latest Age Pension rate changes (from 20 September 2025)
From 20 September 2025 the maximum full Age Pension increases $29.70 per fortnight for a single person, and $44.80 combined ($22.40 per person) per fortnight for a couple.
Basing eligibility on receipt of means-tested benefits creates a 'cliff edge' where people who just miss out on benefits lose support completely. Pensioners eligible for, but not claiming, Pension Credit would also lose the Winter Fuel Payment.
information directly from the official source. According to theServices Australiawebsite, the Australian government is planning to provide a cost of living payment to pensioners in January 2025.
A Winter Fuel Payment is a one-off, tax-free payment made to households with someone over pension age. Last reviewed 29 July 2025.
Based on changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), OAS benefits increased by 0.3% for the January to March 2026 quarter, for an increase of 2.0% over the past year, from January 2025 to January 2026.
To be eligible for Age Pension you must be Age Pension age and meet some other rules. Age Pension age is 67 years or older. We use income and assets tests to work out how much Age Pension you get. There are several things to consider when you're preparing to claim Age Pension.
The State Pension was increased by 4.1% in April 2025, and is expected to rise by 4.8% in 2026. Most of us will receive some State Pension from the Government when we retire, but it's a complicated system, so understanding what you're entitled to is important.
- If you or your partner are over 80, you could receive £300. If you or your partner receive Pension Credit, Universal Credit or income related Employment and Support Allowance, one person will be paid the whole Winter Fuel Payment for the household.
In a statement to the House of Commons made on 29th July 2024 the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, abolished the Winter fuel payment for and from Winter 2024, for pensioners not in receipt of a mean tested benefit.
To get Fuel Allowance you must: Be aged 66 or over. Be under 66 and get a qualifying social welfare payment (see qualifying payments below) Live alone (or only with certain people listed below)
Christmas Bonus dates 🎄 📅 The Christmas Bonus will be paid this week starting 1 December 2025. 🎁 This is a once-off double week payment for people getting a long-term social welfare payment. ℹ️ In 2025, the Christmas Bonus is 100% of your normal weekly payment.
You may inherit part of or all of your partner's extra State Pension or lump sum if: they died while they were deferring their State Pension (before claiming) or they had started claiming it after deferring. they reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016. you were married or in the civil partnership when they died.
DWP benefits that are linked to inflation rise by 3.8% in April 2026, as do inflation-linked benefits administered by HMRC. Universal Credit standard allowances will receive an additional uplift of 2.3%. The basic and new State Pension will be uprated by 4.8% from April 2026.