Overview

• Roughly nine million state pensioners in England and Wales born before 22 September 1959 will receive between £100 and £300 automatically if eligible during the 15–21 September qualifying week.
• First-time recipients and those who deferred their State Pension must claim by post from 15 September or by phone from mid-October, with applications closing on 31 March 2026.
• Pensioners earning over £35,000 a year must notify HMRC by mid-September to opt out or face clawback through PAYE codes or self-assessment next year.
• DWP and HMRC have warned recipients to ignore scam texts and emails and to rely only on official GOV.UK and DWP communications for claim instructions.
• Scotland will run a separate Pension Age Winter Heating Payment via Social Security Scotland, with automatic payments starting in November.