Pensioners winter fuel: Date released for £100 Stormont payout after Westminster axed allowance for 250,000 people

Around 180,000 households in Northern Ireland will start automatically receiving the money from next Friday (21st) as the Department for Communities distributes the cash.

Households with two eligible pensioners will get see each person get £50, while households with just one eligible pensioner will receive the full £100.

The one-off payment will be made to those who used to get the Winter Fuel Allowance, but have been stripped of that benefit by the government.

Last year, Chancellor Rachel Reeves controversially announced that only pensioners claiming Pension Credit or another means-tested benefit would receive a support payment over winter.

Before then, everyone over the state pension age of 66 got it. The cut saw over nine million pensioners in the UK lose the extra cash, approximately 250,000 of whom were in Northern Ireland.

The £100 payment, which is around one-third of the amount pensioners received under the old Winter Fuel Allowance, will arrive in people’s accounts without them needing to apply,

It has been made possible through £17m of Northern Ireland Executive funding secured by Communities Minister Gordon Lyons.

He said: “Following the unexpected and unwelcome news last July that 180,000 pensioner households in Northern Ireland would no longer be eligible for the winter payment, I moved to secure Executive funding to mitigate the impact of the decision.

“Having tasked my officials to prepare the legislative and operational groundwork to enable this payment to be made as quickly as possible, I can announce that the money will be in people’s accounts ahead of the expected end-of-March date and will begin arriving from March 21.

“Whilst I realise the payment will not fully cover the impact of changes to the Winter Fuel Payment, I hope it will go some way to supporting those affected.”

Eligibility criteria and payment channels will be those previously used for the Winter Fuel Allowance, and care home residents may also be qualify.

Mr Lyons added: “As Minister for Communities, I have stated my determination to ensure that those who are most in need are supported. The pension age fuel support payment is testament to that commitment.

“Whilst the budgetary situation is challenging for all, I will take whatever actions possible to direct resources to where they are most needed.”

He also encouraged people to make use of the “Make the Call” service run by Department for Communities, which can check if members of the public are getting all the benefits, services and supports they’re entitled to receive.

“[The service] can put people in touch with benefits and supports to which they are entitled but not receiving,” said the DUP minister. “Pension Credit in particular can provide access to a range of supports.

"This is especially important to our older generations, so I would encourage everyone to make the call.”

Full details of the criteria for the pension age fuel support payment are available on the NI Direct website. Make the call can be contacted on 0800 232 1271, from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday.