Octopus Energy hands pensioners £200 lifeline after winter fuel axe

Octopus Energy is giving Winter Fuel Payments up to £200 to thousands of customers (Image: Getty)

Pensioners who missed retired connected this year’s Winter Fuel Payment tin alternatively assertion up to £200 from Octopus Energy arsenic portion of a caller scheme.

The large vigor supplier, which serves astir 6.8 cardinal customers successful the UK, has acceptable up its ain Winter Fuel Payments for authorities pensioners, offering payouts of £50, £100 and £200.

Octopus says it has launched the strategy to assistance enactment thousands of pension-age households to screen their bills this winter aft Labour changed the criteria for the authorities scheme.

Up until past year, the Winter Fuel Payment was disposable to each UK households with idiosyncratic implicit State Pension age, providing an yearly outgo of either £200 oregon £300.

But changes made 2024 mean the outgo present lone goes to households who are successful receipt of Pension Credit, oregon immoderate of the pursuing benefits:

• Universal Credit

• income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)

• Income Support

• Child Tax Credit

• Working Tax Credit

It means that the fig of households eligible for the outgo has dropped dramatically from astir 11 cardinal to conscionable implicit 1 million.

The determination to alteration the outgo from a cosmopolitan payment to 1 that is present means-tested was to guarantee the enactment goes to those who request it most, but it means that immoderate pensioners who are lone conscionable supra the affordability threshold present miss out.

In response, Octopus has extended its £30 cardinal Octopus Assist money to enactment thousands of customers missing retired connected Winter Fuel Payments.

The supplier said: “Fewer UK households are present eligible for the government’s £200-300 Winter Fuel Payment this year. And we cognize galore customers depended connected this help.

“That’s wherefore we’re stepping up to assistance bring this enactment backmost to customers who request it most: offering our ain £50, £100 and £200 ‘Winter Fuel Payments’ to thousands of Octopus customers who’ll nary longer beryllium eligible with the caller changes.

“We’ll inquire you to stock immoderate accusation astir your health, immoderate vulnerabilities, income and monthly costs truthful we tin enactment retired the champion ways we tin assistance you. Applying is speedy and straightforward, and you tin bash it online, implicit the phone, oregon by mail.

“We’ll besides cheque if you’re entitled to immoderate different authorities enactment oregon benefits - which for immoderate customers, adhd up to £10,000 a twelvemonth - and tin assistance you apply.”

Customers tin use for the strategy online via the Octopus Energy website.