How to check if you're due a £25 Cold Weather Payment during freezing temperatures this winter
The Cold Weather Payment scheme runs from November 1 to March 31
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The Cold Weather Payment Scheme means eligible people will get £25 if there’s a trigger in their local area.
Qualifying people get a payment if the average temperature in their area is recorded as or forecast to be zero degrees Celsius or below over seven days in a row.
They will be able to get £25 for every seven-day period of very cold weather when the scheme runs, which is between November 1 and March 31 next year.
People can no longer get Cold Weather Payments if they live in Scotland, but they might get a £50 annual Winter Heating Payment instead – which is paid regardless of weather conditions in the local area.
Cold Weather Payments offer £25 to eligible people during periods of very cold weather
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The payment should be received within 14 working days of a trigger, and the money will be paid into the same bank or building society account as benefit payments.
The payments are made automatically, although people might want to see if they are due a payment to help with their budgeting.
Find more details on the Cold Weather Payment triggers here.
The DWP has confirmed some people will get £50, due to there being two Cold Weather Payment triggers in their local postcode.
How to use Cold Weather Payment postcode checker
If a person is eligible, they can check if they are due a payment online via the Cold Weather Payment postcode checker tool.
There are two services – one for people living in Northern Ireland on the NI Direct website and another for those based in England and Wales on Gov.uk.
To use the tool, users in Northern Ireland need to navigate to input their Northern Ireland postcode and press search.
The results will then come up, confirming if there have been any Cold Weather Payment triggers in that specific postcode this winter.
People in England and Wales first need to select the country where the postcode is.
They then need to submit the first part of the postcode into the scheme and press “continue”.
The service will then state the number of Cold Weather Payments which eligible people can get so far this season.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Cold Weather Payments may be triggered in a particular postcode during periods of very cold weather
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The DWP said the postcodes forecast triggers in dater order so far are:
November 27
- Shap - CA10, CA11, CA12, CA16, CA17, LA8, LA9, LA10, LA21, LA22, LA23
November 28
- Albemarle - DH1, DH2, DH3, DH4, DH5, DH6, DH7, DH9, DL4, DL5, DL14, DL15, DL16, DL17, NE1, NE2, NE3, NE4, NE5, NE6, NE7, NE8, NE9, NE10, NE11, NE12, NE13, NE15, NE16, NE17, NE18, NE20, NE21, NE23, NE25, NE26, NE27, NE28, NE29, NE30, NE31, NE32, NE33, NE34, NE35, NE36, NE37, NE38, NE39, NE40, NE41, NE42, NE43, NE44, NE45, NE46, SR1, SR2, SR3, SR4, SR5, SR6, SR7, TS21, TS28, TS29
- Bainbridge - BD23, BD24, DL8, DL11, DL12, DL13
- Bingley - BB4, BB8, BB9, BB10, BB11, BB12, BB18, BD1, BD2, BD3, BD4, BD5, BD6, BD7, BD8, BD9, BD10, BD11, BD12, BD13, BD14, BD15, BD16, BD17, BD18, BD19, BD20, BD21, BD22, HD3, HD7, HD8, HD9, HX1, HX2, HX3, HX4, HX5, HX6, HX7, LS21, LS29, OL13, OL14, S36
- Carlisle - CA1, CA2, CA3, CA4, CA5, CA6, CA7, CA8, DG16
- Fylingdales - YO13, YO18, YO21, YO22, YO62
- Redesdale - CA9, DH8, NE19, NE47, NE48, NE49
- Rochdale - BL0, BL1, BL2, BL3, BL4, BL5, BL6, BL7, BL8, BL9, M24, M26, OL1, OL2, OL3, OL4, OL5, OL6, OL7, OL8, OL9, OL10, OL11, OL12, OL15, OL16, SK15
- Rostherne - CW4, CW6, CW7, CW8, CW9, CW10, CW11, M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, M6, M7, M8, M9, M11, M12, M13, M14, M15, M16, M17, M18, M19, M20, M21, M22, M23, M25, M27, M28, M29, M30, M31, M32, M33, M34, M35, M38, M40, M41, M43, M44, M45, M46, M50, M90, PR7, SK1, SK2, SK3, SK4, SK5, SK6, SK7, SK8, SK9, SK10, SK11, SK12, SK14, SK16, WA1, WA2, WA3, WA4, WA5, WA6, WA7, WA8, WA9, WA10, WA11, WA12, WA13, WA14, WA15, WA16, WN1, WN2, WN3, WN4, WN5, WN6, WN7, WN8
- Shawbury -SY1, SY2, SY3, SY4, SY5, SY6, SY11, SY12, SY13, TF1, TF2, TF3, TF4, TF5, TF6, TF7, TF8, TF9, TF10, TF11, TF12, TF13
December 5
- Charterhall - NE71, TD9, TD12, TD15
- Leek Thorncliffe - DE4, DE45, S32, S33, SK13, SK17, SK22, SK23, ST9, ST10, ST13
December 8
- Shap - CA10, CA11, CA12, CA16, CA17, LA8, LA9, LA10, LA21, LA22, LA23
January 12
- Redesdale - CA9, DH8, NE19, NE47, NE48, NE49
- Shap - CA10, CA11, CA12, CA16, CA17, LA8, LA9, LA10, LA21, LA22, LA23
January 13
- Albemarle - DH1, DH2, DH3, DH4, DH5, DH6, DH7, DH9, DL4, DL5, DL14, DL15, DL16, DL17, NE1, NE2, NE3, NE4, NE5, NE6, NE7, NE8, NE9, NE10, NE11, NE12, NE13, NE15, NE16, NE17, NE18, NE20, NE21, NE23, NE25, NE26, NE27, NE28, NE29, NE30, NE31, NE32, NE33, NE34, NE35, NE36, NE37, NE38, NE39, NE40, NE41, NE42, NE43, NE44, NE45, NE46, SR1, SR2, SR3, SR4, SR5, SR6, SR7, TS21, TS28, TS29
- Bainbridge - BD23, BD24, DL8, DL11, DL12, DL13
- Benson - HP5, HP6, HP7, HP8, HP9, HP10, HP11, HP12, HP13, HP14, HP15, HP16, HP17, HP18, HP19, HP20, HP21, HP22, HP23, HP27, OX9, OX10, OX33, OX39, OX44, OX49, RG9, SL7, SL8, SL9
- Bingley - BB4, BB8, BB9, BB10, BB11, BB12, BB18, BD1, BD2, BD3, BD4, BD5, BD6, BD7, BD8, BD9, BD10, BD11, BD12, BD13, BD14, BD15, BD16, BD17, BD18, BD19, BD20, BD21, BD22, HD3, HD7, HD8, HD9, HX1, HX2, HX3, HX4, HX5, HX6, HX7, LS21, LS29, OL13, OL14, S36
- Charterhall - NE71, TD12, TD15
- Fylingdales - YO13, YO18, YO21, YO22, YO62
- Leek Thorncliffe - DE4, DE45, S32, S33, SK13, SK17, SK22, SK23, ST9, ST10, ST13
- Libanus - CF37, CF38, CF39, CF40, CF41, CF42, CF43, CF44, CF45, CF46, CF47, CF48, CF81, CF82, CF83, LD3, NP4, NP11, NP12, NP13, NP22, NP23, NP24, NP44, SA9
- Marham - CB6, CB7, IP24, IP25, IP26, IP27, IP28, PE12, PE13, PE14, PE30, PE31, PE32, PE33, PE34, PE35, PE36, PE37, PE38