THOUSANDS of households are due up to £25 in free cash after cold weather payments were triggered in hundreds of postcodes.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) hands out the free cash to help support hard-up Brits during cold spells.
Ashley KirkHouseholds can get £25 during each seven-day period of low temperatures from now until March 31[/caption]
And eligible households get the cash paid directly into their bank accounts within 14 days.
The cold weather payments are made in locations where residents experience continuous below-zero weather.
Households can get £25 during each seven-day period of low temperatures from now until March 31.
Cold weather payments have been triggered in over 285 postcodes so far in November – meaning that thousands of households are owed cash.
The payment is made automatically, including to those on Universal Credit.
Payments will appear in bank statements as your National Insurance number followed by “DWP CWP” for people in England and Wales.
If you live in Northern Ireland it will appear as “SSA CWP”.
Your National Insurance number is made up of two letters, then six numbers, then a letter.
So an example of what a payment might look like if you live in England or Wales would be QQ123456C DWP CWP.
We’ve listed all the postcodes that have qualified for a single £25 cold weather payment so far below.
Postcodes eligible for one cold weather payment – worth £25
Blackburn – BB4, BB8-12, BB18
Bolton – BL0-9
Bradford – BD1-24
Carlisle – CA1-12, CA16-CA17
Cleveland – TS21, TS28-29
Crewe – CW4, CW6-11
Darlington – DL4-5, DL8, DL11-17
Dumfries and Galloway – DG16
Durham – DH1–9
Halifax – HX1-7
Huddersfield – HD3, HD7-9
Lancaster – LA8-LA10, LA21-LA23
Leeds – LS21, LS29
Manchester – M1-9, M11-35, M38, M4-46, M50, M90
Newcastle upon Tyne – NE1-13, NE15-21, NE23, NE25-49
Oldham – OL1-16
Preston – PR7
Sheffield – S36
Shrewsbury – SY1-6, SY11-13
Stockport – SK1-12, SK14-16
Sunderland – SR1-7
Telford – TF1-13
Warrington – WA1-16
Wigan – WN1-8
Yorkshire – YO13, YO18, YO21-22, YO62
Who is eligible for cold weather payments?
Households are eligible for the extra cash if they are getting the following:
Universal Credit
Income-based jobseeker’s allowance
Income-related employment and support allowance
Support for mortgage interest
Depending on your specific circumstances, you may also need to meet one or more of the following additional criteria:
Have a disability or be in receipt of pension premium
Have a child who is disabled
Be in receipt of child tax credit that includes a disability or severe disability element
Have a severe or enhanced disability premium
Be in receipt of a limited capability for work amount
Have a child under five living with you
You can find out more about eligibility on the government’s website.
Getting the cold weather payment doesn’t affect any other benefits you get.
If you’re eligible, you should get the payments automatically within 14 days, into the same account where you get your benefit payments.
But if you think you should get the payment and haven’t, then contact your pension centre or Jobcentre Plus office, or call the Universal Credit helpline on 0800 328 5644.
If you’re getting Universal Credit, you can also sign in to your account and add a note to your journal.