cold weather payment

forever_skint

The way I understood it is that if the temperature goes below freezing at some point every day for 7 days then you will get it. But you are saying that it has to stay below 0 constantly for 7 days ?

colin13

colin13 wrote: »

here in lanarkshire ,,we will recieve the £25 cold weather payment,,according to the sun newspaper,,it has been very cold for a while now ,, it is regional,,and as nano kitten says I only had it once in the past 5 years as well hears hopin

is this paid into PO/ Bank account automatically Here in Lanarkshire it has been triggered, but we changed our Benefits to bank but still have PO account will they pay into same account as last year,,had I better check PO account

[Deleted User]

forever_skint wrote: »

The way I understood it is that if the temperature goes below freezing at some point every day for 7 days then you will get it. But you are saying that it has to stay below 0 constantly for 7 days ?

No it only has to be zero or below at some point on each of the 7 consecutive days,im sure that after 6 days they turn the heating up outside :rotfl:

fedupconsumer

alexcross wrote: »

it seems to be a touchy sunject and rightly so. I agree that if pensioners get their one-off winter payment then the same should go for those on DLA (and I belive it should be at least half of what pensioners get and not a measly £8 -£25) this said I am not saying that the elderly do not deserve it because they surley do and they need it.
but so do the disabled. It should reallt have nothing to do with how cold it is for how many days we all know winter is a tough time and we spend much much more on fuel bills than in the summer.

To be honest and this may be controversial but the winter fuel and other payments to elderly people should be means tested i know a lot of OAP's who get the payments who have a considerable amount of money saved up and other like me with low incomes cannot get the £200+ for gas and electricity bills and yet my house is constantly cold and have not gotten over a cold in over a month severly impacting on my overall health. I cannot afford the payments to the electricy company sometimes and have to get less food in yet pentioners who are well off can have a well heated home and live in reletive comfort.
There is something seriously wrong with this system , pentioners , disabled people and carrers with children or adults on very low incomes should be given the winter fuel payments full stop. I really hope we get some moeny for the gas and electricity bills this month im fed up of being in a permanant state of coldness. Who has received theirs?

nanokitten

I tried my best to read the legislation but its not very helpful:

the average temperature at you assigned local weather station must be zero or predicted to be zero for 7 consecutive days.
It does not make it clear how they calculate the average but an average of the max and min temp for a day is probably a good estimate.

Having said all that it doesn't really matter as you get a letter when you qualify and it happens automatically.

helsbels1982

i am so desperate for the government to realise they are not giving people enough money to live on when they cant work. it is not our fault that we are sick/disabled and it is not our fault that we need somebody to care for us. if we had a choice we would much rather be working than the way we are at the moment.

how would they feel if they had to live on the amount of money the social gives for a month. they all should definatly try it! n then they may realise it is impossible.

all these facts etc they keep giving about how many people in the uk are in serious debt - surely they should see that it is because of there lowsy rules and payments etc that has caused so many to be in severe debt!!
:mad:
because of the amount of money i owe out each money and to be able to buy things like food etc i do not have any money left over each month. i therefore have no money for the extra heating i need in the winter. i actually end up with my duvet and sleeping bag and 2 blankets just to try and stay warm because i cant afford to have the heating on. i have a big problem with my knee (still unknown what is wrong after 4 years and still cant put weight on it) so the cold makes things even worsed as i bet the cold does for everyone. but because my partner has to care for me becuase i am unable to do anything he therefore cant work and so the money he gets from carers isnt enough with my benfits for 2 people to live and have money left after paying everything and buying food to put extra money in for the heating.

an extra bit of money each week in the winter months for people would help so much with the heating and would help to prevent more people getting worse because of the cold and ending up taking precious beds in hospital because they have become so ill due to the cold.

why cant they just get of there !!!!!! in there nice warm houses and think of everyone else who doesnot have that kind of luxury and help! i also agree that they should give extra in the winter months but do it via the means tested route.

elderly people have a right to get extra help becuase they will feel the cold more due to age but so do people who are sick and disabled as they feel it just as much as there bodys/immune systems are just as week as the elderly.

Brightness

In 6 yrs of getting DLA (for 4 yrs I never knew I was entitled yet now I get higher rate of both) I have never had a payment. We do get very cold weather where I am though due to being in a dip just below the Cotswolds.

I am 'lucky' in that my hubby works and we have our own house (with a substantial mortgage) but then I always worked full time before becoming disabled so it's not as though we are 'rich'.

Anyway, what I suppose I am getting at is that I wish we could afford to have the heating on and I am more often than not found to be sat in the house wrapped in a fleece wearing my gloves as I am so cold due to my limited mobility. Surely, if this was something that affected government ministers then they would act on it immediately but I'll bet they are nice and warm in their lovely government offices.

Another bugbear is the way they work out EMA payments - they never take outgoings like mortgage into consideration when paying them out but that's a stopry for another thread, sorry!

foxxymynx

Brightness wrote: »

In 6 yrs of getting DLA (for 4 yrs I never knew I was entitled yet now I get higher rate of both) I have never had a payment.

DLA doesn't entitle you to cold weather payments, that's why you've never had one :rolleyes:

OAPs get winter payments (whatever they're called, the cold weather payments I think) and those on means tested benefits (income support and JSA) will get a payment once the weather drops to 0 degrees C and stays there for 7 days.

alexcross

foxy I was on IS for a few years before DS was accepted for DLA. It was only when he got DLA did we get a cold weather payment. I phoned up to see what this was and Jobcentre said it was because child was on DLA. Only people on IS or JS with chidren under 5 are actually entitled to a cold weather payment or people with children claiming DLA.
its very confusing for people and I am still unsure of how it works never mind for anyone else.
WHY oh why is everything so difficult to claim for?

colin13

we got cold weather payment paid itwife who is on IS , but this was only after I got hi rate care on dla (i think ) not much help really