Cold weather payments: quickly check if you're entitled

SingleSue

Do you also receive one of the qualifying elements alongside your IS?

newbie2010

Yes I qualify and have for the past few years. The issue Im raising is that I live 50 miles away from the weather station they use for my postcode yet a postcode just 3 miles away uses a weather station about 6 miles away and they are entitled to 3 payments. Is this normal or should I seek help with my appeal?

DX2

newbie2010 wrote: »

Yes I qualify and have for the past few years. The issue Im raising is that I live 50 miles away from the weather station they use for my postcode yet a postcode just 3 miles away uses a weather station about 6 miles away and they are entitled to 3 payments. Is this normal or should I seek help with my appeal?

Can I ask who exactly are you going to be appealing against? The met office, the DWP, the government?

newbie2010

Def not the Met Office as they are not responsible. I only contacted them to ask if Heathrow was my nearest weather station.

The letter is from jobcentreplus and says if you dont agree with decision then phone for an explanation. I did this and was told about Heathrow. I then phoned the Met Office who confirmed that Harlow was my nearest but they are unable to pass comment regarding CWP as they just get asked for weather in certain areas and they provide the information requested.

The letter I received also goes on to say if you wish for the decision to be looked at again get form GL24 and appeal within one month of the date of letter. As I have told them I want to appeal they are sending me this form.

BeenieCat

geoff11 wrote: »

BeenieCat wrote: »

Hi, i'm on IS and didn't have a child under 5 until 21st December when my baby was born

The site says 4 have been triggered for my area, but also says this:

If you have qualified for Cold Weather Payments since 1 November 2009 and live in this postcode area, you are due to receive 4 Cold Weather Payments.


Obviously i didn't qualify until 21st Dec, but won't i still get any for the time after that?

you qualify for the dates after the 21st dec yes providing they understand you now have a child which seems in many cases they dont, make sure you contact I/S to make sure they have got you on the cwp scan list.

Just had a letter saying i'm going to get all 4 payments - very surprised and obviously pleased. It's going straight to British Gas though, i'm hoping it will leave me a little bit in credit.

DX2

newbie2010 wrote: »

Def not the Met Office as they are not responsible. I only contacted them to ask if Heathrow was my nearest weather station.

The letter is from jobcentreplus and says if you dont agree with decision then phone for an explanation. I did this and was told about Heathrow. I then phoned the Met Office who confirmed that Harlow was my nearest but they are unable to pass comment regarding CWP as they just get asked for weather in certain areas and they provide the information requested.

The letter I received also goes on to say if you wish for the decision to be looked at again get form GL24 and appeal within one month of the date of letter. As I have told them I want to appeal they are sending me this form.

So it has nothing to do with the DWP either then, they adhere to the rules set out to them. Might be better if you got in contact with your MP. As I suspect appealing a decision with the DWP is a waste of time as the are implementing the correct procedure.

coldcolin

if youve worked long enough you recieve incapacity benefit which is higher than the income support based incapacity benefit for people who have done no work or not enough but its all a con to sound good on Tv

I end up with the exact amount of money as someone i know who's never worked because they make me pay bits of rent & council tax -to the penny to bring it in line with what he gets.

And becuse on paper they say i get more money I dont qualify for the £25 cold wether payment as many other will have found out

A bloke asked a labour politician why people whove worked shouldnt get more money than those who dont and he said they did- the interviewer didnt know any better- all a con

All it means is i have the hassle of going up town paying bus fares to pay these things and i get less in the long run because of things like the cold payments, oh and i have to fill in stupid forms to get dental treatment and perscriptions aswell giving me another job when really were all on the same money - wish id stayed on my !!!! like some of the other people i know!

while im here i know people whove got that much in debt aswell say with electric companies , gas etc.. for years then go to CAB and they sort it out for them to pay a crappy £3 a week or something for ever and their sorted £3-£5 all week burning eleectric - where did it all go wrong with being a honest working ....etc...etc..

Robbie64

newbie2010 wrote: »

Hi everyone Im new around here.

As I receive IS I am entitled to CWP. I received a letter the other day saying I was entitled to one.
I phoned to query this as someone who lives just 3 miles away from me was entitled to 3.

My postcode is IG10 which is Essex and I was told by the benefits people I come under Heathrows weather station. But according to the Met Office my local weather station is Harlow. Obviously I am going to appeal this as Harlow is just 6 or so miles from me and Heathrow is some 50 miles away.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this and should I go ahead with an appeal on my own or would it be advisable to consult the CAB or even my local MP?

Thanks in advance.

I've just checked the relevant piece of legislation and your weather station is indeed Heathrow. The same legislation doesn't show Harlow as a weather station used by the DWP in calculating cold weather payments.

The relevant legislation listing weather stations and relevant postcodes can be found online but as I'm a new user this site won't let me post links. The legislation is:

The Social Fund Cold Weather Payments (General) Amendment Regulations 2009

If you post that into google you should find the regulation as the first link listed.

it's quite a lengthy regulation but you just need to link your postcode to the relevant weather station listed in Schedule 1 of that regulation - Heathrow covers quite a number of postcode districts including IG1 to IG11.

Robbie64

coldcolin wrote: »

if youve worked long enough you recieve incapacity benefit which is higher than the income support based incapacity benefit for people who have done no work or not enough but its all a con to sound good on Tv

I end up with the exact amount of money as someone i know who's never worked because they make me pay bits of rent & council tax -to the penny to bring it in line with what he gets.

And becuse on paper they say i get more money I dont qualify for the £25 cold wether payment as many other will have found out

A bloke asked a labour politician why people whove worked shouldnt get more money than those who dont and he said they did- the interviewer didnt know any better- all a con

All it means is i have the hassle of going up town paying bus fares to pay these things and i get less in the long run because of things like the cold payments, oh and i have to fill in stupid forms to get dental treatment and perscriptions aswell giving me another job when really were all on the same money - wish id stayed on my !!!! like some of the other people i know!

while im here i know people whove got that much in debt aswell say with electric companies , gas etc.. for years then go to CAB and they sort it out for them to pay a crappy £3 a week or something for ever and their sorted £3-£5 all week burning eleectric - where did it all go wrong with being a honest working ....etc...etc..

well, technically you are better off so the politician was correct - but you're only 15p better off for every pound you are over the Income Support level (which is the level at which you get full Housing Benefit / Council Tax Benefit)!

One way around this problem - in fact the only way , and its one the Government would never do as the cost would be immense, would be to extend Cold Weather Payments to people who receive Housing and / or Council Tax Benefit but not Income Support, JSA (Income Based) etc where the assessment of HB / CTB includes a Disability Premium, a Child Disability Premium or similar payments or where there is a child aged under 5 in the household. Unfortunately it will never happen. In your case I doubt you are more than a few pounds a week better off once the HB / CTB calculations have eaten into your Incapacity Benefit so you do end up losing out here. Quite unbelievably, the circumstances you describe were first raised in Parliament in 1980 and no Government of either persuasion has done anything to solve the problem in the 30 years that have passed since then.

DX2

Robbie64 wrote: »

The relevant legislation listing weather stations and relevant postcodes can be found online but as I'm a new user this site won't let me post links. The legislation is:

The Social Fund Cold Weather Payments (General) Amendment Regulations 2009

If you post that into google you should find the regulation as the first link listed.

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2009/uksi_20092649_en_1