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Tens of thousands of pensioners face waiting until Spring for their winter fuel payment as new figures reveal the scale of delays following Labour changes.
In December, The Independent revealed that many pensioners were waiting over 100 days for their winter fuel payment, even if they applied in good time. But new statistics from the DWP show that this wait had become the norm by the start of the month.
Following reports of an average 65-working day wait for the payment, the figure spiked to 82 by the end of November. At the start of December, it grew again to 83, equal to waits of around 106 days when including weekends. This means many pensioners will not see their payment until March – enduring Winter and the cold snap without it.
Joanna Elson, chief executive of Independent Age, a charity supporting older people facing financial hardship, said there figures were alarming.
“It is clear [the DWP] are struggling to handle the influx of enquires sparked by the UK Government’s decision to tie the Winter Fuel Payment to Pension Credit. There is a real person behind each application that is worried about having enough money to turn the heating on,” she said.
“With the recent cold snap, this uncertainty on whether they are eligible for pension credit and the winter fuel payment could cause many older people to cutback on other essentials like food so they can afford to turn the heating on, and others will have not turned the heating on at all, risking their physical and mental health.”
The charity has called on the government to review the new financial threshold for qualifying for the winter fuel payment, adding that pension credit is “simply not the right mechanism.”
The exclusive statistics reveal that by 9 December there were 89,200 outstanding claims, indicating the sheer number of vulnerable people still waiting. Almost 17,000 of those were more than 50 working days old.
According to the material obtained by The Independent under FOI, the oldest outstanding claim took 397 working days to process, finally being finalised on 12 December, but the DWP says that this was a ‘complex’ case.
The new figures come after dozens of cases where pensioners were facing waits of more than three months for the benefit were uncovered by The Independent. Welfare advisers across several organisations said these waits have become a serious issue, with DWP agents unable to provide much guidance.
The department says that waiting times for pension credit claims have reduced since the deadline to apply for the 2024 winter fuel payment passed on 21 December, but it is unclear by how much.
The delays follow changes announced by Rachel Reeves in late July, making only those receiving pension credit eligible for the winter fuel payment. All pensioners would receive the payment every winter in previous years.
The DWP says the change sparked a massive increase in pension credit claims, as around 150,000 people applied in the 16 weeks since the chancellor’s announcement. This was up 145 per cent from the previous 16 weeks, when 61,300 applications were made. Around 500 staff were been brought in by the department to process claims faster, but the massive backlog still persits.
Tory shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately said: “These latest figures are truly shocking. Last year people got their Winter Fuel Payment in time for Christmas. But under Labour thousands of pensioners must wait until the clocks go forward to know if they can afford to heat their freezing home this winter.
“The Government made this announcement back in July; how have they messed this up so badly? Looking at the situation in hospitals, it begs the question of how many people might have avoided A&E if they could have kept their heating on.”
A DWP spokesperson said: “Pension Credit processing times have significantly reduced since December 2024 and we have deployed over 500 staff to manage the expected increase in claims being made.
“Our successful campaign to boost Pension Credit take up has seen applications double, with a 51% increase in the number of cleared Pension Credit claims. We urge anyone who thinks they are eligible for Pension Credit to check now as it’s worth £4,200 a year and opens the door to further benefits.”
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