Pensioner Fuel Support Payments To Begin Arriving This Week

Pensioner households in Northern Ireland will begin receiving a £100 fuel support payment from Friday, 21 March, Communities Minister Gordon Lyons has announced. The one-off payment aims to mitigate the impact of changes to the UK government's Winter Fuel Payment (WFP) eligibility criteria.

The £17 million scheme, funded by the Executive, was secured by Minister Lyons after approximately 180,000 pensioner households in Northern Ireland were set to lose out on their WFP entitlement due to new means-testing rules introduced by the Labour government.

The payment will be made automatically into eligible individuals' bank accounts, with no application required.

"Following the unexpected and unwelcome news last July that 180,000 pensioner households in Northern Ireland would no longer be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment, I moved to secure Executive funding to mitigate the impact of the decision," said Minister Lyons. "Having tasked my officials to prepare the legislative and operational groundwork to enable this payment to be made as quickly as possible, I can announce that the money will be in people's accounts ahead of the expected end-of-March date and will begin arriving from Friday 21 March."

The Minister acknowledged that the payment would not fully compensate for the loss of the WFP, but hoped it would provide some support to those affected. An estimated 250,000 pensioners will benefit from the scheme.

Eligibility criteria and payment channels will mirror those previously used for the WFP. In households with two eligible individuals, each will receive £50. Eligibility criteria for care home residents will also apply.

Further information on the Pension Age Fuel Support Payment is available on the nidirect website at www.nidirect.gov.uk/pensionagefuelsupportpayment.