More Money in Your Pocket

We're committed to making sure all our pensioners have the help they need to stay warm and well this winter.

As the Winter Fuel Allowance is now restricted to only those on Pension Credit or other low-income benefits,  we're using the Household Support Fund, funded by the UK government, to provide aid to those who may not qualify. You'll find details of the support available on this page.

Please note: we've been made aware of some winter fuel and financial support scams targeting people. Any text messages you receive from us will include a name ID and won't come from a standard mobile number. Please be vigilant when sharing any personal information.

Pension Credit

Pension Credit gives you extra money to help with your living costs if you're over the state pension age and on a low income. It can also give you access to a range of other benefits. This can include helping with housing costs, winter fuel payment, Council Tax, heating bills, prescriptions, and for those 75 or over - a free TV licence.

Although take up of Pension Credit is high, many people are missing out. If you aren’t sure if you qualify you can use our benefits calculator to check. This will give you an indication of what you may be eligible for and how to apply for it.

If you're eligible for Pension Credit, you can apply for this on the GOV.UK website. You can also come to one of our drop-in sessions if you need help applying.

Drop-in sessions

If you need help applying for Pension Credit, using our benefits calculator, or finding out about the support available to you this winter, come along to one of our drop-in sessions.

We'll keep updating the list below with more dates, so keep checking back here or see the Barnsley Chronicle every Friday.

Pensioner winter support fund

Our pensioner winter support fund can provide a one-off £200 payment to eligible pensioners.

Where we've been able to identify a household that meets the eligibility criteria, we've issued an automatic payment. You'll receive a letter including full details of how to redeem this. If you've not received a letter from us, you can apply for the payment if you meet all of the eligibility criteria.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the payment you must meet all of the following criteria:

• Be in a household where at least one member has reached the age where the state retirement pension is, or would be, payable. This person must:
  • be a permanent resident of the household
  • be registered for Council Tax at the address
  • not have made a previous application from a different address
    
    
• Have a net household income per annum which is lower than £21,498. This includes income from all sources, including:
  • DWP benefits - including Personal Independence Payment and Attendance Allowance
  • full or part time work
  • private or occupational pensions
  • gifts, ad-hoc payments, or other unofficial income, including payments from lodgers

• Have combined savings for you and all members of your household totalling less than £6000, including from banks and building societies, stocks, shares, ISAs and cash.

When you won't be eligible

You're not eligible for a payment if any of the following apply, even if you meet the above criteria:

• You've already received a payment from the fund at another address, or a payment has been made to another person living at the same address as you.
• You, or someone in your household, has received the £200 payment automatically due to being identified by us as experiencing winter hardship.
• We've advised you that you're eligible for Pension Credit, regardless of whether you've chosen to submit an application for it.
• You, or a household member of the applicant, has submitted a Pension Credit application and is awaiting a decision.

How to apply

You can apply for a winter support payment using our online form below. You'll need bank statements for everyone in your household, and can either upload these in the form or bring them to one of our drop-in sessions to be checked.

You can also apply through Citizen's Advice Barnsley, DIAL Barnsley, or by visiting one of our drop-in sessions. If you apply this way, you'll need to take bank statements with you so these can be checked.

What happens next

We complete various checks when you've submitted your application to ensure you meet the eligibility criteria. This can take five working days from when we receive all of your documents.

We'll let you know if your application is successful and if so you'll receive your payment via a text message from PayPoint. You can choose to either pay this money into your bank account or receive cash from any PayPoint retailer.

Trusted partner referrals

If you're one of our trusted partners and you'd like to make a new referral, please use our trusted partner referral form below. You'll need your trusted partner access code to do this.

Other winter support

While we know many pensioners are missing out on Pension Credit, there are also people who aren't eligible for that benefit and need help this winter. If that's the case we have other support available for you this winter.