Changes to the eligibility for Winter Fuel Payments indicate that around 1.5 million individuals over State Pension age will receive a payment of £100, £200 or £300 this year to assist with increased heating costs during the winter months.

Fuel Payment is still being paid out to pensioners even if you missed this week's deadline thanks to a little known DWP loophole.

The money is just for the holiday kitty,” says Jon Harvey of the £300 he was given every winter to help with heating bills. “I could also use it to go out for a nice meal.” The 80-year-old, like all pensioners in England and Wales,

The final date for making a backdated claim for pension credit, in order to receive the winter fuel payment, is 21 December. The Department for Work and Pensions says that pension credit is worth on average more than £3,900 a year in itself. The amount received depends on a variety of factors.

The governments plan to restrict pensioners winter fuel payment to households getting pension credit has been easily if grudgingly passed by parliament. This was despite a strong case for delaying the move to

The Labour government in Cardiff has no powers over the cash but a Welsh minister has said the policy risks pushing some pensioners into "fuel poverty". The UK government said it was "right that we target support to those who need it most" given "the dire state of the public finances we have inherited".

A conservative motion to annul Labour’s plans to cut the winter fuel payments gave MPs a chance to vote on the controversial decision.