Just 53,000 opted out of the payments – and a change to the way payments are clawed back by HMRC mean this year more is taken in tax
New statistics show that more than 2.2 million people are set to be hit by having to repay their Winter Fuel Payments. The Department for Work and Pensions today released new data showing just how many people received the payment after it was reinstated for millions last year.
Last year 10.9 million people recieved between £100 and £300 to help pay for heating last winter. This was up from 1.3 million the year before when it was withdrawn from everyone except those getting Pensions Credit.
However estimates provided by the DWP showed that millions will have to pay it back. Anyone who gets more than £35,000 in taxable income and doesn’t opt out of the payment will have to pay it back through tax.
This means if people received £200 – they will be paying it back at the rate of £17 a month. However from April 2027, HMRC will start recovering Winter Fuel Payments in advance through PAYE in the same tax year they are paid.
This means some could effectively be paying back double – for example, an individual who received £200 of winter fuel payment in 2025/26 and a further £200 in 2026/27 may see their monthly tax increase by around £30 to £33 during the period both payments are being recovered from January 2027.
People could avoid this by opting out of the payment entirely – but the new figures showed that 53,000 pensioners opted-out from receiving a WFP for winter 2025 to 2026. It added: “A HMRC impact assessment estimates that 2.2 million pensioners (including those from Northern Ireland) would be impacted by recoveries.”
Consumer expert Rebecca Wilcox explained to BBC Morning Live viewers earlier this year that anyone who has more than £35,000 taxable income may want to opt out of the 2026 Winter Fuel Payment or face paying back a sum of ‘£33 each month’ back.
She warned that from April millions of households are being contacted by HMRC and told they may need to repay their Winter Fuel Payment. And she explained that some may want to take action to stop themselves from getting the money to avoid the repayment process.
Ms Wilcox said that a key change later this year means people would be paying back double the full amount. On cancelling it in advance, she explained: “If you know your personal income is going to be over the threshold of £35,000 then opt out of it for the next year and then you don’t have to worry about the next payment.
“The reason you’ll want to opt out is because the payments are going to double just for one year.”This is because the taxman is in debt, he’s in arrears, because he’s paid out all this money and it wants to claw this money back. For one year it is going to charge everybody double on their repayments so it can get back into the normal process of taking the money from you and then returning it. It wants to have its money so for one year it is going to charge you, say you were doing, for example we were talking about, of £17 per month tax deductions, it’s going to charge you double, £34 per month for that one year and then it will go back to £17.
“So that’s why you might want to opt out if you know you’re going to be earning £35,000 and above. If your income then drops just be aware you will have to opt back in to receive the Winter Fuel Payment.”
Statistics from the DWP showed the number of WFP recipients in winter 2025 to 2026 was 10.9 million, an increase of 9.6 million since winter 2024 to 2025, when WFP were made to eligible pensioners receiving certain means tested benefits, and 290 thousand from 2023 to 2024 when the policy was universal and most pensioners received a WFP
Of all WFP recipients, 37% received £100, 9% received £150, 38% received £200 and 17% received £300
It added: “WFP were introduced in 1997 to help pension aged people pay their heating bills. It is an annual tax-free payment, to those eligible, to help meet the costs of heating their home in the winter. For winter 2025 to 2026 this payment was between £100 and £300.
WFP amounts depending on age of recipient and age of the person they live with if they are not in receipt of benefits
Scenario // Amount if of State Pension age but under 80 // Amount if 80 or over
You qualify and live alone (or none of the people you live with qualify) // £200 // £300
You qualify and live with someone under 80 who also qualified // £100 // £200
You qualify and live with someone 80 or over who also qualifies // £100 // £150
You qualify, live in a care home and do not get certain benefits // £100 // £150
You can opt out of the Winter Fuel Payment using the Manage your State Pension service or by completing the online opt-out form before 11:59pm on 20 September 2026.
