Households across Wales could be eligible for £25 payments to help with the cost of heating your home in November
Colder temperatures have begun to take hold across Wales with households already switching on their central heating, pushing energy bills higher. Many are concerned that the winter ahead will be expensive as the energy price cap rose this month.
Andy Burnham has stated that addressing the cost of living is amongst the foremost priorities of his government as the Autumn Budget is upcoming next week. There are currently around 24 million people across the UK receiving some combination of Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) benefits, including those with a state pension, representing roughly one in three people.
Here is a summary of the financial assistance available to households this November, along with key dates for benefit and state pension recipients.
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Benefit payment dates in November
Benefits are usually paid straight into your bank, building society or credit union account. If your payment date is on a weekend or a bank holiday you’ll usually be paid on the working day before.
Benefit payments will be issued as normal in November, as there are no bank holidays. These include:
- Universal credit
- State pension
- Pension credit
- Child benefit
- Disability living allowance (DLA)
- Personal independence payment (PIP)
- Attendance allowance
- Carer’s allowance
For further information on how and when state benefits are paid, visit the government’s website.
State Pension payment dates
The basic state pension is paid directly into bank accounts, in much the same way as other benefits. It is typically paid every four weeks, with the precise day of payment determined by the final two digits of your national insurance (NI) number.
Here’s when you should be paid based on those numbers:
- 00 to 19: Monday
- 20 to 39: Tuesday
- 40 to 59: Wednesday
- 60 to 79: Thursday
- 80 to 99: Friday
The state pension will rise by 3.9% in April 2027, an increase of £488.80 in line with weekly wage growth between May and July this year.
This will bring it to £13,036.40 a year, surpassing the personal income tax threshold for the first time. However, the government has confirmed that any pensioner whose sole income is the state pension will not be liable to pay tax on it.
The current full state pension stands at £12,547.60, having increased by 4.8% in April this year.
Cold weather payments
From November 1 households across Wales could be eligible for £25 payments to help with the cost of heating your home. Eligible people will receive £25 for each seven-day period of cold weather.
To receive a cold weather payment the average temperature in your area, based on your postcode, has to be recorded as, or forecast to be, 0 °C or below over seven consecutive days from November 1 2026 to March 31 2027. You can check who is eligible here.
