Care homes
You can get a Winter Fuel Payment if you live in a care home — but the amount is different, and one group of care-home residents is excluded altogether. The rules turn on two dates: the qualifying week, 21 to 27 September 2026, and an earlier date, 29 June 2026, that applies only to the exclusion.
The amounts
If you are eligible and you live in a care home, you get £100 if you were born between 28 September 1946 and 27 June 1960, or £150 if you were born before 28 September 1946. Those are the care-home rates regardless of whether you live alone in the home or share a room — the household-sharing rules that apply to people living in their own homes do not apply in the same way here. Note the contrast with living at home: a person born before 28 September 1946 who lives alone at home receives £300, but the same person in a care home receives £150. The reasoning is that heating costs in a care home are largely met through the home's charges rather than through a personal fuel bill, so the payment is a contribution, not a full heating allowance.
The exclusion: read this carefully
You will not be eligible if both of the following apply: you get Universal Credit, Pension Credit or income-related Employment and Support Allowance, and you lived in a care home for the whole time from 29 June 2026 or earlier. Both conditions must be met. So a care-home resident who does not receive any of those three benefits is not excluded by this rule, and a resident who does receive one of them but moved into the home after 29 June 2026 is not excluded by it either. Because the second condition is a continuous period (“for the whole time from 29 June 2026 or earlier”), a temporary stay that began later, or a break in residence, can change the answer — which is why, if you are near the boundary, you should ask the Winter Fuel Payment Centre rather than guess.
Worked examples (assumptions stated)
Example 1. Assume Edith, born in 1942, has lived in a care home since 2023 and does not receive Pension Credit, Universal Credit or income-related ESA. She is eligible and receives £150.
Example 2. Assume Frank, born in 1950, receives Pension Credit and has lived in a care home continuously since January 2026 — that is, for the whole time from 29 June 2026 and earlier. Both exclusion conditions are met, so he does not qualify for winter 2026 to 2027.
Example 3. Assume Grace, born in 1950, receives Pension Credit but moved into a care home on 15 August 2026. She was not in the home for the whole time from 29 June 2026, so the exclusion does not apply on these facts, and she receives £100 as a care-home resident. These examples assume residence in England, Wales or Northern Ireland and no other disqualifying situation.
What to tell the Winter Fuel Payment Centre
If you move into a care home, report it promptly, with the date you moved in and whether you receive Pension Credit, Universal Credit or income-related Employment and Support Allowance. If you are claiming for the first time and you live in a care home, you will also need to say so when you claim — the claim form and the phone claim both ask whether you were in a residential care home during the qualifying week. And if you live in Ilford Park Resettlement Home, note that it is named separately in the claim questions, so mention it by name rather than describing it as a care home generally.
This site gives general information only. It is not legal or financial advice, and it cannot decide your own case. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) decide each concrete case on its own facts. Always check the current GOV.UK guidance before you act, because rates and rules change.
Main source: GOV.UK, “Winter Fuel Payment” guide (winter 2026 to 2027), checked 25 October 2026. gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment.