UK Winter Fuel Allowance

[bjmarren]

Hi All,

I recently found out, thanks to my sister, that despite living in Bulgaria since 1998, I qualify to receive the UK Winter Fuel allowance. Below is a link to the Gov UK site which lists the countries from which UK citizens can apply. There were a couple of qualifying requirements, the main one being born before 25 September 1957. People have up to the end of March this year to claim for the 23/24 winter season, and I was told they were planning to have made all the necessary payments by the end of March this year. I only made my claim last Friday. I was amazed to learn that I would receive GBP 500, 300 of which is a cost of living allowance payment for this year. The process only took me about 10 minutes in all, although I spent about 35 minutes waiting to be put through to someone. You need to have your NI number and bank details of where you would like any payment to be made. Once you have successfully applied, the payments are automatically made each year, although I suppose there is no guarantee that such future payments will continue, particularly if there is a change of government.

I appreciate that this may not be news to most people who frequent this board, but it was a very pleasant surprise for me.

https://www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment/ ... ive-abroad

Cheers!

Brendan