Social Security Scotland – which is the Scottish version of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) – confirmed that over 37,000 disabled children and young people received a one-off payment by December 15
Thousands of young people claiming disability benefits have received a payment of £251.50 this winter to help with energy costs.
Social Security Scotland – which is the Scottish version of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) – confirmed that over 37,000 disabled children and young people received a one-off payment by December 15. The energy support is called the Child Winter Heating Payment, it used to be called the Child Winter Heating Assistance. However, the Scottish department changed its name this year.
The Child Winter Heating Payment was introduced in 2020, and only those living in Scotland can get it. The £251.50 is given to families of children and young people up to the age of 19 who claim on of the qualifying disability benefits – these include:
- The highest rate of the care component of Child Disability Payment
- The highest rate of the care component of Disability Living Allowance for children
- The enhanced daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- The enhanced rate of the daily living component of Adult Disability Payment
The money is paid per child rather than per household, so if there are two children in the home claiming one of the qualifying benefits, they each would be paid £251.50 – or £503 overall. Around 29,000 households received a payment last year, and those who were eligible this time round will have received a letter from the benefits department telling them when it was to be paid. Payments began in October, and the total amount paid out currently sits at £9.3million, according to data from Social Security Scotland.
If you have not received a payment yet – and believe you are eligible – you should contact Social Security Scotland. To be eligible for the payment this year, you must have been claiming one of the qualifying benefits during the qualifying week, which was September 16 to September 22, 2024 – this includes if a qualifying benefit is backdated to this period.
Eligible children and young people living in Scotland do not need to apply as they should get their payment automatically. It is also paid into the same bank account where they receive their benefit payments.
Some children may still be eligible for the money even if they do not live in Scotland. According to the Scottish Government’s website, a child or young person who gets a qualifying benefit but does not live in Scotland between September 18 and September 24, 2023, may still qualify if they either:
- Live in certain European Economic Area (EEA) countries or Switzerland
- Can show they have a genuine and sufficient link to Scotland
You can apply from abroad at any time. If successful, you can receive a Child Winter Heating payment for each year for which you were eligible. So this could be a significant amount of back pay.
If you have yet to receive your Child Winter Heating Payment but think you are eligible, then you will need to contact Social Security Scotland. You can contact them through their Webchat, over the phone at 0800 182 2222, or by post.
