Winter Fuel Payments paid in winter 2025 will be recovered from pensioners with income above £35,000
Check if your payment will be reclaimed at GOV.UK – you don’t need to contact HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
Scammers may try to trick customers into handing money over
Pensioners are being warned to be on high alert for scams as the recovery of Winter Fuel Payments by HMRC begins during April 2026.
Around two million pensioners are expected to repay their 2025 winter fuel payment due to their annual income being more than £35,000 – for most this will be an automatic process.
HMRC saw more than 25,000 Winter Fuel Payment scam referrals over the last 12 months.
HMRC is warning that scammers may now use the recovery process as a hook to use texts, emails and phone calls to target pensioners.
For most, HMRC will recover the payment through a change to their PAYE tax code from this month (April 2026) with no need to contact HMRC.
For those in Self Assessment who file online, the payment should be pre-populated in their 2025 to 2026 tax return, due by 31st January 2027. Those impacted pensioners should check and add it manually if it is not shown.
Paper filers will need to add it on their tax return, due by 31st October 2026.
Where do these repayments apply?
This applies across the UK – including in Scotland, where the payment is known as the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment and in Northern Ireland, where payments were made by the Department for Work and Pensions on behalf of the Northern Ireland Executive.
In all cases, recovery is handled by HMRC.
Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Chief Customer Officer:
“Criminals are great pretenders and often use fake letters, emails, calls and texts to impersonate HMRC and trick people into giving them money.
“I’d encourage anyone who’s unsure to use our [HMRC] online tool at GOV.UK to check whether and how their payment will be recovered – there’s no need to call us.”
Received an HMRC text or email requesting payment?
HMRC never contact people by text or email to ask them to repay their Winter Fuel Payment, or to request bank details.
My pension earnings are over the limit, how is it recovered?
For a typical Winter Fuel Payment of £200, PAYE pensioners with income more than £35,000 will pay approximately £17 per month extra in tax during the 2026 to 2027 tax year to recover their payment.
To report a scam phone call, visit GOV.UK. If you have had money stolen, contact your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud. In Scotland, contact police on 101.
