The DWP has been urged to increase the payment rates for a particular scheme. The programme is open to millions of benefit claimants, including people on Universal Credit and Pension Credit.

The Cold Weather Payments scheme offers £25 payments if temperatures in your region fall to, or are forecast to be, below zero degrees centigrade over seven consecutive days. You may get several payments of £25 into your bank account through the scheme, if the payments are triggered in your particular area more than once over a five-month period. The scheme runs from November 1 to March 31.

People on these six benefits may qualify for the payment into their bank account:

• Pension Credit
• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Universal Credit
• Support for Mortgage Interest.

With the rising costs of living, one question is whether the £25 amount should be increased. Matthew Sheeran, external relations manager at finance support group Money Wellness, warned that £25 “just doesn’t go very far anymore”.

He said: “Energy bills are still high, and for many households, that amount barely scratches the surface of a week’s heating costs. Increasing it to around £40 or £50 would make a much more meaningful difference for people trying to keep their homes warm.”

Increasing the payments to £40 would mean an extra £15 going out each time, while boosting it to £50 would add £25 to the payments.

When do Cold Weather Payments go out?

Regarding when Cold Weather Payments arrive in accounts, information on the Government website explains: “After each period of very cold weather in your area, you should get a payment within 14 working days. It’s paid into the same bank or building society account as your benefit payments.”

If you live in Scotland, the payments scheme has been replaced with the Winter Heating Payment, which has largely the same qualifying rules in terms of what benefits you need to claim.

This is a one-off amount that goes out regardless of the weather conditions, and is worth £59.75. Payments go out between December and the end of February.

Sudden energy bills increase

One alarming recent trend for bill payers is the rising price of oil in light of the Iran war. This has already hugely increased the price of heating oil. Mr Sheeran said the sudden price increase is “really worrying”.

He said: “They’ve jumped massively in a very short space of time because of the conflict in the Middle East, with most quotes now more than double what they were just weeks ago. In some areas, a typical 500 litre delivery is hundreds of pounds more expensive than before.

“That’s a huge hit for the millions of households off the gas grid who rely on oil for heat and hot water. And they’re not protected by the energy price cap, so every crude oil spike feeds straight through to their bills.”

He shared some tips for anyone hit by this sudden increase in their costs. The consumer expert said: “If you’re in that position, it’s worth seeing if you can join a local oil buying group to get a better price, check whether you qualify for schemes like the Warm Home Discount or the Household Support Fund, and ask your supplier about spreading the cost. But this sudden squeeze really highlights how vulnerable off‑grid and rural households are when energy prices go up.”