Pensioners need to stay alert for scammers as the government begins collecting back winter fuel payments from certain recipients this month.
The winter fuel payments distributed in winter 2025 will be recovered from pensioners whose income exceeds £35,000.
According to HM Revenue and Customs the process will affect nearly two million people who earned more than £35,000 annually. For most of these individuals the repayment will happen automatically.
HMRC has received over 25000 reports of winter fuel payment scams in the last year.
The government is warning that scammers might exploit the recovery process by sending texts, emails & making phone calls to target people.
HMRC stated that it will never reach out to people through text or email asking them to repay their winter fuel payment or requesting their bank details.
For most people affected the payment will be recovered automatically through an adjustment to their PAYE tax code starting in April without needing to contact HMRC.
For those who file self-assessment returns online, the payment should appear in their 2025-26 tax return which is due by January 31 2027.
HMRC Guidance on Winter Fuel Payment Recovery HMRC has advised people to manually check and add the information if it does not appear automatically. Those submitting paper returns must include it on their tax return before the October 31 2026 deadline.
The tax authority confirmed this requirement applies throughout the UK. This includes Scotland where the benefit is known as the pension age winter heating payment & Northern Ireland where the Department for Work and Pensions made the payments. HMRC manages the recovery process in all cases.
Myrtle Lloyd serves as HMRC’s chief customer officer. She warned that criminals are skilled at impersonation and frequently use fraudulent letters emails, phone calls and text messages pretending to be from HMRC. Their goal is to deceive people into handing over money. Lloyd recommended that anyone who feels uncertain should visit gov.uk to use the online verification tool.
This tool helps people confirm whether their payment needs to be recovered and explains the recovery method.
The Government initially announced it would limit who could receive winter fuel payments. However this decision was reversed and most pensioners who previously qualified for the payments will continue to receive them.
HMRC has stated that PAYE customers earning over £35,000 who receive a standard winter fuel payment of £200 will need to pay approximately £17 extra in tax each month during the 2026-27 tax year to repay the amount. Anyone who receives suspicious text messages appearing to be from HMRC should forward them to 60599.
Suspicious emails should be sent to [email protected].
If someone thinks they have fallen victim to a scam they should contact their bank and report it to the police.
