Winter fuel allowance

If you were being paid this allowance before you left the UK you may still be entitled to the allowance - which could, ironically, help you pay for your air conditioning.

The Winter Fuel Allowance is £200 for households who have someone aged 60-79, and (since 2003/04) £300 for households where one occupant is aged 80 or more.

For the coming winter in 2008/9, there will be an extra £50 available to those in the first age bracket, and another £100 to those aged 80 or more. This may increase further as a result of Gordon Brown's concessions over the 10p tax rate. So it is even more important to claim your entitlement this year.

Also, if you qualified while you lived in the UK, but have failed to claim the money since, you may be able to get a payment dating back to those lost years.

The Pension Service, which deals with the Winter Fuel Allowance, states: "Winter Fuel Payments were introduced from the winter of 1997/98. There are no time limits for claiming for the years 1997/98 to 1999/2000. From 2000/01 time limits for claims were introduced.

This means that payments cannot be made for late claims for any of the years 2000/01 to 2007/08. Claims for these years had to be made by March 30 for the relevant winter, for example, a claim for winter 2007/08 had to be made by March 30, 2008.

To qualify for the payment, you have to be the right age, and also have been living in the UK for the relevant "qualifying week".

The qualifying week for 2008/9 is September 15 to September 21.

Payments of the allowance are normally made from November onwards over a period of several weeks. If you receive a UK state pension, then the payment should be made automatically, but if you do not, you will need to fill in a claim form, downloadable from the Pension Service website at www.thepensionservice.gov.uk.

Or you can contact the Winter Fuel Team at the International Pension Centre, which is responsible for making Winter Fuel Payments to people who live outside the UK and can be contacted at: International Pension Centre, Winter Fuel Team, Tyneview Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE98 1BA, England.

You can call them on (+44) 191 218 7777. The lines are open Monday to Friday 8am-8pm, UK time.