Child Winter Heating Payment (Scotland)

Description

An automatic yearly payment from Social Security Scotland to help families of severely disabled children and young people with higher heating costs over winter. Each eligible child in a household gets their own payment. It doesn't depend on how cold the winter is and isn't affected by income or savings. Separate from Scotland's Winter Heating Payment for low-income households, which is listed as a separate entry.

Eligibility summary

• Available in: Scotland.
• Open to individuals — not restricted to businesses.
• Relevant age groups: under 18, 18–24.

Notes

Verified Oct 2026: mygov.scot gives the payment as £265.50, paid once a year from October onwards. That matches the £265.50 announced for winter 2026/27 (up from £255.80 for 2025/26, per the Scottish Government's winter heating news release and North Lanarkshire Council). Eligibility comes from mygov.scot's 'who can get' guidance as summarised by search. The qualifying week is the third full week of September according to Citizens Advice Scotland, but mygov.scot's own date wording appeared inconsistent this pass, so no exact date is given here. A child still qualifies if they were in hospital or residential care during the qualifying week, or if a qualifying benefit is later backdated to cover it. For some backdated benefits the payment follows automatically; for others, contact Social Security Scotland on 0800 182 2222.

Requirement

Under 19, living in Scotland, and getting one of these on at least one day of the qualifying week in September: the highest rate care component of Child Disability Payment, the highest rate care component of Disability Living Allowance for children, the enhanced daily living component of Personal Independence Payment, or the enhanced daily living component of Adult Disability Payment.