Launch of Inverness winter payment scheme

The Highland Council is launching its Inverness winter payment scheme on Monday 11 November.  And to help those who may qualify, a Winter Payment Awareness Day will be held in Inverness Service Point, 23 Church Street, on Tuesday 12 November between 10am and 4pm.

The winter payment is a one-off £40. A second one-off payment is available for those qualifying who may live in a home with poor insulation/heating.  This payment is £33.
Residents within the wards of Aird and Loch Ness, Inverness West, Inverness Central, Inverness Ness-side, Inverness Millburn, Culloden and Ardersier and Inverness South are now invited to apply for a payment as soon as possible and not later than Friday 28 February 2014. 

Councillor Ian Brown, Leader of the Council’s City of Inverness Area Committee, said: “The winter payments scheme is very important to those in most need of assistance with their fuel bills over the winter months.  We are keen to increase uptake and we hope we can achieve this by widening the qualification criteria.”
To qualify the applicant must be:

Alternatively, to qualify the applicant must receive:

And there must be a resident in property entitled to one of the following:

In addition, applicants must be able to confirm that there are no residents in the household in receipt of a wage either now or in the last 6 months or with capital in excess of £6,000.  Only one application per household will be accepted.

Application forms are available from the Town House, Council HQ Reception, Local Service Points (Church Street & Hilton in Inverness Ardersier and Fort Augustus) as well as Libraries, Health and Social Care Offices, Citizens Advice Bureaux and Community Centres.

Applications should be posted or delivered to – The Highland Council, FREEPOST RRXJ-GGJX-CRYR (Winter Payment), Customer   Income Maximisation team, P.O. Box 5775, Inverness, IV1 9EN  or Inverness Service Point, 21/23 Church Street, Inverness, IV1 1DY Tel: 01463 703999 or City Manager, Town House, Inverness, IV1 1JJ Tel: 01463 785100.

All payments will be sent by cheque.