Winter fuel payments for pensioners scrapped

[MidnightPatrol]

Unless they are in receipt of pension credit or other benefits.

I suspect this will be the first of many benefits which will be restricted as part of cost-cutting measures.

What else might we see / should we see?

That’s the bigger issue. And water bosses getting massive bonuses whilst sewerage is pumped into our seas.

Personally, I’m all for this cut. There were people such as my grandma, who passed recently, and left £1.2m in her estate who were eligible for it. Yet there are working families who can’t afford to put the heating on. My grandma would just buy premium bonds with hers! Some pensioners will still be eligible so it’s not as if it’s going completely.

I agree. It's absolutely disgusting.

Oh for heaven’s sake

It’s not a Tory government, so every cut in capital spending, every tax grab or every wretched, petty little allowance attack on old people - plus a MASSIVE campaign of absolute falsehoods about national spending must be called for. Surely?

I don't resent my parents or grandparents and fully support the triple lock staying as well as pension credit and other benefits for those in need. No-one wants to go back to the dark days of more widespread pensioner poverty. It's sad for those that will miss out as no-one likes losing something they had.

That said: there's an element of unfairness about WFA not being means-tested when so many other benefits are and the line has to be drawn somewhere. The rationale for the WFA is weakened with the commitment to the triple lock as well - all state pensions will have gone up this year by more than the WFA (rightly). It really is past time to means-test WFA.

And couples who aren't eligible for pension credit - are living off their savings and struggling can go to pot because your grandma left £1.2m. I'm sorry, but I don't follow the logic here.

Bignanna

pensioners get housing benefit, council tax relief, free prescriptions, free dental without having pension credit - so what else can they get with pension credit

I can think of two extras with pension credit

I need it. Happy to sit under my blanket if the money goes to children though.

What do you mean 'high taxes'?
I would have thought that any workers in receipt of tax credits or universal credit isn't actually paying very much tax at all despite being in work - deducted at source then returned in form of benefits and childcare allowances.
Many, many pensioners are not rich and do not own their own home.
You should stop the generalisations.

Have you ever considered that there might be pensioners just above the Pension Credit cut off who don't have £1.2 mil to pass on?

but they could be claiming housing benefit or and council tax relief so still get the winter fuel allowance

Ah, more anecdote passed off as data.

They wouldn’t dare……would they?

There aren't any others are they ? Even child benefit has recently gone back to being available to more people, so unless they are going to look at that again, not that it is Universal now.

you don't have to be in receipt of pension credit to get the winter fuel allowance - you can still be on housing benefit when you are above the threshold for pension credit - so then you'd still get the winter fuel allowance.

Its benefits not pension credit that qualify those in OAPs for the WFA

And then there are couples like us who receive nothing other than one state pension - which isn't stretching. No council tax reduction.

No. It’s not means tested. The only one I can think of is pension credit.

and the others?

Pensioners don’t get free dental without being on a qualifying benefit - which is basically pension credit for pensioners

No, not homes!

But other properties maybe. Wealth generating assets - land, property, trusts, high worth items, gold. Several EU countries and some other developed economies do this and it can bring in a lot of money, done right.

The criteria is the same so if they don’t qualify for pension credits, due to income or savings, they won’t qualify for other benefits . Do correct me if wrong.

have you applied for council tax relief and been denied?

They could still get it under the NHS scheme for low incomes even if income not low enough for pension credit.