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?

They would have to be on a qualifying benefit.

You are wrong. many people qualify for housing benefit without qualifying for Pension credit. It's just that if you get even £1 of guaranteed pension credit you usually get the whole lot of your rent and council tax paid for !

Its specifically means tested benefits. Housing benefit is being phased out. For pensioners it’s being replaced by a higher credit if they qualify for pension credit. So it looks as though that particular loophole will be closed.

I think this should be scrapped. Lots of pensioners don't need it and the poorest ones will still get it. So good decision.

None of our parents (2 sets as well as ILs) need this and didn’t even when energy bills rocketed.

Plenty of people own their own home and aren't on housing benefit, I assume that's something renters get?

"I would feel better about it if they had also announced that they are going to vigorously target finding the many hundreds of thousands of people who are eligible for pension credit but who don’t claim it for one reason or another."

They did announce something like that - "The government wants those entitled to Pension Credit to claim it. The government will bring together the administration of Pension Credit and Housing Benefit as soon as operationally possible, so that pensioner households receiving Housing Benefit also receive any Pension Credit that they are entitled to. The Department for Work and Pensions will continue to work with partners to encourage take-up alongside their own communication campaigns and to support people with their Pension Credit claims." via The Guardian.

Not necessarily. I have a client who was awarded it under this scheme recently and did not have any income related benefit i don't think. She was on PIP which boosts up the chances of being awarded it.

How many times does this have to be said before it sinks in.... Not all the poorest will get it.

Well the Energy Bills support payments were universal (although temporary) and free school meals for younger kids is still in force and universal (for the reason I thought to try and reduce the ‘stigma’ of free school meals for kids from low income households).

If you are SMI then you are not paying any council tax, you would really need to talk to social services or the person who has POA. A visit to the Citizen advise to clarify what benefits can be claimed and what counts. Obviously SMI could be caused by different illnesses or life long - so maybe housing benefits will be claimed

Would just like to point out, since it seems to have passed you by, but pensioners who have a pension which is above the personal allowance level also pay income tax, just like everyone else. We also pay road fund tax, VAT, petrol tax, council tax, tax on alcohol (boo), tobacco tax if we are daft enough to smoke, airport tax and probably a shed load more I can’t think of. And if you think mortgage rates are high trying paying the rates we paid in the seventies and beyond, when switching and re mortgaging was really hard to do…….

this is not to say I don’t sympathise with young people and their financial woes, I do, but please don’t make sweeping statements based on ignorance especially when those statements are goady.

Anyone who’s worried about a person who might be adversely affected maybe have another check about benefits.

www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/money-legal/benefits-entitlements/benefits-calculator/

So someone on £217 per week getting it topped up to £218.15 while getting entitlement to winter fuel allowance is poorer than someone on £219 per week who doesn’t qualify? I think you need to recheck your maths.

PIP can be a qualifying benefit for dental costs

Those are good words, let’s hope they translate into good action. My cynical self says if governments really wanted to make sure poor pensioners were getting the benefits they are entitled to they would have put measures in years ago to identify those who are not claiming their rightful benefits. But they haven’t.

Abs right.why I didn't vote labour and are they squeezing the super rich or going after the tax dodgers.oh but Let's see our neighbours shafted

What a mean country this is.

Plenty of people own their own home and aren't on housing benefit, I assume that's something renters get?

if you own your own home then you will not be on housing benefit. Housing benefit is paid in the main to pensioners that are renting, it does extend to DA in temporary accomidation that have Feld, SMI living in assisted living accomidation and there are a couple of other anomalies that don't fit into U.C for the under 67s

I voted them in, and I'm not complaining about losing the WFA for me.

I think the problem is that any cut off point that is more nuanced, would be much more complex and expensive to put in place, so they've gone for the one that works most easily from an admin point of view.

Do I know what the answer is? No. Because I was an educator, not an accountant or specialist in benefits, computer records, or how government admin works. I just hope that they or the energy firms can find a tweak that helps those just over the limit.

Disability benefits are next. Child DLA, Attendance Allowance and PIP. Reeves announced she would be looking at welfare with a close eye to see where savings could be made. The disabled and vulnerable have been the low hanging fruit in every round of welfare cuts, and it looks as though this government are no different from the Tories in that respect. Reeves was quoted as being critical of the plans the Tories had for the reform of PIP, so it remains to be seen how she will tackle it, but tackle it she will.

I want to see child benefit means tested as well then..

This is like a comedy sketch. 1.2 million. Yeah, that'll be right.

It already is.

I fully agree that it should be scrapped for wealthier pensioners and it should have been done a long time ago.

However I find it interesting that when Theresa May put this in her 2019 manifesto she was widely criticised for it and it was blamed for losing her the grey vote. She should have done what Rachel Reeves has done and stayed silent about it until just after the election.

Moral of the story is that politicians lose votes for being honest with the voters. And that to get elected candidates need to lie.