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?

Where are they supposed to live once they've sold their home to free up all this capital?

Regardless of my personal thoughts on our welfare system, the couple in your scenario would almost certainly be entitled to some council tax support, as would a household comprised of two people who are both drawing their state pension.

I will say that I truly hope council tax support is ultimately revealed to be a qualifying benefit, since the vast majority for whom the state pension is the only source of income would be entitled.

If we do get clarification that council tax support is to be a qualifying benefit, I would recommend using either entitledto.co.uk or turn2us.org to check specifically for the local authority of anyone you’re concerned about, but unless there’s additional income / significant savings, some entitlement is highly likely.

The disabled will have nothing to worry about under a Labour government. Pensioners and middle England are the ones they’ll come gunning for first. Only when that pot is empty will they come for others.

I don’t resent it but some resent pensioners fuel allowance b- I’m happy to pay for child benefit as others did for my family

By that reasoning you and many other parents should have budgeted better in order to afford the nursery fees. Being squeezed for or unable to afford childcare is your own fault

People say that on here all the time. People do think about it though, it’s one reason for the low birth rates.

The point is that the narrative that working people should aim to rely on their own resources is usual. That narrative is now extended to pensioners who are surprised. Perhaps they are a mite out of touch because younger generations expect to fund matters from their own pockets? For them this normal.

So people who saved nothing, nothing for their retirement is not our fault.

Except the people who didn’t save or work enough to fund their retirement get pension credit plus associated gateway benefits of around an extra £8,000!!

It is those who did try to save and plan for retirement whilst working in a low wage job who are the ones to suffer.

@WhatShallIdo11 has any post on this thread resented someone who needs wfp getting it? It’s just no longer a universal benefit.

They don't care about anyone, they are globalists,, anyone who voted thinking they were going to be a change from the Tories, nah not happening.

Yes it’s those who worked all those years and no credits

You don't pay into a state pension
You pay tax and NI yearly and the government spends it yearly on what the country needs
You get contribution yearly credits as the agreement so when you retire you are entitled to the state pension and benefits but you have no control over how much that is because that is determined on the tax and NI taken in that year.

Plus people forget i think that your tax and NI contributions pay for everything you, we all use it's not a saving scheme just for the individual.

But you have enough credits so you get the current state pension amount. Agreement fulfilled.

I feel for the sandwich generation with having helped their young adult children financially, they'll now be needed to help their parents out as well in some cases. They're the squeezed generation

Well said. It's funny how being responsible for your own lives only seems to apply to the elderly! If you have children apparently the government should support you.

Ok, so you think the people who have hit retirement age with no savings or private pension should starve and just fuck off and die in a corner instead?

Exactly - but the eligibility criteria isn't fair.

And whilst I haven't seen anyone resenting those who need WFA getting it, there is quite a lot of misconception about this eligibility, and those marginally above pension credit level now becoming poorer than than those on it

@frozendaisy if you can save £100000 then you are on good wages, you realise many of these pensioners could nit save as they had low wages , there was no minimum wage. Many live on social housing and have never owned a house. Someone who can afford to save £100000 has a decent income so its not comparable and you don’t get true piverty, thats not driving an okder car and having a modest house . Its choosing between eating and heating etc

have paid into my state pension for 50 years so don’t look at it as a benefit - it’s what I’ve paid in - tax is entirely different

I think this is the fundamental bit people struggle with. NI is just another tax & what you paid in doesn’t get reserved for you. It’s all paid forwarded. Unfortunately a large proportion haven’t paid in what it actually costs. That’s not ok when the population demographics are turning upside down.

There are likely to be pensioners not quite poor enough to receive credit but should are struggling with fuel bills. I think the cut off should be set higher but I can see means testing is an expensive task.

Keir Starmer has said he regards anyone who has savings as not working class and the expectation is that he will apply high tax levels on any form of personal savings or investment eg pensions , savings account, buy to let. Expect to pay 40-45% tax on them in future.

Well said. It's funny how being responsible for your own lives only seems to apply to the elderly! If you have children apparently the government should support you.

There was more social housing in the past so how was that not the government supporting people?

@Nikii83 I’d also like the CMS rules massively tightened up for non-payers. Real consequences such as getting your driving license/passport suspended if you don’t pay what you owe (or sort out a payment plan). Also more delving into the finances of self-employed parents.

Sorry for the digression, that was my rant for the day!

The Warm Homes Discount was intended to be used to help the poor but was instead gamed by the energy companies who found ways to use it for their own benefit.
Any kind of help would be better if designed by serving prisoners, ministers and civil servants just see themselves as Santa.

Do you even know what pip is for?

We didn't have kids until we could do this though.

Responsibility you see.

Social housing is cheap and a safe tenancy. 75% of the uk housing stock is owned by over 65 year olds so some must own something.

There is no social housing now for youngsters trying to move into adulthood.

For once pensioners are having to take a bit of a hit and look at the whinging. And they call youngsters snowflakes.

Trump is like a schoolyard bully, very good at finding nicknames to disparage his opponents - though Sleepy Joe seemed to take it as an endorsement.
Three weeks in and some wag has 'Keir Starmer, pensioner harmer' which I think will come to haunt him if we have a hard winter.