WTF? £600 winter fuel allowance for all pensioners!

[user1497207191]

No wonder the country has no money and the deficit/debt is getting bigger.

MIL just phoned up saying she'd got a letter telling her £600 was on the way to her and asking why, when she doesn't need it?

Just why??? She's not claiming means tested benefits. Her state and her husband's occupational pension are already far more than she needs to live on, meaning she saves a few hundred pounds a month into ISAs (which already stand at over £100k). Owns her own house, so no rent/mortgage.

Why the hell can't this money be directed at those who actually need it or more worthy causes? It's insane to keep throwing money at people who don't need it.

She doesn't need it, she doesn't want it. She wouldn't miss it if it wasn't paid to her.

If they can means test the child benefit and claw it back from those earning over £50k, why can't they come up with a way of ensuring winter fuel allowance is only paid to those who may need it? Why not only paid to those pensioners claiming pension credits, or rent allowance, or whatever?

By the way despite being a despised boomer I think the child benefit method of calculation is ridiculous.

As someone receiving the state pension and the winter fuel allowance I agree with most people on here as I don't need it. However, I can assure you it won't persuade me to vote tory, ever! There are a lot of generalisations on here 🙄

And then there's the issue that todays young won't be retiring at my age. State pension age has moved out despite healthy life expectancy not increasing.

Let's hope that those who genuinely don't need this extra help will donate. I might mention it to my MIL - she gets over £4k a month in pensions (FIL was a banker), hasn't worked in her whole life, and really does not need or in fact deserve such a sum. It's bonkers, when others are in dire need.

The winter fuel allowance has long been a bit of a shambles. When we moved back to the UK, MrG got a letter from the DSS saying he was getting the full household amount. It seemed odd that they gave it all to the man, but I had a letter the next day saying I was getting it too. Obviously it was a mistake - we have different surnames. No, there was absolutely no way we could repay them the extra £200 ... keep it, they said.

We just give it away. Homeless shelters are glad of a bit of extra cash at this time of year.

Same. When it was announced I shouted at the radio. It’s particularly unjust to single parents.

Pensioners are tax payers too. They don't just stop paying tax once they reach pension age

No, I've never voted Tory either lol

I give my WFA to my grandkids to prop up their loans/grants. I know how much youngsters, despite part time jobs, struggle at Uni.🙄

I do still pay taxes - I don't know why sone people think pensioners live tax free.

No, but they stop paying NIC, don't they? For no logical reason at all!

In Ireland, pensioners get free train travel all over the island. I’d be battling to pay for childcare while the parents’ friends, who were extremely wealthy, were travelling the length of the country.

In Ireland, pensioners get free train travel all over the island. I’d be battling to pay for childcare while the parents’ friends, who were extremely wealthy, were travelling the length of the country.

In Ireland child benefit is universal & higher

It's been brought up before in Government question time by SNP and even Labour, who brought it in when they were in power, agree it's cheaper to give to all than means test for £600. It only becomes cost effective to mean test if a benefit is more than double the £600 was the answer given in the question times.

There is a logical reason...Nat Ins is a cover against being sick/disabled or unemployed. Parts of it go towards a pension.

Pensioners could not, and cannot claim sickness benefits (ESA) or UC, or JSA.

After a certain time nothing would go towards a pension.

So, they would be paying for nothing.🙄

It’s entirely logical. NIC are directly linked to pension eligibility. We pay previous generations’ pensions via our NIC. They stop at pension age because it’s our turn to stop contributing and start benefiting.

she gets over £4k a month in pensions (FIL was a banker), hasn't worked in her whole life, and really does not need or in fact deserve such a sum.

Presumably FIL worked hard and paid into a pension to fund his and his wife's old age. Whether she worked outside the home or not she is fully entitled and deserving to benefit from her husbands pension.

I'm really interested to know how could she be more deserving in your eyes. I bringing up children and being a SAHM not worthwhile?

I never got in with my MIL particularly well but I didn't begrudge her late FILs pension!!

OK I’ll bite. What is the relevance of ‘healthy‘ life expectancy rather than actual life expectancy in this scenario?

You can "donate" to HMRC at any time. I recently found that out and as soon as the Tories are out I will start doing so.

Wealthy pensioners should pay it back.

Fuck that for a game of soldiers. The local foodbank spends it far more sensibly.

Waste of money it seems, because not all need it.

Healthy life expectancy has increased a lot since the introduction of the state pension in the UK. At the time it was first paid out, before WW1, it was means tested and paid only to those over 70. Only a fraction of the population would have benefited at that point. In the 1940s the state pension age was decreased to 65 for men and 60 for women. It was equalised in stages after 2010. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06546/#:~:text=From%20the%201940s%20until%20April,line%20with%20that%20for%20men.

Look at how much it increased after the introduction of the Welfare State after WW2. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1040159/life-expectancy-united-kingdom-all-time/

It's stalled now, I believe, but I'm not an expert in this field. There are a lot of obvious public health issues that the government isn't properly addressing. Smoking has fallen, but vaping is a new problem. Obesity and lack of exercise is a huge factor in illness and disability. Poor diet is a big factor in many cases. Mental health services are at breaking point, which is a false economy.

I worked and paid tax for 45 years, I am retired and still pay income tax as do very many pensioners.

I have quite a few people pledging their winter fuel allowance ti help pay for our project that funds hot meals for all twice a week, I've had as many as 40 in our small town unable to afford food for their families

You can’t blame the people in receipt of the benefit or whatever type of pension they have worked for. It’s not their fault that their pension was final salary. When I eventually retire, as well as the pension I am currently paying in to I have a small pension from my first job that was non contributory. I worked there from 1989-2005 (it was closed to new employees from 1997 and closed down in 2009). As an 18 year old leaving the sixth form and applying for my first job I had no idea about pensions. I remember not understanding the pension paperwork and crying because I didn’t know what to do and my dad told me to go for the pension that I didn’t have to pay into so I just did that. On the plus side if these 55 year olds are retiring they’re freeing up jobs unlike those pesky old people who can’t afford to stop working despite being 65/70.

If old people don't keep warm enough they are more likely to have strokes.

@BloodyHellKen was going to make that exact point. If she's getting 4k a month from his pension he must have not only have paid shit loads into it over the years. But also made a huge amount of tax.