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?

You really know nothing do you. The whole history of women being underpaid. Then they were the ones that brought up children. Workplace pensions were not available to women until relatively recently. Add in the fact thar they had been advised to pay a married women's NI tax and you have a recipe for age related poverty.

So are you paying taxes and subsidising pensioners?

Yes 🤔

I was pretty appalled by the post I quoted yes.

I did apologise that I had quoted the wrong person.

@TiptoeThroughTheToadstools Firstly, the original poster got her facts wrong. It certainly isn't £600 per pensioner.

Secondly, as a single, disabled Mum haven't you had CoL help this year too? Is your only reason for begrudging pensioners some help with their fuel bills based out of pure jealousy? One day, quicker than you think, you'll be a pensioner too. It happens to us all. I think your attitude will then change.

If you’ve got children you’re not subsidising anyone via your taxes. The cost of educating or free childcare and providing healthcare for children will easily exceed most people’s tax contribution.

I think you've misinterpreted my response. That post by @Mumoftwotoddlers was appalling.

Thanks.

I should have tagged @Mumoftwotoddlers separately
Apologies
I was supporting your comment but yes it looks otherwise.

No point. She literally hit and ran.

No worries.

Bwah bwah bwah. Grow up.

By the way we don't all get £600.....that's the VERY elderly only.

Has the goady OP been back? Nah, course not.

@Mumoftwotoddlers · Today 16:27

I'm wondering if my parents are entitled to this given they live abroad but have a UK address. They don't need it. None of my elderly relatives do. If it were up to me, winter allowance would be scrapped, bus passes would be scrapped and anything else elderly people get just for being over a certain age. They are part of the reason the country is a mess, the NHS is in shambles although Gen Z are also a large portion of that so can't put the entire blame on pensioners with the sniffles and terrible balance.

@Mumoftwotoddlers · Today 16:56

But I'm not. Those who are now elderly were the previous workforce, during which time should have saved up for a time when they didn't have an income. We're expected to save despite wages being low and a high cost of living. The elderly should be funding themselves instead of expecting the tax payer to fund their prescriptions, travel, TV licence..etc.

Good grief @Mumoftwotoddlers you sound so bitter and angry and full of rage towards anyone over 65! Who hurt you?! Many people over this age have worked for some 40+ years, (some 50+!) and have paid 10s of 1000s of £££ in taxes. You really have no right to make these comments, as I bet you haven't even paid a QUARTER into the system that your parents and elderly relatives have paid! (And many other people over 65!)

How DARE you say that elderly people should be funding themselves?! As I said, many have paid 10s of 1000s of £££ into the system, and are bloody well entitled to be looked after now! There are more that are poor, and struggling to make ends meet, than there are rich! And it's a myth that all pensioners are loaded. For sure, some have lots of spare cash, but some have very little.

And how the F have Generation Z put the country in the mess it's in?! Most of them have not long left school!

I can only surmise that you are struggling with two little kiddies, and no parental help and are angry at your parents leaving the country when you needed them, and your rage is the result of being a frazzled young mum with no help.

Understandable to be angry at the world when you are struggling emotionally and practically and possibly financially, as well as possibly getting very little sleep. But good grief, calm down! Your anger and rage is misplaced. Be angry with the Government and the powers that be. Not the elderly, the pensioners, and Generation Z!

Well it’s only going to people born before 1940, I don’t resent people in their 80”s getting money to heat their house. Particularly my 97 year old nan who in your eyes doesn’t deserve this money despite working up till her 90th birthday and living through a war…. Her DH and 3 brothers fought in that war and her childhood home being bombed to the ground…. Yes I think she deserves it despite not being on pension credits….

I used to work with someone who told me he uses it to go on holiday. It really wound me up.

Was he a working pensioner then?
I think that winding you up was his intention (bit like the OP on here).
Where are they getting all these super cheap holidays from? Can anyone apply or is it a secret club.

He was a working pensioner. I was working two jobs trying to make ends meet.
He was definitely saying it to get a reaction.
I ended up leaving that job, couldn't tolerate being around him 🙄

Thankfully someone with a sensible reply. It starts at £250, £600 is the max and you have other criteria to fulfil (not just pension age) to be eligible for that amount.

Wow must have been some holiday for £200!

This is what all pensioner age people will get, assuming no means tested benefits being claimed:

If you live alone or no one you live with is eligible for the Winter Fuel PaymentYou’ll get either:

• £500 if you were born between 25 September 1943 and 24 September 1957
• £600 if you were born before 25 September 1943

Couples:
One of you will get a payment of either:

• £500 if both of you were born between 25 September 1943 and 24 September 1957
• £600 if one or both of you were born before 25 September 1943

If on PC, amounts will vary.

The amount you get is based on when you were born and your circumstances between 18 to 24 September 2023. This is called the ‘qualifying week’.
The amounts listed include a ‘Pensioner Cost of Living Payment’. This is between £150 and £300. You’ll get this extra amount in winter 2023 to 2024.
Any money you get is tax-free and will not affect your other benefits.

https://www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment/how-much-youll-get

Probably why he told you. Good for him.

You obviously didn't the money yourself if you left a job because of him 🙄