Can’t just be me who is sick of the moaning about the private school VAT and winter fuel payments

[TruthorDie]

The moaning about them seems to be never ending. So tone death and indulgent on both counts. Not sure which is worse. A friends mum was ranting on social media earlier about winter fuel payments being stopped and how “worried about being cold” she was. Bad news is Lynn you haven’t needed to work since 1989, married to an oil exec and have had lots of the good life. I’m sure all of your Florida holidays keep you warm enough!

Bright children can get on anywhere, my siblings and l went to a comprehensive. We all have a couple of degrees, one of us has a PhD so it didn’t hold us back too much in life. Before anyone comes at it from the neurodiversity angle then l am and l wouldn’t be surprised if my younger sibling isn’t

It's just you.

I've heard of people who are a few pounds above the pension credit limit and it will severely impact their ability to pay bills.

Glad you're sick of it and only know rich pensioners.

7% of children go to private school, apparently. (Have seen this figure posted so often I think it's probably true.) I have no time for those who are whinging about VAT being imposed. Let's be clear. Those paying for their children's education are paying for privilege. (I do think there's an exception to be made for those who have SEN though).

Winter fuel payments are brilliant for those who need them. So anyone who is in receipt of benefits will still receive them. More prosperous pensioners, who don't need benefits, don't need the payment. So it's a good saving for the government to stop paying it as a universal benefit.

@BIWI

"Winter fuel payments are brilliant for those who need them. So anyone who is in receipt of benefits will still receive them. More prosperous pensioners, who don't need benefits, don't need the payment. So it's a good saving for the government to stop paying it as a universal benefit."

There's a section of pensioners who receive full state pension but no private pension who are therefore not well off but will be hit by this cut. I think the full state pension is not much more than those pensioners on pension credit

I think it's a bit unfair they aren't represented in the press it's as if no one thinks there are pensioners just above the cut off who will actually suffer from this cut

I’m protesting the winter fuel payment cut. Yeah ok to make it means tested but using pension credit as a proxy is just plain stupid and cruel. It is literally endangering the lives of millions of pensioners. It will also perversely, put pensioners on pension credit (which are pensioners who worked too few years to get full state pension) hundreds of pounds better off than pensioners who worked all their lives.

It is especially shocking when you take into account the fact that the winter fuel payment is already so low that thousands of pensioners die every winter of hypothermia- and that is even now with very mild winters caused by global warming.

Very much doubt it’s just me. My husband now refuses to discuss either topic as he finds the moaning too annoying and self indulgent to give it head space. He took great joy in asking his pensioner parents how they would cope without theirs. They laughed.

I know pensioners across the continuum in all fairness. The thresholds had to be somewhere at the end of the day. State pensions are £221 per week plus pension credits. I know of people in their 50’s getting less than £400 per month in universal credit

Winter fuel payments are brilliant for those who need them. So anyone who is in receipt of benefits will still receive them.

Nope, pensioners on PIP or attendance allowance won’t get them even though they are likely vulnerable to the cold and medically more likely to need heat. Pension credit is being used as the one and only gateway, and that is generally a benefit given to the habitually unemployed who reached pension age.

When any benefit is means tested, there is always a proportion of people who are only just over the threshold and for whom it's pretty shit. Overall though, I'm very pleased about the winter fuel payment being means tested. I see no reason why benefits for pensioners shouldn't be means tested when benefits for families are.

So yep...winter fuel allowance and vat on school fees...meh, cry me a river.

Fuel payments just subsidise fossil fuel companies massive profits. Make their profits illegal, their job is to provide energy. When bills shot up their profits were record highs.

That’s just pure lazy self-interest to assess cut to public support on the basis of family and friends’ privileged situations only.

Those on PIP and AA are often likely to get sdp on a pension credit claim if living alone on a low income as that increases the Pension credit threshold by £85 a week. They not only get the disability payment but £85 Pension credit as well and so are not the group struggling the most.

Funnily enough l was thinking the big bills ironically are making people more strict about energy useage. A few winters ago we would put the thermostat on 20 (Edwardian property with big ceilings) but last winter it was more like 16

I was clearly referring to the majority of pensioners on PIP or attendance allowance that are NOT receiving pension credit.

A client came in about pension credits today, she really needed the fuel allowance.

Ok, I found a grant for £300 for her, all is good, let's apply.

Her income was 46,000 a year so she didn't qualify. She was very very upset.
I do sympatise that she's had something taken away, but noone getting £46,000 a year needs the fuel allowance.

The qualifying amount was below £40000 btw, so there are grants out there. Send anyone who still needs it to age concern or citizens advice, or just spare half an hour of your time and Google it yourseyand help them fill it in.

£400 a month to pay a mortgage, bills and food isn’t that self indulgent. Especially when it doesn’t even cover the mortgage. So they are being taken to court for mortgage arrears

Hardly lazy self interest when lm well aware it’s a continuum. Benefits should be means tested, it’s not a bottomless pit of money to be handed out willy nilly

This is exactly what l mean. I’m intrigued that on £46k a year that she thinks she should be getting those things

Loving the conflating of need and want 🤣

We have had multiple older people requesting benefit checks this week to see if they quality for Pension credit. Most have had incomes of £2500 + a month with no mortgage or very minimal council rent to pay. It's bonkers.

Sounds like they don’t even realise they are earning way over the average salary for this country.

I’m not against either of these policies but think they need a slight rethink on how they are implemented to make things easier for those impacted who don’t fall into the ‘well off’ category.

For winter fuel, there is a cohort that don’t quite meet the criteria for pension credit but who will struggle without it so perhaps it could have been scaled slightly to help them

For school fees, no issues with this when you are choosing your next school for a child as you are doing so with your eyes wide open on the cost but hard for some who are just about managing to pay the fees and children have already started at the school before this was introduced. Would have been better IMO to do it for new intakes to school or when moving from infant to junior age or junior to secondary age etc So would be a staggered rollout for a few years.

Neither of these policies impact me btw, just putting myself in others shoes

I wasn’t talking about the £400/mo part as you well know.
Means testing should be done properly, and picking pension credit as the gateway was stupid and cruel. Many more pensioners will die this winter and this will be the direct cause of it.

@TruthorDie : What State pensions are £221 per week plus pension credits.

Wrong.

£221 PW is the basic state pension. If you get that you don’t get pension credit.

It’s the people on this basic state pension with no additional income that may well suffer.

Many are single women. Women who were single mothers, so could not work enough to get a pension or put every spare penny into keeping a roof over their kids heads. Women whose working lives were before employers pension contributions were compulsory by law.

And now living alone they have only one pension income with which to pay the energy bills (unlike couples) and are paying 75% of the council tax.

The loss of WFA will cause some of these people to die.

I’m sick of the moaning by people like you.

It has to be someone so why not winter fuel? The whole premise of it is pretty ridiculous.

Lots of people don’t agree with the 2 child benefit rule but l think that’s understandable as well. No one needs 3,4, or 5 children etc. To be fair no one needs 1 or 2 either as it’s a want

I totally agree WFP should be stopped for most but they have left the bar too low. As explained it will be those just on new state pension who don't qualify for pension credit who will suffer.

Ok. I stand corrected but pension credit kicks in up to an income of £218.25 per week according to gov.uk so it’s still way more than universal credit:

When you apply for Pension Credit your income is calculated. If you have a partner, your income is calculated together.
Pension Credit tops up:

• your weekly income to £218.15 if you’re single
• your joint weekly income to £332.95 if you have a partner

If your income is higher, you might still be eligible for Pension Credit if you have a disability, you care for someone, you have savings or you have housing costs

Not sure why you are saying “people like me” when you don’t know me. Im
calling out other people’s indulgent and entitlement (plus the monotony of their moaning). For all you know my grandma was a single mum, my mum was a single mum and so am l. In actual fact my mum and grandma were, lm not for now.

It’s just you I think. Everyone I speak to disagrees with the WFA. My mum will suffer due to this.

My parents will suffer too. Easy to feel irritated by moaning when it doesn’t affect you personally I guess.