To not understand the uproar over winter fuel allowance being cut?

[virgocatlover]

It's not being cut. The poorest pensioners on pension credit will still get it. It's only being changed so it's no longer a universal payment anymore.

The energy price cap was £1834 October 2023. This October it's £1717. So it's £117 cheaper than it was last winter for average use.

In April 2024 the state pension rose by 8.5% - a rise of around £900 for those on full state pension. It's expected to rise another £400 next April.

Many energy companies still have schemes for those in genuine need. Plus the warm home discount exists for those on a low income.

I understand pensions who receive just state pension and no other income may be annoyed but there has to be a cut somewhere. But pensioners are unlikely to have the expense of rent/ mortgages in retirement which is the biggest expense to those of working age.

However most of the moans I've heard and seen seem to be from the well off pensioners who are cross about losing something. I know a woman who rents out three houses and spends the winter in the Caribbean who is spitting feathers about losing the payment. Another who spent the money on their Christmas booze.

There is so much uproar about this which didn't happen when there were so many other cuts affecting young people/workers/families. All other benefits are means tested, so should WFA.

People still see pensioners as those who fought in the war and counting pennies at the till to pay for their bread and milk. But that's just not the case these days.

You're welcome. Let me know of your next tour.

I work full time and after my mortgage is paid, I’m left with around £1000 a month to cover everything else and I’m a single person. I manage fine, and probably spend more than an elderly person (going out, socialising, holidays etc). Many families would have around the same amount and still manage to get by!

I’m doing the Edinburgh fringe next year. I reckon that’s long enough for jokes about Labour to become vaguely acceptable among the bien pensant. Book early.

I won’t make it onto the The Last Leg though. That’s beyond redemption.

I'm there!

Equity release.

That's an option but it's not always suitable for everyone. Especially at the moment. LTVs are lower than they used to be, rates are higher than they've been in a long time. For younger pensioners in slightly less expensive properties, they probably couldn't release what they needed to supplement their bills. And then if they need care later down the line, they've no asset left and if they sell it there's nothing left to assist them in paying for somewhere else.

It's just a different option to selling, they still lose equity and the money will run out at some point and then someone else needs to pick up the costs.

Winter fuel allowance obviously

remember not to mention said regulations until you get outed in the right wing press then U Turn massively

The point of the discussion is that WFA is being stopped. I was responding to someone who said that just because you own your home, doesn't mean you can heat it. My suggestion was to downsize as you have a substantial asset.

I would downsize rather than freeze.

I agree with you, OP, and you've done a bloody good job of debating the angry mob.

My mother and her friends are these low-income pensioners – they all agree with the change.

I’ve already said above some of the challenges involved with downsizing. My solution is not to take WFA off people who need it. That £300 means enough coal and logs to take my 85 year old mother through the worst of winter months.

State pension if you retired after April 2016, after paying full Ni contributions is £221 per week. There are approximately 2 million pensioners who are a couple of quid over the pc limit. Pensioners on pc will actually be much better off than those on basic pension because of all the other benefits that can be claimed when on pc.
Come April when pension goes up, it will throw thousands of pensioners off pc because they'll be just above the cut off point.

Then tell the government your solution and see if they'll make an exception.

Many pensioners are still paying mortgages. Those who rent still have to pay rent

No. They should downsize.
And I'm a pensioner but certainly not a millionaire. It's ridiculous that the sate should support people in huge properties.

💯 this
Let's hope she is listening
His idea would be well received by most I think

Two of the biggest unions are already doing this for me today. Somehow, I think they’ll have more clout. Don’t you?

There isn't an application process to receive it or to opt in or out. They send a letter to recipients saying it will be paid in a certain time period and then it arrives in the bank account of those eligible.

If they don't need the money, they can send it back to the Treasury. I haven't seen any evidence or indication that people do that. Sometimes you hear people saying they don't need it so they give it to charity.

Shame on you for that reply.

£1m property doesn't automatically = huge property. A 1 or 2 bed flat in some areas of London/SE can be a minimum of £1m.

There's been a few discussions on the challenges of downsizing on this thread.

Most pensioners don't need it. And those who need it, ie the poorest, will still get it. That money can be better spent on hospitals/schools etc

I'm shamed!

If you were born after 1957.. you won't get the fuel allowance no matter what pension or pension credits you get..
Pensioners also have to pay rent.
We don't get council tax reduction now.
Stammer has stolen everything from pensioners .
Get your facts right .
Ask a pensioner..
I was born November 1958.
Had my forecast for November.
£218 per week.
That's it . Nothing more.

If your income is that low you'd still get help with council tax and housing

OP, all I can say is you must have no imagination.

My dm (now deceased) had about 80p in monthly pension, over the cap. She would have lost the whole WFA.

Knowing that payment was coming in specifically to keep her warm, was the one thing that persuaded her to put her gas fire on. Oldies who have grown up in poverty or lived through the shortages of the war have a real fear of debt, and she would have gone cold rather than risk not being able to pay her bill.

No matter that I would always have paid her bill for her, pride would not allow her to tell me she was worried.

And think on, there are many oldies in single glazed or uninsulated homes who have absurdly high bills. Plus as a person becomes frail, they need more heat, not less.

There will be uproar if the number of pensioners dying of cold, or admitted to hospital with pneumonia, rises this year. It will be firmly at Starmer's door.