WINTER FUEL PAYMENT

[cobden28]

A couple of days ago I received the official letter from the DWP telling me I'm not going to receive the Winter Fuel payment this year because, although I am within the required age group, I'm not in receipt of the listed benefits. I am 69 years of age.
On the same day I also received notifiication from my energy supplier of the amount of my next Direct Debit monthly payment and a request to submit my meter readings. I've contacted the energy supplier and arranged for them to send round a meter reader, so they can't be in a position to dispute the readings oobtained.
Then once I get my billing sorted i'm going to have to work out how to cut my energy bill. My proposed method is to turn off the central heating and only use the gas fire in the living room for heating - I feel uncomfortable if a room is too warm and the gas fire chucks out lots of heat anyway.

Spot on. Same here.

Are you coming back @cobden28 ? People have given you some good advice.

Apparently, all pensioners are poor and should still receive the WFA that Starmer has stolen, even those pensioners shivering in their £1 million homes worrying about how to avoid paying inheritance tax.

Well I very naughtily AS'd OP. She says she is not exactly struggling but not in the lap of luxury either. So, not sure what her game is here.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/money-matters/5001343-retirement-at-55?reply=136460514&utm_campaign=reply&utm_medium=share

The WFA is only £300 for those over 80, who qualify. Otherwise it’s £200.,

That’s great but surely you can acknowledge as Age UK does about 2.5m will be in hardship

Are you and pp ok with those people getting it cut?

Interesting.
So the OP gets PIP and her state pension and her civil service pension..........

How come it would be £600? Surely it’s £300, as over 80?

Jeezo.

Do you do this for other posters who say they receive more than one benefit?

Yep.

I'll say it again.
Where was the outrage when benefits were capped at two children, forcing hundreds of children into poverty for a decision that they themselves weren't responsible for?

Not many that I could see. Mostly gleeful comments about scroungers deserving it.

If you're not entitled then you don't 'need' it, OP.
Those hungry children however...

It is amazing that the only people moaning about no longer getting this payment are the ones that don't actually bloody need it. Every OAP that I know in real life(who are all sitting in a mortgage free 3/4 bed house) have all said they gave to charity or used it towards Christmas. So they weren't even using it to heat their houses anyway.

This.

@EasternStandard Cant help noticing they use poor families as a stick to beat pensioners with then berate those same families for being social housing tenants. Was a big thing during Covid too. Using one group to denigrate another when they dont give a shit about the first group apart from using them as stick to beat others with.

@jenniferbooth I have always stuck up for benefit claimants, council tenants and HA tenants on this site. I don't agree with the WFA decision.

But people starting threads pretending that because they are losing £200 over a three month period they will only be able to afford to heat one room is really distasteful. It also minimises the difficulties of those who really will be hurt by the loss of the WFA. Such pretence deserves to be called out.

I've contacted the energy supplier and arranged for them to send round a meter reader, so they can't be in a position to dispute the readings oobtained.

Is there a history of the company disputing your readings? Why not just take a photo of the reading on your phone.

I also don't understand the general gist of your OP!

You’ve searched the op and someone else has listed PIP as a benefit meaning the op has a disability

You don’t know what her daily struggles are or the reality of her life

nor will l be claiming my pension.

In which case you wouldn’t have got WFA anyway. And you’re in a position not to claim £220 a week and still complaining. Words fail me.

I didn't ask for the handout.. it's just part of my energy providers scheme.
I didn't save money. I was given compensation.
I'd rather be fit and well both physically and mentally.
Have my pelvis perfect.. my vagina back... no more pain.
No more accidents and falls etc.
Stop having so many operations .
Beable to do more with my Grandsons
Yes I've money and a beautiful large bungalow.
I pay for a gardener/ cleaner etc
I will be funding some of my future operations too..
But some of the charities l support aren't so lucky.. some of the old people too.

Because .. l.think it's wrong that so many people do need it .l give to loads of local charities.
I sticking up for those that do need it.

That seems very cheap for having your heating on for 16 hours a day 7 days a week, £110?

Is that estimated or from actual readings? What do you have your thermostat set at?

Just realised you said actual readings.

Perhaps it would help you to feel better about it if you consider that the retirement age inceased from 60, for women, in 2010. For men it was already 65. So the only pensioners who could claim their state pension at 60 are women currently over 74, born before 1950. These women would typically have left school at 15 at a time when only 4% of the population went to university. They had already been working for 7 years by the time they were 22. They did an 'extra' 7 years at the start of their working lives, compared to today's workforce where the majority didn't start work till after university or college. Perhaps that balances out the 'extra' 7 years that people now have to wait for their pensions.

I know, that's why I wrote it 😉

You didn’t need to be claiming state pension to receive it; The payment just turned up once you reached state pension age.

What is more of a scandal is that they are spending millions of ££ sending out individual letters to everyone!

I mean, it's hardly been a secret there has been this change, has it?