Thoughts please ...

Well I’m not wealthy neither am I poor but my gas and electric bills have increased by £50 per month so I’m grateful for my £100 thank you very much.

Nannan2

CoCo51- the winter fuel allowance that pensioners receive is a DIFFERENT benefit to the Warm Home Discount- of only £140- everyone on any other benefits can get WHD- But they MUST apply for it, and not all fuel providers have this- and you may not even end up getting it- there's only so much to go round, and its 'first come first served'- pensioners AUTOMATICALLY receive this, AS WELL- on top of the winter fuel payments from Gov't- And cold weather payment of £25!- And i KNOW some (MOST) pensioners DO need the extra heating money-(on just state pension) I'm not saying that they dont- BUT a few do not- as a few have even admitted on here, so they donate the money- BUT what I'm saying is- 1) GIVE IT TO ALL on the other benefits too- the disabled who are under pension age, or on PIP, or DLA, or with children under 5, or child tax credits- and 2) add it automatically to the fuel meters or give a fuel only voucher to take to shop to buy fuel.MAKE IT FAIR TO ALL WHO ARE STRUGGLING TO HEAT THEIR HOMES- or who have to choose between eating or heating- thats not just pensioners- its ALL on other low incomes!!! I never got extra £20 a wk payments either, as I'm not on UC- legacy benefits not 'entitled') but if i had, i would have paid it straight to my fuel smart meter, ready for winter, as i know I'm not guaranteed to get WHD- and I'm not going to get extra fuel allowances as I'm under pension age! I AM disabled though, as many thousands are, but clearly when it comes to heating allowances, only getting a pension counts!??

Not sure if this is correct - you seem to be saying that pensioners automatically qualify for the WHD and this is not the case. For a pensioner to qualify they must be in receipt of pension guarantee element or the pension element of income related employment and support allowance. If you are a pensioner and either you or your partner are in receipt of these allowance you don’t need to apply for it, as the government will write to you to confirm your eligibility. Your name must also be on the energy account. As an example, my mum, who qualifies, lives with me in my home. As her name is not on the account, the provider will not apply the discount.

That would mean increasing the combined pension and winter fuel payment each year. And dividing it by 52 and adding a portion to each week’s pension as a separate supplement would be much less useful to those who rely on the lump sum each winter, quite apart from the administrative costs involved and the fact that not every year has 52 weeks.

allule

This payment is called a winter bonus, but since most people pay fuel bills by direct debit, which is equalled over the year, it ward be more sensible to increase the basic pension to cover this, without these annual arguments.

Best idea yet, allule

Cost of doing the means testing would be enormous.

Why can't it be given to all who are on a low income and those who are of a certain age?
That makes the most sense to me.

I don't agree that it 'would cost too much' to change the way its consigned/paid out to everyone born in those dates- the saving alone to gov't would be more than worth the original outlay of doing so- and worth much more in proper payouts to those who do ACTUALLY need that money- why not make it so that the people from 'those qualifying dates' actually have to APPLY for it paying then-? So that those who really dont need it, and consider themselves 'well off' enough simply dont need to apply?-leaving more cash in govt coffers to enable them to pay an AUTOMATIC winter fuel payment to those most in need- which could include those on STATE PENSION ONLY- but also those under pension age, who receive disability benefits or tax credits, child tax credits, DLA, ESA, PIP, or other low incomes who have so little that they can't even claim other benefits.IN OTHER WORDS MAKE IT FAIR to all those of us who ARE struggling- not just go "oh they were born in such & such, so they need this payment, let's send them it"! Its absolutely ridiculous!
I make no wonder the British gov't always have a huge debt- seemingly they can't stop sending money to those who don't necessarily need or want it in the first place! Gov't idiots! ?

I have long since been saying that the freedom bus passes and hearing allowances should only be for the needy, regardless of age. It’s beyond belief that we subsidise people who can afford to pay for things themselves when there are families on low income that aren’t entitled to these concessions.

This payment is called a winter bonus, but since most people pay fuel bills by direct debit, which is equalled over the year, it ward be more sensible to increase the basic pension to cover this, without these annual arguments.

Winter fuel PAYMENT is the £100 and is payable if born before 26 Sept 1955 - I have recently recv'd my letter telling me this. It has nothing to do with receiving any other benefit. DH has had the same letter and payments are expected in the next few weeks.
I agree that it could be better spent on helping those in need but would cost too much to make it means tested. Most people I know give their payments to charity if not needed.

If you don’t need your winter fuel allowance you’re one of the fortunate ones. We need ours.

Why not donate the money to a local food bank? That way someone who needs immediate help will get it.

And good on Sir Rod Stewart for at least trying to do that- i wonder how many other 'stars' or celebs have done so? Yes of course the system needs sorting- how could the DWP not have known that the famous rich Rod stewart really did not need that payment but yet another poor old bloke who actually lives in Britain will be desperate for it? My God, do all those who work for DWP have no common sense?!!!

Well maybe govt could 'sort it' by giving it to those who are on STATE PENSION ONLY, the ones who dont have any 'private' pension to claim or 'top up' their state pension?? Clearly they would be the ones struggling most? Or a person on a single person's pension, so not got a couples money but yet still got same bills to pay? And also theres a con too by the gov't that says if you get paid child benefit then you accrue ' guaranteed pension credit' for those years as you're bringing up children (a bit like married womens stamp back in the day) BUT YET THIS DOES NOT COUNT AS A 'GUARANTEED PENSION CREDIT' FOR AUTOMATICALLY RECEIVING THE WARM HOME DISCOUNT!! which of course, it really should!

It’s a slippery slope to talk about taking away the winter fuel allowance for pensioners. If people want to donate the money to a charity of their choice, let them do that as many donate parts of their incomes anyway. Remove that allowance then watch the bus passes go and prescriptions go etc. If you’ve reached that age of retirement (and ‘remember many women have already been shafted on their pensions) you will have paid in one hell of a lot to the system of allowances.

CoCo51- the winter fuel allowance that pensioners receive is a DIFFERENT benefit to the Warm Home Discount- of only £140- everyone on any other benefits can get WHD- But they MUST apply for it, and not all fuel providers have this- and you may not even end up getting it- there's only so much to go round, and its 'first come first served'- pensioners AUTOMATICALLY receive this, AS WELL- on top of the winter fuel payments from Gov't- And cold weather payment of £25!- And i KNOW some (MOST) pensioners DO need the extra heating money-(on just state pension) I'm not saying that they dont- BUT a few do not- as a few have even admitted on here, so they donate the money- BUT what I'm saying is- 1) GIVE IT TO ALL on the other benefits too- the disabled who are under pension age, or on PIP, or DLA, or with children under 5, or child tax credits- and 2) add it automatically to the fuel meters or give a fuel only voucher to take to shop to buy fuel.MAKE IT FAIR TO ALL WHO ARE STRUGGLING TO HEAT THEIR HOMES- or who have to choose between eating or heating- thats not just pensioners- its ALL on other low incomes!!! I never got extra £20 a wk payments either, as I'm not on UC- legacy benefits not 'entitled') but if i had, i would have paid it straight to my fuel smart meter, ready for winter, as i know I'm not guaranteed to get WHD- and I'm not going to get extra fuel allowances as I'm under pension age! I AM disabled though, as many thousands are, but clearly when it comes to heating allowances, only getting a pension counts!??

Can't think how the Govt could sort out those pensioners who really need the fuel allowance from those who do not. The departments in charge of paying out sums of money for any reason, can't seem to stop the huge frauds being carried out now, costing the economy £1000s.

And another thing, I've been known to acvost a young family maybe struggling at checkout and say " scuse me I think you've dropped something" and give them 10/20 of our English pounds, then make a quick escape, never had it refused yet and always raises a smile!

Elvis58, you cannot give it back to the government , how would you do that ? What department ? Think of the cost to administer it. Better to just donate it to a charity you have a leaning towards. I remember a few years ago Rod Stewart when he first got the Winter Fuel Allowance saying that he obviously didn’t need it and wanted to give it back. He made a programme or wrote an article I am not sure but he tried very hard to return it with no success.

Just because they give you the money , it doesn't mean you have to keep it!!!

My parents used to donate all their "bonuses" to the church as they were comfortable with 2 occupational pensions as well as state pension.. if more 'well off' people did similar the wealth could be shared at grassroots level.direct donation to our own local food banks/salvation army/homeless groups would ensure some middle manager didn't get their grubby hands on it too! Or maybe spend on a hamper of food for food bank at Christmas time? I'm going to .(DH said " ooh good idea, then we can go to food bank and get it all back for free!)????

Oldwoman70- its NOT demeaning at all- if you truly needed the extra for heating you wouldn't care HOW you got it- so long as you got it! Some folk already get the warm home discount in a voucher simply because they've not got a smart meter- so it can't automatically be added to their fuel meter- the shops don't care, so its not 'demeaning' at all! And no folk can't have their UC or other benefits paid as a voucher as it includes rent payments etc now as well- they used to- it was called a 'giro cheque' remember, and folk collected it at post office, were given cash in exchange, (like pensioners had a pension book, remember the old days?)till gov't changed all that! Good grief some folk are wanting to back to the dark ages just because they could not accept a fuel voucher? if you genuinely were desperate and in need of it to heat your home adequately then you would NOT care about getting it as a voucher, just so long as you got it somehow?

My (Tory voting) parents don’t need any government support and object to receiving the fuel allowance when so many people are financially struggling. They’ve been donating their allowance in full to a suitable charity eg local food bank, homeless centre for years.

I agree with Calmlocket and others. The payment should be in a form that it only payable to an energy supplier..

The system is wrong as demonstrated on this thread.
It should be means tested not given out enmasse.
Giving it to charity or children is obscene considering a lot of elderly cannot afford to eat and heat their homes.lf you dont need it give it back to the Government where it can be used for those that do need it!
I even know someone who buys their christmas presents with it and looks on it as a perk!

makes me so angry that pensioners are seen as being wealthy, i am not i live on my state pension and small amount of savings the winter allowence should pay my winter fuel bill but with the price of fuel going up so much if its taken away and i will have to juggle eating or being warm but i do not think those living abroad should get it or those who are wealthy they dont need it and the savings made would give those in real need maybe a bit more of an allowence