Heating Allowance in Europe

I saw that too! The mind boggles.
I think that it will stop after April 25 though.

That is so wrong.

#Labourlies

I'm not sure if that's the case. The government website says clearly,

Eligibility rules if you live abroad are changing for winter 2024.

Updated guidance will be published in September 2024

and we haven't had them yet.

www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment/if-you-live-abroad

Wyllow3

I'm not sure if that's the case. The government website says clearly,

Eligibility rules if you live abroad are changing for winter 2024.

Updated guidance will be published in September 2024

and we haven't had them yet.

www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment/if-you-live-abroad

I’ve just posted on the other thread which brings this up,

“If you live abroad

Eligibility rules if you live abroad are changing for winter 2024. Updated guidance will be published in September 2024.

The rules thus far are as below:-

If you do not live in the UK, you’re only eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment if:

you moved to an eligible country before 1 January 2021

you were born before 23 September 1958

you have a genuine and sufficient link to the UK - this can include having lived or worked in the UK, and having family in the UK

Eligible countries
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
Germany
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Sweden
Switzerland”

GrannyGravy13

#Labourlies

The Telegraph article’s behind a paywall.

MSN news is also saying that the cuts will not affect 36,000 retirees who were living in 23 countries across Europe, including Germany, Ireland, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands (but not France or Spain) before 2021, and who will be able to carry on claiming the allowance up until April next year.

According to the article, they are still eligible for the allowance this year because their access to social security payments was written into the Brexit withdrawal agreement, and the entitlement is due for review in April 2025.

So it seems that the situation is completely out of Starmer’s control, and not of his choosing.

Whats wrong is half baked information from a major newspaper just to inflame: I'm sure the writers of the article have access to full information.

As Wyllow says
Updated guidance will be published in September 2024

Until then it's surely conjecture?

The article in The Telegraph re the fact that this will STILL be paid to pensioners living in Europe , regardless !

... is clearly wrong then.

As I have just posted on another thread the WFA was taken away from those of us who live in France about ten years ago, to the delight of some on here. Pensioners in Spain are not eligible either. To make the average temperature in France too hot to qualify they added in all the overseas territories in the Pacific and the Caribbean. You might be cynical and think that got rid of the countries with a significant number of UK pensioners.

I live in France (moved just before Brexit) and we do not get the WFA as France is deemed “too warm” (when the overseas departments are taken into consideration.
We do not get any benefits from the UK apart from our state pension, which we have paid NI for once we were in our teens.

Don’t believe everything you read in the papers!

The Telegraph is really going down the pan in terms of accuracy. It used to be a reliable, if predictably right wing source of news and information, but now seems to have become yet another source of inaccurate and inflammatory headlines

Wyllow3

Whats wrong is half baked information from a major newspaper just to inflame: I'm sure the writers of the article have access to full information.

If you think about it - in a broader context - the media should perhaps come under the same scrutiny that is currently being applied to social media platforms which foster 'misinformation' designed to provoke public anger and resentment.

A quick search on a government website will, as others have pointed out, show that eligibility rules applied to the WFA will change next month. Until we know what these new rules are, it is pure speculation, not fact, to insist that the WFA will STILL be paid to pensioners living in Europe , regardless ! as the original poster is claiming?

Of course, the media isn't suggesting that there should be protests, demonstrations, assaults, riots - they are far too canny and 'law-abiding' for that. But aren't they deliberately inciting public anger and resentment at a time when the nation is in a politically unstable, divisive and restless state?

The deep divisions in society are as much the fault of the media as any obnoxious individual spreading fake news on social media.

Utterly contemptible.

The deep divisions in society are as much the fault of the media as any obnoxious individual spreading fake news on social media

Perhaps if children were taught to think critically they would be more cynical & less influenced by & accepting of what they read, hear & see in both mainstream media and on the internet.
Placing all the blame for division & disruption in society today on the media & obnoxious people is denying that individuals have any personal responsibility for their opinions & actions.

Janeainsworth,round of applause from me.

Must have been Johnson who signed it off. Another leftover for Starker.

I remember that when the WFA was stopped for those of us living in Spain or France there was an outcry particularly from those living on the Costas that they should have a summer allowance because of paying for air con.

It would be helpful if the DT had given figures for the numbers living in Spain and France because we must make the largest proportion of "expats". Of course the journos could have done their homework and excluded us from their figures.

Don’t you believe it! I don’t receive any heating allowance because Paris is looped in with The Pacific islands therefore over the annual temperature required.
I get fed up hearing of under the radar ex-pats who are not paying local taxes but there again it could be stories.

Surely the point is that if you take out France and Spain you are not going to have huge numbers of migrant pensioners. Ireland probably accounts for some and Italy, but Latvia, Lithuania really? Good to see that you get it if you have retired to Iceland though.
For what it's worth I am happy that the UK tax I pay on my occupational pension should go to those in the UK who need it most. Here in France the equivalent allowance is based on tax thresholds, which seems much more sensible.

Pompie

Janeainsworth,round of applause from me.

And me!

I fully agree with individuals being responsible for their own decisions, but you can only act on the quality of information given.

Cross checking on other sources (as was done to establish the facts on WFA abroad above which proved inaccuracy) isn't something a lot of people want to do?

Thank you pompie and notspaghetti ☺️
wyllow it’s not that hard to dig deeper into the stuff that’s put on Facebook, X etc. Often just looking at the profile of the individual or group that’s posted it is enough to raise a red flag.

I agree janeainsworth but schools do try to teach children critical thinking. It is the adults who haven't learnt to apply it that are the problem.
It is also about confirmation bias. People who dislike UK pensioners living abroad will leap on the headline to confirm their prejudices. I remember once being accused of "fleeing the country". Made me feel like Burgess and Maclean. 😂😂😂

NotSpaghetti

The article in The Telegraph re the fact that this will STILL be paid to pensioners living in Europe , regardless !

... is clearly wrong then.

How is it wrong?
The WFA will still be paid to those pensioners living in most EU countries this Winter.
Next year, maybe not, we don’t know as yet but for sure this year they will receive it.