Three in four pensioners are living in a cold home

ViceVersa

But happens if you do that and you're not dead when that rainy day does come?

That is just the point, when the rainy day came they still wouldn't spend it.

The level for savings that means you still qualify for pension credit is variable, the less your income, the more savings you can have, but the floor level is £10,000 but can be £20,000 or more. So most of my clients could have both made their lives more comfortable, qualified for Pension Credit and still had a reasonable amount in savings to deal with the rainy day..

Well said pomegranate juice.

The Winter Fuel payment is only £200, so it might possibly pay for a couple of bills, but wouldn’t necessarily see you through the whole winter time.

I work in fahrenheit. Am sitting on bed with covers over legs. Leaning against footboard. So light from window is behind me. Am not shivering. Get used to it.
48F currently. Yesterday was 43F
on waking and most of day. I wear gloves in bed and roll myself up in 2 sleeping bags plus blankets. 2 layers on legs plus sox. three layers on chest.
It's OK but having to get up for loo means can't wear fleecy onesie with hood and ears.
I do put heating on in evening
After 5 hours temp rose to 52F.

I hope the Daily Express and others continue to monitor the situation.

I hope they can access all the data about pensioners, such as the death rates this year compared to last year. It is so important to know how this wicked withdrawal of the winter fuel payment affects the elderly. It should also be monitoring the disabled, because they don't get it either unless on means tested benefits.

I spent last winter - from Christmas 2023 to June 2024 without central heating or hot water and it was not easy. It gave me insight into how those living with a kettle and a couple of small heaters have to live. I have been on disability since 1992, disabled many years. I have a state pension of £800 a month £169 a week plus enhancements for leaving it in and paying a bit more in the past. Works out at about £203 a week, but I have a widow pension from my late husband, so don't qualify for benefits. Last year I had £600 because of my disabilities and including the cold weather payment. This year, without any warning - nothing. I took out equity in November and had another boiler installed in another part of the house and CCTV because my previous boiler was vandalised by someone who wanted me to leave my lovely home.

I stayed in bed most of the time. I put on more clothes at night than I took of. I could not shower or wash my hair. Imagine, six months not washing hair, just dry shampoo. I have to say that my hair was fine. You really wouldn't have known It was unwashed from Christmas to June. It was difficult to carry the kettle to the wet room to wash, so I drew the curtains and washed in the kitchen.

I am full of admiration for those pensioners who are suffering as I did last year. I hope the newspapers' research workers are compiling evidence of the suffering of the elderly, particularly those who survived the war, and those who started work in the 1950s when the 1948 NHS Act gave the impression that they didn't need to pay for a second pension, because the money was taken out of their wages to give them a pension when they retired.
Reeves must think that it is our fault that we didn't save for a pension but relied on the state pension. She was probably brought up on Downton Abbey and Upstairs Downstairs and think we all live like the upper crust and don't need it.

The DWP know who is paying higher rate tax and could either claw it back from them or just not give the WFP to them, not take it away from everyone.

What goes around, comes around.

Millie22

I refuse to be cold even though I worry about energy costs.

Starmer is responsible for this terrible situation.

How?

Piskey
We all struggle on our own, a lot would have a rent rise (mine £100 a month) council tax rise
I meant to mention those in my post too.

Well said.
I'm not on my own but realise there will come a time when one of us will be left on our own; my income would suddenly drop certainly.

Millie22

I refuse to be cold even though I worry about energy costs.

Starmer is responsible for this terrible situation.

No he's not. The causes are far more complex than simply the removal of the Winter Fuel allowance.

Millie22

I refuse to be cold even though I worry about energy costs.

Starmer is responsible for this terrible situation.

No, frankly, its energy costs, which both parties have had to grapple with, due to international forces over the last 3 winters.
Judging by the posts here, WFA could not possibly compensate for this, tho yes, we should raise its availability level.

The right wing Daily Express has never cared about welfare when the Tories were in office. I wonder why the sudden Volte -Face? The sheer disingenuity displayed by not making the sampling clear..and making it clear that it only refers to those with incomes under £20,000. I note too they make no suggestion of renationalising our energy, o r offering to cut their own dividends, or cutting salaries of CEOs. Suddenly it is the fault of the incoming government. I have been impressed with the drive to get pensioners to claim pension credit, and there has been massive uptake. Put the Express back in the toilet where it belongs.

I refuse to be cold even though I worry about energy costs.

Starmer is responsible for this terrible situation.

ruthiek

My elderly friend told me she keeps her heating at 12 and if it’s cold turns it up to 14 because she is frightened of her bills , I hsve bought her an electric comforter . She is not entitled to pension credit because she saved but her state pension is small so she is careful , terrible state of affairs

How much has she saved and does she understand how savings are taken into account for the purpose of Pension Credit? It isn’t the whole amount. The first £10,000 is ignored. Every £500 over that counts as £1 of income. So if she has 20,000 in savings that would count as £20 a week of notional income.

Say she has basic State Pension of £169.50 a week and had savings of £20,000 that earn her say £15 a week interest giving her a total weekly income of £184.50. Then add that £20 notional income to total £204.50. She would be entitled to Pension Credit of £13.65 per week to bring her weekly income to £218.15 and would then be entitled to Winter Fuel Payment, Warm Home Discount and help with eye and dental care.

I have assumed she reached SP age before 6 April 2016 in which case she would also be entitled to Savings Credit of £17.01 per week.

She could also be entitled to Council Tax Benefit and also Housing Benefit if she rents. If she is entitled to Pension Credit, her savings would be ignored for the other benefits.

Wow - there appears to be a lot of affluent women - all with good incomes, and warm homes, who are full of advice for those unfortunate people who live in cold homes. Downsize, wear thermals, insulate, get new boilers, try and get grants ( not that easy) move more, get into debt as you would all keep your heating on regardless of income -all of which costs a lot of money.
It costs the same to heat a house, or cook a meal for one person, than it is for 2/3 or 4 people. But on a much smaller income.
I wonder if any of those judgmental woman would manage, for any such reason, if they had to survive on only the money THEY bring into the home, particularly with little or no savings. And a couple of pounds over the limit for governmental help. Then give your opinion .
I know very few single women - who often have medical or mobility issues - who have warm homes.
We all struggle on our own, a lot would have a rent rise (mine £100 a month) council tax rise ( mine £10 a month) etc, can’t afford the holidays you all seem to take.
We don’t need telling that you don’t know any ‘poor’ people. You should get out more.

I am usual[y cold at home. I go to the library to get warm and take long walks. And I am not particularly hard up.

Many old people are frightened of spending their savings because they are keeping them aside in case they need care, in case they have large bills for maintenance on their home, white goods replacement, boiler replacement, and often for funeral costs.

Some of the posts on here are surprisingly ignorant of how many people, often widowed, do have to live.
I'm astonished. Just because obviously well-heeled people who were in well-paid professions with excellent pensions and know no-one in their peer group who might be struggling does not mean there are not millions of people who are having to watch their pennies and eke out their pensions.

Actually, on reflection, no, I'm not astonished because it's obvious they would never mix with those types of people.

As discussed upthread, it depends on the questions asked to get that result, and the survey doesn't reveal that.

Witzend

I’d be interested to know where they get that 3 out of 4 figure from. How many pensioners did they actually ask?

"Age UK commissioned polling from respondents aged 66 and over. The research was conducted via an online omnibus survey with some computer assisted telephone interviews by Opinium for Age UK.

A sample of 2,573 UK adults aged 66+ were interviewed 6th–16th January 2025.

The data are nationally representative on age, gender and region. Figures are scaled up to the UK age 66+ population using Office for National Statistics mid-year population estimates for 2023 to give estimates of the number of pensioners affected nationally."

But happens if you do that and you're not dead when that rainy day does come?

Witzend It is the fear of getting into debt when it is actually highly unlikely that is the problem. I used to do home visiting for an charity for the old and time and again I would visit people like some of those above who turn the heating off because they are frightened of high energy bills, not that they are receiving them. The other problem is people who have rainy day funds that put them above Pension Credit level. and are living on tiny incomes.

There is a simple solution to that, reduce your savings, spend them on something to make your life more comfortable, insulation, double glazing, draft excluding until your savings fall below the pension credit level and then get some and benefit from all the bells and whistles that go with it. But people won't.

I used to get so frustrated sitting in freezing houses, with gale force winds blowing through and the single glazed windows rattling, to be told by some one eking out their life on a minute sum of money when they could increase their income by occasionally as much as £100 a week, plus bells and whistles if they qualified for means tested benefits. They wouldn't use their savings to supplement their income nor improve their house, because the money was being saved for a 'rainy day'. They were dead before the rainy day appeared.

Whitewavemark2

Interestingly there is little difference between the level of pensioner poverty in Australia and U.K.

Presumably few suffer from much cold in Australia for obvious reasons, so I assume that the Australian government does not have to fund pensioners for winter weather, although excessive heat and flooding must be an issue. Does the Australian government fund pensioners for A/C? As excessive heat is probably more of a killer than excessive cold.

Most Australian people of pension age do not get a State-funded pension. It is means-tested.

The Age Pension was always very generous in comparison to ours but income and assets are taken into account.

Witzend

Whitewavemark2

Witzend

I’d be interested to know where they get that 3 out of 4 figure from. How many pensioners did they actually ask?

It is wrong! I would waste any more time on it.

Admittedly I probably move largely in somewhat more comfortable circles, but I don’t know anyone among family or friends who’d fall onto the ‘cold through poverty’ bracket.

However I’ve known older people in the past who were too mean to have the heating on, or to have it on high enough, even though they could perfectly well afford it.

The Scrooge factor - I dare there’s still some of it about.

Crossed posts, Witzend, and I agree.
My brother was an audiologist, and said he often did home visits to cold, sparse homes where the person wanted to buy a hearing aid. He said he would explain about costs and finance available, then the old person ( usually a man!) would go into another room and return with the cash, many hundreds of pounds.

Well our homes cold, we put the heating on at 5pm for three hours, we didn’t get the winter fuel allowance as we are slightly over the limit for pensioners credit.

ruthiek

My elderly friend told me she keeps her heating at 12 and if it’s cold turns it up to 14 because she is frightened of her bills , I hsve bought her an electric comforter . She is not entitled to pension credit because she saved but her state pension is small so she is careful , terrible state of affairs

For Pension Credit the first £10,000 is ignored, then the amount is reduced for anything over £10,000, but still, she would be eligible for the PC, and thus for the Fuel Allowance.
I’m sure there are many elderly people who would struggle rather than use savings which could keep them warm.

Whitewavemark2

Witzend

I’d be interested to know where they get that 3 out of 4 figure from. How many pensioners did they actually ask?

It is wrong! I would waste any more time on it.

Admittedly I probably move largely in somewhat more comfortable circles, but I don’t know anyone among family or friends who’d fall onto the ‘cold through poverty’ bracket.

However I’ve known older people in the past who were too mean to have the heating on, or to have it on high enough, even though they could perfectly well afford it.

The Scrooge factor - I dare there’s still some of it about.

Also, like Cateq, I have heard a few people saying they don’t use heating because of the cost, but mostly it’s fear of what it might cost because of what they hear in the media, even though they could probably afford a bigger bill, without having to choose between ‘heating and eating’.