Winter fuel payment tested by temperature

I hope one of your virtues is patience!

I had forgotten about that change, Mamie, of course you are quite right.

This is what has changed. The European court has ruled that you cannot discriminate against people who moved before state pension age as long as they have strong ties with the UK such as a working life of contributions. We are all waiting for the DWP to produce the form so we can claim. I gather it will not be backdated though.

You have to have been in receipt of the WFA before you emigrate. You have to reach 60 before a certain date in September to qualify. This caused much angst on various expat forums.

My DH and I get the payment but a friend who moved here (Italy) just before his 60th birthday is not eligible apparently!

Yes, I did confuse it with the payment that only goes to the very poor. I'd be surprised if they had the courage to stop it as they know we all vote!

I have never received it yet despite several written requests, reference to European Court decisions etc. Duncan-Smith is now suggesting that people with warmer climates should not receive such payments. I suggest that he refers to research which indicates that his own constituents have a warmer and much drier climate than that which applies in my part of France.

Maybe he needs to suggest that the pensioners who voted for him will not get their WFP if he continues along such lines. Should be a vote winner!

Incidentally the court decreed that such payments should apply from the age of 60. I'm 67 this week and have never had one- I reckon that's about £1250 they owe me! I'm still smarting from the Equitable Life fiasco too!

I think there may be confusion between the universal WFA of £200 (it was £250 ) annually, and the occasional payments when the temperature drops below a certain figure for a fixed period of time.

I was under the impression that the winter fuel allowance was one of those 'universal benefits', Alison, and that anyone of retirement age is entitled to it.

It is not given to all pensioners only those who are already being topped up so I suspect it will not apply to many ex-pats.

Could be. But it has all the hallmarks of a u-turn waiting to happen...

£200 is not going to make much difference to my lifestyle, but my area would certainly qualify by temperature.
You don't have to be rich to live in France - property, whether buying or renting, is so much cheaper and other costs are comparable. I certainly could not afford a flat in any pretty part of England like the one I have here.

Call me a cynic but isn't this a way of cutting a benefit to thousands of pensioners whilst being able to put the blame on Europe.

I can't believe that this wouldn't cost more than it would generate. Our winters are certainly colder here in northern France than they were on the south coast of the UK, but how would you measure it? Average winter temperature, number of inches of snow, length of winter, by region, city, town or village?
Sounds daft to me.

I'm not very happy about the way the article is written. It contrasts Tory and Labour constituencies which is completely irrelevent. When you get down to the nitty gritty it is all about temperature and nothing else.

I am happy that my taxes go towards helping elderly people on low incomes to get an extra payment when the weather is particularly cold whether they live in the UK or any other part of Europe. Not so sure though if those who have chosen to live somewhere really cold like parts of Canada should get it as, presumably, they took the weather into consideration when they moved there. Maybe it wouldn't apply to them anyway as I imagine not many poor pensioners could afford to live there.