Peers wanting to remove pensioners' benefits

It’s ridiculous to suggest that the Lords shouldn’t get an allowance. However, in an ideal world, I believe it should be further reformed. The report they have produced could just have easily been produced by the Commons but they’ve been rather absorbed by other matters. It’s right and proper that the plight of the younger generation should be investigated and suggestions put forward. There are plenty of pensioners who do not need these extra benefits and there is absolutely no ethical argument for the triple lock.

Granless People in Australia have their pension frozen when they go there don't they and who is to say that air conditioning isn't just as important to life as heat in some cases. Surely, if it was income related you would know that those who are well above needing it (as I said 80% of Australians get some or all of their pension) would not get it. It really shouldn't be for us to judge it just sets one group against another.

We have very good public transport, and I'm quite sure that around here, bus passes keep an awful lot of cars off the roads and out of the car parks. So that's one advantage of them.
Dh and I use ours a lot less since we had the passes, which in London also cover Tube and train after 9.30.

However I do often feel it's very unfair that we, who frankly could afford to pay, get free travel, when young people struggling to pay rent/mortgage/childcare costs, don't.

I suspect that eventually they'll be means tested.

Both me and DH fully expect to work until we die notanan .

GGMK3 - I stand by my comments. Why should those who have chosen to move to another country, not paying anymore into the UK system, get the benefits?
I’m not judging but making an informed opinion on the peers wanting to take away our valued ‘perks’. I am able to use my central heating (not air conditioning in summer) in winter and know that I have a financial cushion in receiving the fuel allowance.

Many other countries do have means tested pensions Witzend. Our State pension is so low by comparison to countries who are similar in wealth to us. The highest state pension payable per annum (2017/18) is:

UK £7,332
Germany £26,364
France £15,808
Spain £26,676

It sort of puts things in perspective doesn't it.

My mother had a bus pass when I was younger, poorer and raising a family, I paid bus and train tickets for work etc. and I never once begrudged my mother or any other pensioner this or any other benefit. I was pleased for her she had earned it and knew eventually I too would retire (thank goodness). I worked continuously for 47years, put plenty into the social kitty and have taken very little out, a bit of family allowance and now my pension. There were fewer benefits available then. Yes a few did get a free university education, however the majority did not and like me (who went nursing at 16) learned whilst working and on a night out used to share a Barley wine, the height of extravagance.

I really resent the Peers suggesting that pensioners should lose their perks. I bet they claim all their allowances if they are of pension age!
I think we have earned our pensions and our little perks like bus passes. I worked really hard all my life as a teacher. I bought my first tiny studio flat with a local council mortgage, and it was a real struggle to pay it on my own, especially when the council decided that the council mortgage was unaffordable, so I had to switch to a building society mortgage, which was an even worse struggle. At one stage I was teaching a few evening classes and Saturdays in the market, as well as a full-time teaching job, which I took very seriously. It was hard, but I wanted to get on the housing ladder and the part of the country where we live is very expensive. I had no help at all from my parents buying my flat.
When I met my husband, neither of us had any money, but we both worked and saved really hard and now we are comfortably off. We managed to pay for our daughter to have a private education, and we could do this because we only had one child.
When my parents died we were able to move up the housing ladder a bit with my small inheritance, but I feel proud of the fact that we achieved what we have by both working extremely hard and going without. Now we both have reasonable pensions, which we paid into because we were sensible and saved. Our daughter and her husband both have good jobs in New York and they have followed our example by buying a very small flat in Manhattan, which has been a struggle, but well worth-while.
Now we are finally able to spend however long we have left enjoying ourselves, there is a threat of most of the things that make it possible being taken away! This is the first time in our lives we ha.ve been able to treat ourselves without having to count every penny.
Any party that does this will definitely lose the grey vote. As for the Lords, what useful purpose do they fulfil???

I have friends who received their free bus pass a sixty.
I will have to wait until 67.
I help to care for grandchildren, to enable their parents to work to pay their mortgage bills etc.
Until recently I also cared for my MIL.
So although not able to draw my state pension for another seven years, I cannot work and provide the necessary family help.

I would have found a bus pass extremely helpful as I share a car with my DH
The local bus fare is eye watering for just a couple of miles.

I am thankful that of this month, I now receive free prescriptions as have to take several types medication and use creams.

We are not in a postion to say that free bus passes, prescriptions would not have been help to us.

We do not claim any benifits and would not be entitled to pension credit.
We sadly fall into the grey area where if the system was changed we would no longer be entitled to the so called pensioner perks.

I like Gilly have lost a state pension of about £40,000, any new laws will probably only affect the people who are having to wait for their state pension, so a double whammy!

I am sorry to say Phoebes but it does sound as if, while very prepared to join all those who start by telling us how hard you have worked all you life you have no insight whatsoever to the fact that others will have work just as hard, possibly harder, suffered just as many privations, possibly more and yet ended their lives with much, much less through no fault of their own and that everyone who is in your position will have had some help and good luck along the way.

The justification that you and others put forward is simply an excuse to say that you are not prepared to help those who have not been as lucky as you. At least people could be honest about this.

i am absolutely in agreement with the House of Lords, I have been advocating the abolition of all the pensioner bells and whistles, including free prescriptions since I reached retirement age 15 years ago and realised they existed. They are demeaning, suggesting we can not be trusted to spend our money wisely but need to be given lots of ring fenced specifics. BUT, I have also always advocated that when this is done the minimum income level for Pension credit should be increased to compensate the poorest pensioners for this loss of benefits. As this will bring into the Pension Credit people who do not qualify for it at present, this benefit will gradually taper out and people like me with an adequate income will lose all these extras with no compensation and I am quite happy with that.

Nonnie I've just come back onto this thread so haven't been ignoring your question posted at 16.26.

No, of course I don't think that all pensioners should receive nothing from the government. I do think that the money should go to those who need it.

Mr. S. receives free prescriptions, could have a free bus pass and next year I think, will be entitled to winter fuel allowance. We are fortunate that we don't need this assistance and I would prefer more to go to those who really need it.

I agree M0nica particularly with the "pat on the head" extras. I just can't see how we get round making it means tested in order to give those that need it a better base amount. It is spreading it so thinly that means (I assume) that it is so low. In the Australian system both income and assets are taken into account with the exception of your home when calculating what you will get.

Witzend
I think that it's because we senior citizens have (in the main) contributed more taxes during our lives.
That's why younsters don't get pensions either.
We saved for what we needed.
Young people nowadays hsve tbe latest phones, Sky tv or Netflix, cars...you name it.
They can't have things as they were in the 1960s onwards any more than we could have then, the stuff they have now.
Live within your means.
Get a better job or study for extra qualifications.
Don't have children if you can't comfortably afford to do so.
All things that we and our parents probably.

Oops! *probably did.

It’s a bit much that the HoL, which is basically a club for rich pensioners, wants to remove benefits from others who are much worse off than themselves. Taking away free travel would mean many would just get in their cars, increase pollution and be the death of many already poo bus services. What is “a rich pensioner” anyway?, if we use the measure of those who come into the higher income tax bracket, then that’s only about 10% of pensioners.

gillybob in response to your question about using the buses if i had to pay 50p, yes i would, that seems a reasonable amount to me and manageable i should have thought for most people.

The repor’s recommendations say that no existing recipients would lose the WFA or BP but that eventually they should only be available from 5 years after SPA. They do not suggest means testing them but tha taxing them should be considered.

I haven't read the whole thread, but suggest that instead of doing away with bus passes altogether, why not make a small charge, say, £1 for every journey?

As has been said already, regarding the tv licence, there are those for whom this is a lifeline. Taking it away would cause real hardship in some cases.

I must say I'd support the suggestion that the Lords should manage on the State Pension for a period of time. Let's make it a qualification for the HoL!

No existing recipients should lose the bus pass?

Another kick in the teeth for WASPIs then.

I thought as much travels . My dad is 81 and uses the buses a fair bit, usually to fill some time in during the day or meet up with “the lads” for a drink, although I do worry as he is quite unsteady on his feet of late. He relies on me for shopping, hospital appointments etc. He always says he feels almost embarrassed to be getting on a bus full of others all travelling for free and would much rather pay a token 50p -£1 per trip.

I agree with Cherrytree all these perks will be gradually phased out just in time for those of us being robbed of retiring at 60 and having to wait another 7+ years to claim our state pensions.

How come nobody has mentioned that the Government have already ditched free TV licences?

From next June, they won't be paying for them any more, and it will be up to the BBC whether or not they continue the scheme. They held a consultation recently (which I took part in), asking people whether they preferred the whole scheme to continue as it is, to only be available to those on low incomes, or be scrapped entirely, pointing out that any money spent on it would come out of programming budgets.

The consultation is now closed, but I haven't heard whether the BBC have come to any conclusion on the matter.

Surely if the Pension Credit level was raised for poorest pensioners to compensate for the loss of all the little extras tat should be OK. I am one who, even with increased PC would lose the lot without any compensation and I am not complaining.

If the free TV licence is to continue I think it should apply only to all pensioner households. Where granny lives with a working age family I don't think they should get it free on her eligibility. I'm not sure if that would save enough to keep it going, but I'd say it's worth a look.

GGMK3 I heard that too and felt it was one of the more reasonable discussions on the BBC. Pitting one group against another is only going to cause problems. We are all people not projects.

notanan "Phones are not a luxury any more." I agree but the young do seem to have very expensive contracts and very expensive phones. Surely all that is necessary is an Android phone from which to makes calls and messages as well as being able to Google. You don't need to pay very much for that.

G54 I think the use of a bus pass is charged to the LA, not government.