Rachel Reeves has announced that winter fuel payments will only be paid to those on Pension Credit.nsion Credit

HattieTopper

pinkprincess

HattieTopper

I am one of those people (widowed) and just above the limit for claiming benefits. I get a small private pension from my late husband and a state pension in my own right. If I buy spectacles and pay for dental treatment, I immediately drop below the threshold so am worse off than the people on benefits. The winter fuel allowance is a god send for me and covers me for the higher energy costs during winter.

Once it stops I will be cutting down on cooking, washing and heating the house.

I am the same apart from my own private pension.I pay for dental treatment and glasses.
I only hope that there will not be a prescription charge next.I have COPD and exist on regular daily inhalers, three times daily plus the rescue one.I am on blood thinners for the rest of my life after having a bilateral pulmonary embolus.I may as well just curl up and die.

I too have medical problems and am on prescription drugs prescribed by the hospital specialists. I have recently found that some of the drugs I got on repeat prescription have now been classed as 'sold over the counter' so I have now to pay for them. If they do stop free prescriptions for pensioners not on benefits then a lot of us are going to die because we cannot afford to pay for them.

What a way to end our lives, penny pinching. If my husband was still alive, I would have had his state pension as well but I live alone with just my income.

This Reeves woman is going after pensioners who are not on benefits as she thinks we are well off. Just because we are not on benefits does not mean we are wealthy people, whereas people on benefits get everything going, we don't so are worse off than those on benefits.

Are you entitled to some of your FPDH's pension?

I'm not sure of the rules but I have read on here that the SERPS part of it (if that applies) can be transferred to you.

I've just checked the rules, they seem rather strange. It looks as if you cannot have more than a five year age gap between you 🤔
www.gov.uk/additional-state-pension/inheriting#:~:text=The%20maximum%20you%20can%20inherit,on%20their%20date%20of%20birth.

Callistemon213

rafichagran

crazyH

I personally think that the Winter Fuel Payment should be paid to those on a low income. I agree with Rachel Reeves, and with the OP

Yes course you do, you can probably afford it. I will now lose mine as I get the new state pension, minus a small amount, because I get a occ pen. I am not a wealthy pensioner but I jog along. The WFA allowance was welcome.
There are alot of Jack's on here, wealthy and can afford to lose it. I have osteo arthritis although I get around OK, it is worse in the cold so I put my heating on. The allowance helps.
My sympathy goes to the people that are just above the limit for pension credit.

The problem is that many of those who will lose the Fuel Allowance will be those who are only just above the limit to receive it, are often older people on the Old State Pension plus a small occupational pension and may be more immobile (not necessarily ill), spending more time at home and worrying themselves about how to keep themselves warm.

I am ashamed of them
I'm ashamed I voted for them.

You are quite right, I am on the old state pension so get much less than the younger people on the new state pension. Also I am widowed with just my income but I bet many on here are younger than myself (mid 80's) with husbands who also bring in a state pension and perhaps a private pension, Goody for them if they can manage without the WFA.

That wasn’t how the care cap was going to work. It was only a cap on the care aspect. It was not going to cover accommodation, meals and so on. It wasn’t retrospective. The clock would have started ticking from October 2025 even for someone in care before that. For most self-funders, the cap would have kicked in around year three. Many people going into care don’t survive that long. Without central funding the costs of administering the scheme and picking up the tab for care for those who reached the cap would have broken council budgets that are already under immense strain from the cost of social care. My county council currently spends 2.2 million a day on social care for just 16,000 people. I’d rather wait for a full review of the social care system.

What is really bugging me at the moment is how much money in sitting in the National Insurance Fund (NIF). This is a ring-fenced fund. NIC is paid in and contributory benefits are paid out. Some NIC is allocated to the NHS but the numbers that are in the annual report are net of that. Most of the fund goes on State Pension.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-insurance-fund-accounts/great-britain-national-insurance-fund-account-for-the-year-ended-31-march-2023#receipts-and-payments-account

The Christmas bonus is paid from this but not the Winter Fuel Allowance because the latter is not a contributory benefit. You do not have to have paid NIC to receive it. The Christmas Bonus cost £126 million at the last count.

Rachel Reeves did not give a costing in her speech for the saving made by withdrawing the WFA from people other than those entitled to Pension Credit. There are around 13 million State Pensioners altogther. About 1.5 million receive Pension Credit. I fully expected the WFA to drop back this year to £200 or £300 depending on age from the £500 or £600 it had been increased to during the energy crisiis. Assuming it would have done, I think Reeves reckons to save around 3 billion by withdrawing it.

Now take a look at the numbers in the NIF. It’s a long report but worth a read. There was over 72 billion sittng in the fund at 31 March 2023, an increase over the previous year and expected to rise again by 31 March 2024. At the time the last report was published, HMRC would have been aware of reductions in the rate of NIC and what pensions had risen by in April 2023 and were due to rise by in April 2024 so one would expect those numbers to have been taken into account when projecting a further increase in the balance. If there are going to be wage increases across certain sectors then the NIC yield will increase

72 billion is over three and half times the minimum balance required as a contingency without a Treasury grant to top it up.

I’ve asked my MP to table a question about why so much money is in the fund, copying my request to other MPs and Ministers, Shadows and spokespersons, because although the funds are ring-fenced, when times are tough it may be time to put a hand down the back of the sofa by way of a Statutory Instrument to divert some of the funds.

MayBee70

I’m pretty sure that a lot of people on here have said over the years that it’s wrong that the winter fuel payment is given to everyone and many people don’t need it. Hopefully there will be an advertising campaign pointing out that many people don’t realise they are eligible for pension credit?

I applied for pension credit and was informed I was just over the limit for benefits and if my position changed i.e. my income dropped I could apply again.

The doctors strike looks as if it is going to be settled. Have to prioritise whether hospital appointments are going to be moved along or we get other benefits. Personally for me health comes first.

M0nica

We will lose the benefit and that is fine by us. I think older people, especially those like us who are comfortably off, should be expected to make a contribution to sorting out the country's economic situation.

You state that losing the winter fuel allowance is fine by (US), does US mean you have a husband who has an income coming into the house along with yours.

I don't, I am in my mid 80's and just have my state pension and part of my late husbands pension. If I still had my husband we would have been okay because he would have got his full private pension and his state pension after retiring plus my state pension.

pinkprincess

HattieTopper

I am one of those people (widowed) and just above the limit for claiming benefits. I get a small private pension from my late husband and a state pension in my own right. If I buy spectacles and pay for dental treatment, I immediately drop below the threshold so am worse off than the people on benefits. The winter fuel allowance is a god send for me and covers me for the higher energy costs during winter.

Once it stops I will be cutting down on cooking, washing and heating the house.

I am the same apart from my own private pension.I pay for dental treatment and glasses.
I only hope that there will not be a prescription charge next.I have COPD and exist on regular daily inhalers, three times daily plus the rescue one.I am on blood thinners for the rest of my life after having a bilateral pulmonary embolus.I may as well just curl up and die.

I too have medical problems and am on prescription drugs prescribed by the hospital specialists. I have recently found that some of the drugs I got on repeat prescription have now been classed as 'sold over the counter' so I have now to pay for them. If they do stop free prescriptions for pensioners not on benefits then a lot of us are going to die because we cannot afford to pay for them.

What a way to end our lives, penny pinching. If my husband was still alive, I would have had his state pension as well but I live alone with just my income.

This Reeves woman is going after pensioners who are not on benefits as she thinks we are well off. Just because we are not on benefits does not mean we are wealthy people, whereas people on benefits get everything going, we don't so are worse off than those on benefits.

Thanks Labour. Gordon reduced DH’s pension with his theft from the pension pot. Now they’ve removed the winter fuel payment even from those in need already mentioned on here.
Roll it out Labour. We knew you would.

I'm not surprised by Labours actions but do think it an odd place to start. A bit worrying when you consider what might follow.
They make me laugh, they bang on about a cost of living crisis and yet they seem to think Joe Public has bottomless pockets.

Pensioners have also lost £300 cost of living payment.

HattieTopper

I am one of those people (widowed) and just above the limit for claiming benefits. I get a small private pension from my late husband and a state pension in my own right. If I buy spectacles and pay for dental treatment, I immediately drop below the threshold so am worse off than the people on benefits. The winter fuel allowance is a god send for me and covers me for the higher energy costs during winter.

Once it stops I will be cutting down on cooking, washing and heating the house.

I am the same apart from my own private pension.I pay for dental treatment and glasses.
I only hope that there will not be a prescription charge next.I have COPD and exist on regular daily inhalers, three times daily plus the rescue one.I am on blood thinners for the rest of my life after having a bilateral pulmonary embolus.I may as well just curl up and die.

What is classified as "low income"? I only have a State pension of about £180 per week. That is it. I spent last winter wrapped up in dressing gowns and blankets and the heating was not on, consequently, the house became incredibly damp.

As for downsizing - that is exactly what we are doing but the removal costs (estate agents, solicitors, removals and the iniquitous stamp duty) is going to be about £25,000. It is not always a feasible option.

The trouble is that with any benefit it's the people who are just above the qualifying level who are going to suffer. I have to admit that I didn't actually need the allowance, I used to use it to pay for Christmas. Most of my friends seem to be quite comfortable, living in nice houses with the mortgage paid off. One of them also collects rent from another house she owns. I seem to remember that when the fuel payment somebody (it may have been Anne Widdecombe) complained about being given money she didn't need. The answer was that the cost of means testing everyone would have been even more than the cost of the benefit.

As I said Uk has highest proportion of pensioners living in poverty in Europe according to the information you so kindly provided Casdon

So much for Labour going after the mega rich…

I have a friend who has always been single , has always worked, but her private pension takes her a few pounds over being able to claim any additional benefits, these are the people who are going to be hardest hit, not those who for whatever reason have always been on benefits and not those who have substantial private pensions. Unfortunately.

Oh well, it was nothing less than I expected.
Which is why I didn’t, and never will, vote Labour.

Nicenanny3

22% payrise to Junior Doctors got to keep the Unions happy. The Unions run the Labour Party is seems to me.

They’ve been underpaid for years.

ronib

Well it’s the strangest thing but in Reeves’ position, I would not embark on her particular list of so called essential actions until I had a firmer grasp of the debt situation I had inherited. From memory, doesn’t the Uk have the poorest pension system in Europe? Why pick on the most vulnerable? Forget the glory projects?

No, the UK doesn’t have the poorest pension in Europe. As this article says, you are comparing apples with pears.
www.ii.co.uk/analysis-commentary/uk-state-pension-really-worst-europe-ii525935

22% payrise to Junior Doctors got to keep the Unions happy. The Unions run the Labour Party is seems to me.

ronib 👏👏👏

Well it’s the strangest thing but in Reeves’ position, I would not embark on her particular list of so called essential actions until I had a firmer grasp of the debt situation I had inherited. From memory, doesn’t the Uk have the poorest pension system in Europe? Why pick on the most vulnerable? Forget the glory projects?

Ilovecheese

This is not how a Labour party should behave. Thank goodness Reeves wasn't chancellor after World War 11, we wouldn't have the NHS. She would have said we couldn't afford it. No vision, no new ideas, just carrying on with austerity, which didn't work for Cameron and Osborne and wont work now.

This.

I don’t need the WFA, but I do know an awful lot of people who do.

They are worried about the coming winter, our friend’s WhatsApp group is busy…

Visgir1

Well it's "be careful what you wish for", they were voted in so we have to put up with it.
I'm sorry it's going to effect those just under the Credit limit.
Am I surprised?.. No!
it will be the Tripple Lock next?
They knew well before the election the state of the finances, but they will just spin the facts, that it was a total surprise.

I agree if the Conservative Government had announced this, it would have be all hell.

This.