Letter: Thanks for cutting my winter fuel allowance…
Friday 22nd April 2011, 9:22AM BST.
Letter: I am a senior citizen and for the last few years have received a winter fuel allowance of £250. As the cost of all types of fuel is expensive and prices go up every year I have found this benefit very useful.
I have now discovered that, despite the Government promising to care for pensioners, my heating allowance has been cut by £50.
This was not made clear when the Budget was announced and many people are not aware of this cut.
Furthermore the very vulnerable over-80s have had their winter fuel allowance reduced by £100.
We hear plenty of fine words from the coalition about how they are committed to pensioners and yet this cut seems to have received little publicity. I wonder why?
Ann Lee Hankinson
Craven Arms
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While it might not be popular amongst the pensioners I am firmly of the belief that this benefit, along with the state pension, tv license and any other age related benefits should be means tested.
While it seems laudable to raise the basic state pension in reality this is not making those pensioners in poverty any better off, as what the government gives in this form it takes away in housing benefit and income support.
When the government gives money in this way the only people who benefit are those who are already above the poverty threshold, and therefore not in need of further assistance.
There is no fairness in increasing payouts to the likes of peter stringfellow and other rich pensioners. The sooner the whole system is reformed the better: both from the perspective of the public purse and also for those who are spending their retirement in poverty.
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To be honest what do you expect under a Tory government other than over use of the word cut.
Unfortunately this is what is going to happen for a few more years yet and the blame by the Tory party will be put at the feet of labor because that is how politics works until the voter cant be hoodwinked any more then it will go back to labor who will blame the Tory party again always has been always will be.
What the British public must be well aware of on this occasion IS the lib/dems sold out and are a disgrace and the Tory party do not change and a large amount of the general public voted for a Tory party win and yes many of them now having received a pay cut or other types of cuts are pretty miffed but you make your bed you sleep on it it was your choice. The rule now is look after number 1 I fully support that idea.
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Andy. I have worked since the age of 15 years and retired aged 68 years, during this time I have never claimed any state benefits [only a couple of sickness claims] I own my house,and contributed to a private pension most of the years. I know a lot of people who over the years did not bother to work and claimed all the benefits they could and spent them in the pub and a great deal went to the local bookmaker. Now they are claiming housing benefit, pension credit and anything else that they can. I, on the other hand, for being prudent over the years get nothing.So who has been the fool? It is me, I should have joined them in the pub every night, and had a house full of children, not just the two we had.
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In all honesty John do you believe the majority of pensioners on pension credits/housing benefits/ etc did as you say with regards claimed benefits most of their working lives and spent them all in the pub and at the book makers??.
The comment is an assumption made by you and is a rather sweeping statement and poorly thought out and rather ignorant .
Many of these pensioners spent their entire working life doing exactly that working, and saving what they could, many doing essential jobs many of these low paid workers may be caring for you in your old age one day , many possibly were not earning enough to afford a private pension as many essential workers don’t now , but these people looked in hope that what they funded ie the state pension through taxes would see them through retirement.
It is common sense that anything from pension credits to winter fuel payments should be means tested and the people with more barred from accessing it , it is not a pig trough for the greedy . People in general if they were honest with themselves and thought of others a little more would know the majority who access these benefits were not life long benefit abusers.
Unfortunately many in the UK have the attitude if I cant have it it is wrong to give to others who they see as undeserving, who may I ask has given them the power to say who is deserving and who is not it is up to the government of the day to decide that decide .
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John has a very valid point.
Means testing is only common sense if you factor in how much each person has paid in to the system during their working life. And how much they spent on luxuries – money that could have been saved to help pay for their heating bills when they got older and were no longer earning. Obviously this is too complicated and impossible to prove, but that doesn’t make means testing, under the current methods, completely unfair to people like John. It’s not about arrogance or greed, it’s about fairness.
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But life is not fair,25 years ago you could buy a home even on the most modest of incomes now you cant, we have had people drawing on pensions from the age of 50 early retirement with an enhanced pension which had to be blocked due to its abuse, who is paying for that? all of us in work and the people who get it are having it funded by their children and possibly their grandchildren how fair is that ?. How much some one pays in to the system all depends on what job they do etc , factor in also what many do for the local community for free etc. what does one choose to call a luxury??? some one else may not . At the end of the day it boils down to what you have in the bank. A few may have little even though they had well paid jobs etc but that is the minority and as such the majority should not suffer because of them indeed if mr jones belongs to the groupof the one with enough in the bank not to have to claim benefits then should he not consider himself fortunate ? it is far better to be in that position than the other I would assume if he wishes to be in the other get rid of his money and live the life.
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The trouble is pensioners are living longer and there is only so much money in the public purse!
Yes, they have contributed like everyone else, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t feel the pain that everyone else is at the moment…
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What did you expect David Cameron is going to give you nothing,Labour introduced this allowance to lift people out of fuel poverty,Con-Dems take it away.
Write to Dave C this winter with £30 million in the bank I’m sure he will help.
On the serious side remember this at the next election.
Remember never trust the Conservative party,they are only interested in looking after rich people.
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Labour gave out a lot to help people, it is true. Unfortunately that landed the country in a crippling debt. The country cannot sustain itself in that way. The current government had NO CHOICE but to cut spending, which of course means that everyone feels the pinch.
It is very easy to blame the conservatives but someone tell me how laour would have curtailed their unmanageable spending without making cuts?!
On a positive note, I agree that means testing benefits such as this one would be a great idea. Sir Alan Sugar should not be getting fuel allowance!
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Ensure that the very rich/highest earners pay increased tax,billions are lost to the Inland Revenue due to money being hidden in offshore accounts,loopholes,buying forests in Scotland etc.
When rich people dodge paying tax with fancy accountants looking for loopholes it is ok that is “Creative accountancy”
When a working class person claims a couple of pounds in benefit fraud they are hauled before the courts and branded as criminals by the press.
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High earners do pay more tax – more income = more tax and those earning ‘high’ wages pay more now than they did a year ago
As for those hiding assets and money that they should be paying tax on, labour couldn’t prevent it anymore than conservatives can, otherwise it wouldn’t happen now
Benefit fraud, on any level, is a crime so what would you do, have them hailed as robin hoods?
Finally, just to put it into context, I am an extremely low earner (& have never claimed any benefit) but appreciate that everyone is paying their way through the tough times!
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P.S – I like how you claim that high earners are losing the inland revenue billions but benefit fraudsters are only claiming ‘a couple of pounds’ wrongly – as though benefit fraud doesn’t cost the country billions of pounds!!!
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Tori,
In fact it was the bankers who caused the current financial crisis, directly causing debt of approx 30% of GDP. The remaining debt is only 32% of GDP – not an historically high level of debt. So the suggestion that the government had ‘no choice’ but to attack public services nad hit the poorest people in society is a false and propagandist one.
Have you seen any sort of published schedule stating when the banks will pay back their debt? I certainly haven’t! As others have stated, the current government are very keen to protect the massive leakage of tax allowed only to the very wealthy – in fact they’re in the process of making it easier for large companies to send their UK profits offshore, and thus avoid paying their fair share of tax.
Others have whinged about people claiming benefits that they don’t get. In fact, whilst approx. £1.5bn does get fraudulently paid out per year, there is over £12bn to which people are fully entitled that goes unclaimed – so means testing really isn’t the answer.
You should be pressing for all members of our society – rich or poor – to pay their fair share of tax – then Tory governments would have no excuse to cut benefits for the poor.
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Of course everyone should pay their fare share of tax, unfortunately a lot of the time that doesn’t happen, all I am saying is that if someone is well off enough to not need the winter fuel allowance, they shouldn’t have it! It seems to be suggested that higher earners should bear the brunt and that is not fair.
Everyone’s presumption is that cuts are only affecting the poor, which is complete and utter rubbish!
Like I said, I’m a low earner but, whilst I’ve never claimed benefits, I got to take home more of my salary this month thanks to the personal allowance increase!
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Means-testing for winter fuel allowance does indeed seem fair to me. Those lucky enough to have enjoyed good health throughout their working lives and remaining well into pensionable years also have to consider those who do not receive winter fuel allowance, but who are unwell with a recognised long-term medical condition throughout their lives requiring more time at home (= higher fuel bills). As others have stated, the number of pensioners in the UK is increasing all the time thanks to improved quality of lives and health generally, and to pay all pensioners winter fuel allowance is not sustainable – Labour party was profligate as a means of securing votes, Tories/Lib-Dems. might by contrast appear harsh in cutting back on the winter fuel allowance – I voted for neither incidentally so am not trying to politicise this. The nation, in short, has to cut its cloth accordingly. Perhaps children of those pensioners currently earning should also be supporting their parents with the cost of fuel bills as a means of ‘paying their parents back’ for all the parents have done for them over the years?… Just a thought.
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This allowance does need to be looked at closely. My sister is a warden in a Housing Association complex for independent OAPS. They pay a MINIMAL contribution of £5:00 a week for services and can use as much gas/electrcity as they want, yet ALL of them claim this allowance.
Their yearly bill NEVER amounts to more than £240:00, so this allowance is nothing more than a pocket money bonus.
Any pensioner in housing scheme housing with associated benefits should be barred from claiming this allowance, leaving it for those in their own homes who need it.
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SO home owners/ private tenants not receiving any credit or benefit get it ??.
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yep, work in same service and yep they call it their christmas shopping money!!
free bus travel, free prescriptions, free tv licence, the costs to the taxpayer to cover those doesn’t even touch the sides of the small amount of tax the pensioners paid
And lets not forget that the pensioners are usually the first to tell the younger generation how thye managed without central heating, running hot water etc.. and it ‘didnt do them any harm’ – well i could do with some help towards my gas bill but theres nothing in the pot for struggling joe public
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All for giving more to our oap’s especially those who have put their 40 odd years in work who cares what they spend it on they deserve it.
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moaning old people, should be lucky you get any benefit, i have to work for it!
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The point is Adam, that most of the old people you mistakenly despise HAVE worked for it and paid tax and NHI on the basis of an agreement with the government. The present government has not only made cuts which affect the most vulnerable, rather than the speculators who caused the crisis, but has broken its contract with those people by changing the rules. For example moving pension increases to CPI when people have paid NHI on the basis of getting a pension based on RPI. When you are old, I hope you will moan when some future government reneges on its agreement with you and takes away all your benefits on a whim.
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My dad gets this allowance, he doesn’t need it as he’s well off. It should go to those who do need the help. What about hard working families with kids, who often can’t afford these fuel bills? They deserve it more than a comfortably off OAP. Even if they’ve worked all their lives.
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I used to work with two people who recieved the winter fuel allowance, one earnt 40k pa and the other one was on nearly 60k pa.
No opinion, just fact..
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Someone earning £40k a year contributes £8k a year to the national economy through tax. Someone earning £15k a year contributes £3k a year.
No opinion, just fact.
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what about pensioners who now live in spain they get fuel allowance
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Fairly easy solution,Income Tax is a reasonable form of means testing so make it taxable then those most in need will receive the entire amount, some like me will receive 80% and some retired Government Ministers for example will probably only receive 50% [ although it is apparently this government`s intention to scrap the 50% Income Tax marginal Rate asap as it is seemingly causing hardship to those earning over £100K pa or thereabouts.].
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if you are going to begrudge the pensioners
a bit——-it is a bit as well– of exstra brass then why not go the whole way—stop
ongoing expensive medication–ect new hips at 80 ect ect then the feckless can have the lot who cares
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Well MR.Finch. I help the local community with my winter fuel allowance. I light up my house with Christmas lights, the front, side,garage roof, front lawn and drive way,in all I have in excess of 100, 3 pin plugs. All plugged in for 3 weeks from 5 until 9 at night. The whole lot takes me 3 weeks to set up. A collection tin is put out in aide of the local hospice and over the years a great deal of money has been raised. The government gives me the £250, the children love the display, and money is raised for a good cause, what could be better?
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Good for you Mr Jones however it is a choice made by you , and one which can be made because of the position you find yourself in. But doing your bit for charity as most decent people do should give you a little sympathy for those less fortunate and make you less judgmental and critical of people you make assumptions about.I would also suggest perhaps with regards the lights you could do your bit for the environment also and cut down on your carbon footprint, and think of something else to do in order to raise some cash for charity such as just handing your £250 to the hospice or a sponsored walk .
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Andrew, What will the children do? they ask me around October “when are the lights going up”.I do my bit for the environment by only flying abroad 4 times a year,not like our Air miles Andy, when they think about their carbon footprint I will.
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