Chancelllor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves has spent this week waving the flag for the UK in the United States and Canada to drum up inward investment and create thousands of new jobs.
All very commendable, but in crossing the Atlantic she has conveniently left behind a seething mass of pensioners angry at her brutal decision nine days ago to axe the universal winter fuel payment for up to 10 million of them who have reached state pension age. It will now be means tested and only given to the very poorest pensioners (and not even all of the poorest will get it).
They feel betrayed and used – treated as scapegoats by Reeves to help ‘fix the foundations’ of an economy that, judging by recent growth figures, isn’t as broken as she claims (and to part fund whopping pay increases to millions of public sector workers with gold-plated pensions to look forward to).
Some pensioners, not all, say they will struggle to make ends meet because of losing the benefit, especially if energy bills start rising as winter closes in. For many, a cold – and potentially life threatening – winter awaits as they cut back on their heating.
Struggle: Linda Kendall, a 76-year-old widow from Rayleigh in Essex, feels she has been picked on unfairly by the Chancellor and will face major difficulties to keep warm
With no representation in government to fight their corner, no aggressive union to bat for them, and absolutely no desire to take to the streets in anger, they believe they have been hung out to dry. Some think they have been targeted because pensioners tend to be Conservative supporters.
Hundreds of readers have contacted Money Mail since the Chancellor announced her ‘bolt out of the blue’ clampdown on the winter fuel payment. The benefit, worth up to £300, will now be limited to the most financially challenged – namely those in receipt of pension credit, but crucially not all those who are eligible to receive it.
Those eligible for pension credit, but who don’t claim it in time for this winter’s fuel payment (either because they don’t know how to, or have no wish to be a ‘burden’ on the state), will lose out. Full stop, end of matter. A scandal.
In an open letter to the Chancellor, a phalanx of charities representing the elderly say that 1.2 million older people on ‘low incomes’ will now miss out on ‘vital financial support’ with many pensioner households inevitably ‘pushed further into poverty’.
While many of the aggrieved who have contacted Money Mail in recent days say the fuel benefit has been key in helping them keep warm during the winter months, others are angry that it is the elderly who have been the focus of Reeves’ cost cutting.
They believe they are being victimised and worry that further attacks on their household finances could be around the corner. The loss of free bus passes? Free eye-sight tests, prescriptions? Even the laughable £10 Christmas ‘bonus’.
Apart from the draconian restriction in the fuel allowance, Reeves also announced nine days ago the axing of the £86,000 social care cap that was scheduled to kick in from October next year.
This would have prevented elderly people selling their homes to finance long-term care.
Linda Kendall, a 76-year-old widow from Rayleigh in Essex, is among those who is going to struggle to keep warm this winter. She says the loss of her £200 fuel benefit could mean her ‘going cold’.
Born before April 1953, Linda, a former export and import manager, only qualifies for the basic state pension of £169.50 a week – not the £221.20 a week that women born after that date receive.
But once her small top-up private pensions are taken into account, they take her income just above the £218.15 weekly limit for pension credit eligibility as a single person, hence her exclusion from further winter fuel payments.
‘Heating my two-bedroom bungalow can cost me up to £250 a month when winter bites,’ says Linda. ‘That’s a sizeable chunk of my monthly household income.’
In previous years, she has spent the winter fuel payment on logs for an open fire in her living room where she spends most of her time.
Frosty reception: Chancellor Rachel Reeves has sparked fury by axing the universal winter fuel payment for up to 10 million pensioners
But having lost the payment, she says she can no longer afford the logs, so has invested £40 in two second-hand storage heaters in the hope she can keep a tighter lid on heating bills.
She adds: ‘It disgusts me that pensioners like me, whose household income is just above the threshold for pension credit, have been targeted by Ms Reeves.
‘I lost my husband to illness when I was 35 and he was 37. I had to bring up three daughters on my own while keeping down a job.
‘I feel I have been picked on by the Chancellor because she knows me and my kind are powerless to fight back. We can’t go on strike like the doctors and demand a better deal. It’s so unfair.’
David Tarrant, a 76-year-old retired security officer from Barnham in West Sussex, receives a winter fuel payment of £200.
Although relying heavily upon his state pension to meet his monthly outgoings, his income is just above the threshold for pension credit eligibility.
‘The payment was a godsend,’ he says. ‘Now, I will have no choice but to economise and try and make my finances work.’
Liz, David’s 82-year-old wife, is cared for in a nursing home and the rules governing those receiving long-term care preclude her from receiving winter fuel payment.
David was hoping to use this winter’s fuel allowance to part fund a mobility hoist to help get wheelchair-bound Liz in and out of his car on trips out from the care home. But that will now be knocked on the head.
‘I find it a struggle getting Liz in and out of the car for much needed days out,’ he says. ‘Sadly, I will have to struggle on until such time I can’t physically cope.’
He adds: ‘Axing the fuel payment is wrong on so many levels. Of all the measures Rachel Reeves could have employed to address the poor state of the public finances, robbing hard-pressed pensioners is the lowest of the low – the dirtiest of tricks.
‘It beggars belief. She knows we can’t really fight back although it’s brilliant that the likes of Age UK, Independent Age and the National Pensioners Convention are taking up the cudgels on our behalf.’
How to get help with energy bills
Only pensioners who receive pension credit will still get winter fuel payments. But 880,000 of those who are eligible do not currently claim it.
To apply for it, you can contact the pension credit claim line on 0800 99 1234.
Alternatively, you can print out and fill in a pension credit claim form and post it to DWP Pensions Service 3.
Fears: Some pensioners say they will struggle to make ends meet because of losing the winter fuel payment, especially if energy bills start rising as winter closes in
You do not need to include a postcode or add a stamp. The form can be downloaded from the internet at gov.uk/government/ publications/pension-credit-claim-form–2.
Those without access to the internet or who would like help filling in the form can visit their local branch of Citizens Advice or Age UK for one-to-one help.
If you are of state pension age and earn less than £218.15 a week as a single person — or £332.95 as a couple — pension credit should top your income up to this level.
Anyone currently retiring on full state pension — who has made 35 years of National Insurance contributions, might receive £221.20 a week — just over £3 more than the pension credit level.
Those who retired before 2016 might only get a basic state pension of £169.50 a week.
John Potter, a 74-year-old retired cooked meats salesman from Telford in Shropshire, says the annual winter fuel payment has provided a welcome boost to his household finances. He is married to Susan, two years his junior.
‘The annual benefit has proved very useful,’ he says. As a result of their ages, they are only eligible for the ‘old steerage class’ basic state pension, rather than the higher ‘new’ state pension.
Like Linda Kendall and David Tarrant, their household income is just above the threshold for pension credit eligibility. So, they will not receive a payment this winter.
Although John says they will survive by scrimping and saving, what annoys him most is Labour’s ‘ hypocrisy’. Before the General Election, Labour said it had ‘no plans’ to mean-test the winter fuel payment.
Darren Jones, now chief secretary to the Treasury, wrote to the Conservatives asking them to reassure pensioners that they wouldn’t means-test winter fuel payments. ‘Pensioners mustn’t be forced to bear the brunt of Tory economic failure,’ he told them.
‘Labour said it would keep the winter fuel payment and people like me believed them,’ says John. ‘I feel as if I and millions of other pensioners have been taken for fools.’
He too now worries that other pensioner benefits such as free eyesight tests and prescriptions could be subject to means testing.
‘Reeves has set a precedent,’ he says. ‘I wouldn’t put it past her to go on and means test the £10 winter bonus which pensioners have been receiving since the 1970s.’
Richard Hall and wife Carole, 73, from Rochdale in Greater Manchester, are ‘disgusted’ by Reeves’ decision to restrict the winter fuel payment to those on pension credit.
Deadline: Those eligible for pension credit, but who don’t claim it in time (either because they don’t know how to, or have no wish to be a ‘burden’ on the state), will lose out
‘We have worked all our lives and always paid our National Insurance contributions and income taxes on the nail,’ says Richard, who is also 73.
‘Our reward? To lose a benefit that helped mitigate the massive increase we have seen in our gas and electric bills since 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine.’
Richard, who worked for DIY store Wickes as a salesman before he retired, was forced to go back to work last year to keep the household finances out of the red. He now works one day a week for a local estate agent as a chaperone for people viewing empty properties for sale.
‘We have done everything asked of us,’ says Richard. ‘I have worked since I was 15 while Carole spent a big slug of her working life on a production line making components for circuit boards. We’ve built savings and we own our own home – and our reward? A kick in the teeth from Rachel Reeves.
‘Reeves has targeted us because she feels she owes us nothing. We’re an easy way for her to make savings in order to appease Labour’s trade union backers. It’s so wrong.’
Brian Ashton is a 75-year-old retired lorry driver and lives in Nottingham with Dougal, his beloved Basset Hound. He says the loss of his £200 winter fuel payment will force him to ‘turn down the thermostat’ in his two-bedroom home over the coming months.
He adds: ‘I rely heavily on my basic state pension and a small private pension. Although this means I cannot claim pension credit, there is still no spare cash for any luxuries. Losing the payment will hit me hard.’
Brian’s finances are not helped by the fact that Dougal suffers from weight issues and has been put on a strict diet by the local vet.
He adds: ‘I buy special diet dog food which costs £80 for 24 tins – more than twice what I used to pay. But with the loss of the winter fuel payment, I will be forced to cut down on his special menu. And of course, life without Dougal is unimaginable. He’s my soul mate.’
Jan Shortt is general secretary of the campaign group National Pensioners Convention – one of the organisations which is urging the Government to halt the clampdown on the winter fuel payment.
Jan, 78, has skin in the game. She is one of the three million pensioners who relies heavily on her state pension but falls just short of being eligible for pension credit – or fails to claim.
Jan, who lives alone in Newcastle, Tyne & Wear, says the removal of the winter fuel payment for millions of pensioners will have a dramatic impact on their financial lives.
Food or heating? Brian Ashton, a 75-year-old retired lorry driver from Nottingham, is anxious about his beloved dog Dougal who is on a special diet
She is just a few pounds over the cusp of being able to claim pension credit. She says: ‘The prospect for this winter fills me with horror.
‘The money, £200 in my case, might not seem much to many still in work, but for those of us that rely on the state pension for survival its impact is cruel.’
She adds: ‘When the weather turns for the worse later this year or early next year, it means I will only be able to afford to put on my heating for a couple of hours in the morning and evening – not at other times of the day.
‘I will also lower the thermostat a couple of notches to 18C. This will take the chill away, but I will still need to wear a fleece all day and use a blanket when sitting down.’
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Jan counts herself lucky because she can still afford to put a hot meal on the table. She says: ‘Pensioners are already facing terrible financial hardships with energy bills set to rise by 10 pc this autumn.
‘Some will be more frugal with gas or electricity when cooking or rely on cold meals instead. For others, it will also mean earlier nights – going to bed as early as 6pm to escape the cold. I spend £25 a week heating my home.
The £200 that has been snatched away from me could have warmed my home for two months.’
Alan Ward, a 76-year-old retired administrative manager for a frozen food company, fears that many pensioners could trigger a public health emergency because of losing the winter fuel payment and being unable to heat their homes satisfactorily.
Alan, married to 78-year-old Jane, a retired cleaner, says: ‘I believe that hospital admissions could soar this winter if there is a really cold spell and some pensioners are unable to heat their homes properly.
‘That will result in yet more financial pressure on an already stretched National Health Service.
The £1.5 billion of savings that Reeves is making from restricting the winter fuel payment could soon be wiped away.’
Like many pensioners, Alan, who lives in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, says the loss of the fuel payment will hurt their household finances, especially as other bills besides heating costs are also rising – for example, his car insurance has cost him 17 per cent more this year, while prostate cancer means his travel insurance becomes more expensive every year.
‘Pensioners are easy prey in the eyes of Labour,’ he says. ‘Reeves says she had no choice but to cut the winter fuel payment, but she did.
‘She could have cut the foreign aid we give to countries such as India which are busy landing lunar landers on the moon. Labour, I am afraid, is living in cloud-cuckoo land.’
Care costs: Reeves also announced the axing of the £86,000 social care cap which would have prevented elderly people selling their homes to finance long-term care
Many pensioners agree with Alan. Dennis Buffrey, a 78-year-old retired marketing manager for a quarrying company, says the £1.5 billion that Reeves is saving because of this assault on the winter fuel payment could have easily been found elsewhere.
‘It’s a political decision, plain and simple,’ he says. ‘There are so many ways Reeves could have found this money from elsewhere. She could have cancelled the ludicrous bonuses that are paid to civil servant bigwigs.
‘She could have demanded that public sector workers pay more towards funding their overly generous pensions — and reduce the salaries of civil servants who work from home.
‘What person in their right mind announces the removal of the winter fuel payment from the poorest in society, while at the same time awarding junior doctors a 22 pc increase and a buckshee thousand pounds just for the fun of it.’
Susan Harling, from Milnrow in Greater Manchester, says it is now imperative that the Government does everything possible to ensure that the 880,000 pensioners who are eligible for pension credit but don’t claim it are traced so they can continue to receive the winter fuel payment.
Susan, 75, says; ‘I cannot remember the last time I felt so angry. Many vulnerable people who need the winter fuel payment the most are not computer literate, so they don’t apply for pension credit.
‘Others won’t claim through a sense of pride – they don’t want to be a burden on the state.
‘The Government insists that people go online to see if they are eligible to claim. This is wrong.
‘The savings that the government is making from restricting winter fuel payments should go on tracking down the most vulnerable – to make sure they get pension credit and receive the fuel allowance.’
Yesterday, a government spokesperson told Money Mail: ‘It is right that winter fuel payments are targeted at those in most need, and we will work with local authorities to boost the uptake of pension credit, reaching the many pensioners who could still benefit from this year’s winter fuel payments.’
Details on how to apply for pension credit are given in the box on the opposite page.
Charity Age UK wants the cut in winter fuel payment halted. It has launched a petition at www.ageuk.org.uk (go to campaigns).
Alternatively, write to: Freepost Age UK with details of your name and address – and it will send you the petition to sign. No stamp is required.
Angry pensioners should also write to their local MP and argue for a halt. Don’t worry if your MP is Labour – many Labour MPs were quietly seething at Reeves’ assault on vulnerable pensioners.
Money Mail trusts that this article angers Reeves as much as her actions of nine days ago annoyed readers.
She needs to do a U-turn – asap.
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