New eligibility rules for winter fuel payment are unfair

Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK said: "One of the biggest problems with the Government's means-testing decision is that it's coming in too quickly, and with no mitigations to protect the pensioners at greatest risk of hardship, leading to a situation where we estimate as many as two million older people who badly need the money won't get it. In addition, there simply isn't enough time to drive the take-up of Pension Credit, the new qualifying benefit, to any significant extent before the weather chills: at present take up stands at a miserable 63% and it has never gone above 66% in a decade. 

“It's important to understand that by aligning the means-testing of the Payment with Pension Credit the Government is removing it from all pensioners whose annual incomes are above about £11,500 if they are single and £17,500 if they are a couple. Surely no one can reasonably suggest that a widow living on her State Pension and a tiny occupational pension, taking her income to a meagre £13,000 a year, is someone who can afford to forego their Winter Fuel Payment, especially as energy prices are rising by 10%. And yet this will be the result of the Government's decision.

“In answer to a question about what the Government will do to help pensioners this winter the Chancellor repeated her pledge to align the administration of Pension Credit and Housing Benefit. This is extremely welcome, but our understanding is that a major administrative change of this kind takes time and cannot be accomplished until next year at the earliest. It will therefore do nothing to help older people on low incomes to stay warm this winter.

"Age UK is calling on the Government to pause their means-testing decision until it can be properly considered as part of the Spending Review next Spring, because as things stand we are hurtling towards a situation in which up to two million pensioners will lose their Winter Fuel Payment imminently when they simply can't afford it. Unfortunately, nothing the Chancellor or her Ministerial colleagues said in Parliament during Treasury questions changes that reality."