Winter Fuel Payments scrapped

[71 Trans Am]

I think some pensioners in Cyprus receive this – I may be wrong

Rachel Reeves scraps universal winter fuel payments



https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/ra ... 500b3&ei=8

[Chaddy]

Our winter fuel allowance was scrapped 15 years ago.The fact that we had worked in the UK for 40 years or so paid all our taxes ,national insurances, never claimed a penny off the welfare state,,,,,,Ah well

[WHL]

Heating grants should only be given to low income families, how can it be right that, even millionaires get this grant, my opinion.

[Firefly]

Obviously millionaires don't need WFA, and I agree that an income limit could be set, but now it appears that the elderly will have to be on pension credit, to receive it in future, which to me seems extreme.

There must be thousands of British pensioners who don't receive pension credit, but manage on just their state pension. Define low income, the allowance is connected to age, and the need for extra expense during the coldest months. Families receive different benefits.

Seems to me that the elderly are easy targets to start penny pinching from. We shall see what next is on the Labour agenda.

[jagwheels]

I won't qualify for WFA but another expense as you reach old age is having to call in tradespeople for things you were once able to do yourself

[Firefly]

Norv, sad but true!

[Chaddy]

Obviously millionaires don't need WFA, and I agree that an income limit could be set, but now it appears that the elderly will have to be on pension credit, to receive it in future, which to me seems extreme.

There must be thousands of British pensioners who don't receive pension credit, but manage on just their state pension. Define low income, the allowance is connected to age, and the need for extra expense during the coldest months. Families receive different benefits.

Seems to me that the elderly are easy targets to start penny pinching from. We shall see what next is on the Labour agenda.

Could you be more specific in "the allowance is connected to age" i thought our winter fuel allowance was cancelled because,,,,,well,,,,,, we live in a warm climate.

[Firefly]

The UK WFA applied to anyone born before 23rd Sept 1958, i.e. age related, (I thought that everyone knew this).

If you emigrated to Cyprus, and were of qualifying age, and received WFA in the UK, you still received it in Cyprus. The government then stated that people who had been in receipt of the allowance, in the UK would still receive it, but anyone who didn't qualify for it in the UK, would not receive it in Cyprus, even though they would qualify by age in the UK, at a later date, because of the warmer climate.

It is all age related to one extent or another.

[staffie]

perhaps one reason is so many well off pensioners have houses in uk and abroad, not just cyprus, but not declaring to live abroad, my other half an myself live on my state pension only here in cyprus and see many brits come here in their second homes, and some are big, are the first too winge, we lost my allowance as soon as we moved, then brexit closed our bank in uk.

[lotus]

I used to know a very wealthy couple in Cyprus both on very large pensions who every time they recieved their WFA used it to pay for a slap up meal!

[PolemIan]

Our winter fuel allowance was scrapped 15 years ago.The fact that we had worked in the UK for 40 years or so paid all our taxes ,national insurances, never claimed a penny off the welfare state,,,,,,Ah well

Nice use of copy and paste

[PolemIan]

This is the latest guidance. Cyprus is not on the list of included countries.

https://www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment/ ... 20the%20UK

I appreciate I’m probably going to get slaughtered for this but here goes anyway.

I was fortunate enough to be able to give up work at a relatively young age, somewhere between 45 and 50. Not surprisingly, here comes a sweeping statement, most of the people we tend to meet and chat to tend to be at the “more mature end of the age spectrum”. The change in eligibility for the U.K. WFS was not too long after we moved here.

The allowance is, sensibly in my opinion, residency based and at the time I was quite frankly stunned to hear that people who had mostly moved here, presumably because of the massively better climate and could afford to buy a home here, were ok about claiming a winter fuel allowance whilst wandering around in shorts in December - granted there are cooler areas to live and and many houses are not warm, but that felt very much like taking the mickey to me. Still does. Ok, if you’ve paid tax and NI that’s fine, but the tax and NI contributions are not a ‘savings pot’, they pretty much fund those receiving state benefits at the time and pretty much just earn entitlements to receive future benefits assuming you’re still eligible.

This is one, of many, reasons, why the whole state pension funding is in such a state, with an ageing population, though that’s levelled off a bit, there simply isn’t enough money coming in to fund the state pension hence the constant twiddling with ages when state pensions would be paid. This has been brewing for 30+ years and no government of any party has had the balls to address this, because, like the hot potato of NHS funding, currently £180 billion a year, which every government claims to increase whilst every opposition claims it’s being cut, it is not a vote winner.

We looked at the numbers before moving here and basically decided to assume we might never actually receive a state pension, never mind a winter fuel allowance which should be for those who need it, not those who can move to a place in the sun.


Ian

[Firefly]

Do you still receive a WFA from the Cypriot government, if you live over a certain height?

When we lived there, that used to apply to UK residents as well as Cypriots. My OH and I certainly received it.

[Jamboal]

Yes, some residents of mountain villages still receive it, I believe if over 600m’s.

[Firefly]

Jamboal, thank you.

Not all bad news for some Brits who lose British WFA then.

[Dominic]

This is the latest guidance. Cyprus is not on the list of included countries.

https://www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment/ ... 20the%20UK

I appreciate I’m probably going to get slaughtered for this but here goes anyway.

I was fortunate enough to be able to give up work at a relatively young age, somewhere between 45 and 50. Not surprisingly, here comes a sweeping statement, most of the people we tend to meet and chat to tend to be at the “more mature end of the age spectrum”. The change in eligibility for the U.K. WFS was not too long after we moved here.

The allowance is, sensibly in my opinion, residency based and at the time I was quite frankly stunned to hear that people who had mostly moved here, presumably because of the massively better climate and could afford to buy a home here, were ok about claiming a winter fuel allowance whilst wandering around in shorts in December - granted there are cooler areas to live and and many houses are not warm, but that felt very much like taking the mickey to me. Still does. Ok, if you’ve paid tax and NI that’s fine, but the tax and NI contributions are not a ‘savings pot’, they pretty much fund those receiving state benefits at the time and pretty much just earn entitlements to receive future benefits assuming you’re still eligible.

This is one, of many, reasons, why the whole state pension funding is in such a state, with an ageing population, though that’s levelled off a bit, there simply isn’t enough money coming in to fund the state pension hence the constant twiddling with ages when state pensions would be paid. This has been brewing for 30+ years and no government of any party has had the balls to address this, because, like the hot potato of NHS funding, currently £180 billion a year, which every government claims to increase whilst every opposition claims it’s being cut, it is not a vote winner.

We looked at the numbers before moving here and basically decided to assume we might never actually receive a state pension, never mind a winter fuel allowance which should be for those who need it, not those who can move to a place in the sun.


Ian

Out of curiosity, how do you think the issue should be addressed?

I agree with you with regards to pensions. We have always gone on the assumption that we won't get one when we hit the magic age in about 12 years time. I was quite perplexed with some of the rhetoric bandied about when the female pension age was raised to make it closer to the male one. Given that they live longer anyway it only seemed fair to me.

[Uncle D]

It's just been announced that if your not in receipt of Pension Credit, you will not be eligible for UK WFA.
To be eligible for PC, you need to be a UK resident.

[WHL]

Yes, some residents of mountain villages still receive it, I believe if over 600m’s.

Is this not a cypriot grant rather then a UK one?

[galexinda]

Yes, some residents of mountain villages still receive it, I believe if over 600m’s.

Is this not a cypriot grant rather then a UK one?

A link to a previous post on Paphos Life raises the question if the Cypriot winter fuel allowance is now only paid to EU nationals?

viewtopic.php?t=14767

[Firefly]

Polemian

No-one actually claimed WFA, if you qualified to receive it, by age, and by residence, it was automatically credited to your bank account.

You could always give it to charity, if you didn't need it.