Winter Fuel Allowance

[sir.prize]

Should it be paid to pensioners living in warmer climes?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24924228

Apparently in 2015 they will no longer qualify. That will be a big saving.

[ToraToraTora]

Ok, OG so I pay in, I want my WFA!

[emmie]

which i get when it gets cold, but it has to be consistently cold, forget how many days, before you get the 25 quid??

[emmie]

you will get the WFA when you get to the age designated by the government for it's payment. My mother now gets the higher rate, and she is one who definitely needs it.

[youngmafbog]

It should be means tested and certainly not paid to those abroad. Of course as has been found in the past means testgin can sometimes cost more than paying it out so may not be feasible. but if you dont live here then that should be easily solved.

Isn't is meant to be if the temperature drops really low, not going to happen in Spain that's for sure !

As TTT says is is an ex gratia payment from the Government to help those in need. It is not the pension you have paid in for (and the likes of TTT, Jake and myself will probably never see despite paying in ) and no one on here is suggesting you dont get that - Yet.

[youngmafbog]

You wont even get a state pension by the time you retire TTT. Pay in nothing out.

[emmie]

as i said it can get very cold in the evening in Spain. I visited some friends in a September, and the nights were very chilly, they needed the heating on

[sir.prize]

Winter Fuel Allowance has nothing to do with the weather temeerature. That is covered by the Cold Weather Payment.

[emmie]

i am aware of that, i only get the 25 quid if it's consistently freezing but don't qualify for the WFA.

[Zeuhl]

I'm bemused by the notion that people are required to pay into a system for years but their entitlement to a payout is somehow cancelled because they have the audacity to want to live somewhere else.

Perhaps Axa and Aviva should try that one out on their pension customers?
See how far they get

As for /don't move abroad if you can't afford to keep yourself warm. /
Perhaps people shouldn't be allowed to live in North Yorkshire or Northumberland etc if they can't afford to combat the freezing cold?

The WFA may be an add-on (bribe) to the pension; that's irrelevant. If pensioners are entitled to it regardless of whether they need it or not then it should be paid to all

Or to none of them

[emmie]

and see more elderly snuff it if it's not paid. Means test perhaps, but that will likely cost a small fortune to implement.

[Prudie]

As for /don't move abroad if you can't afford to keep yourself warm. /
Perhaps people shouldn't be allowed to live in North Yorkshire or Northumberland etc if they can't afford to combat the freezing cold?
Totally out of context and irrelevant to the discussion - of course people can choose to live in freezing N Yorks, it's in the UK and a UK fuel allowance is therefore payable. If you choose to up sticks and leave the UK then plan based on your income and deserved pensions but not including a payment meant for fuel that will go into another country's pot. I don't understand why people think this is reasonable.

[B00]

And why is it only paid to the elderly? What about those with small children and babies at home? Don't they require extra heating when it's cold?

[emmie]

because more elderly are likely to be a) alone, b) snuff it if they have to choose between heating, eating. That they have longer time to pay into the system, so ifs it a benefit, which is it, then don't see why those who live in Spain, are elderly can't get it. If they are financially secure, don't want it then surely there should be a method for them to not accept it, or pay it back into the UK.

[B00]

if we're talking about paying in before you can get out, surely most of the OAP women wouldn't have? Weren't most of them stay at home mums?

I don't really have an opinion on this to be honest, just playing devils advocate.

[Zeuhl]

/including a payment meant for fuel that will go into another country's pot. I don't understand why people think this is reasonable. /

so prudie

if the non-uk location is that important you must think that no UK pension payments should be made to people who have moved abroad

is that right?

[Mamyalynne]

//if we're talking about paying in before you can get out, surely most of the OAP women wouldn't have? Weren't most of them stay at home mums? //


B00, you raise a good point, I was one of those Mums and a carer (saved the country a fortune there), the WFA may be no more when I get to that age - my late husband paid in all his working life, but did not live long enough to get the allowance.

Ther are so many aspects to this, I don't know what I think to be truthful either.

[Prudie]

Zeuhl - "If you choose to up sticks and leave the UK then plan based on your income and deserved pensions". You seem to be reading things that aren't there, just for the hell of it I guess!

[Zeuhl]

"If you choose to up sticks and leave the UK then plan based on your income and deserved pensions".

Well for anyone who 'upped sticks' in the past few years, the WFA would have been part of their 'income and deserved pensions' wouldn't it?

[emmie]

mum, , nan, aunties women friends, all worked.

[Prudie]

As has been said it's not a pension, it's an allowance designed to help with our weather and our outrageous energy prices (and was probably only brought in as a feeble attempt to cover up the embarrassment of what we are charged). I still cannot understand why you would think that if I moved to Marbella for example the UK Govt should help me keep warm.