Winter Fuel Payments......

[ZedBloke]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20887547
Means tested, yes, why should millionaires get it just because they are over the qualifying age? While we are at it stop paying it to those living abroad.

[dave50]

The argument that if you have paid in all your life then it is only right that you get something back seems valid. Then again some would ague that benefits exist only to help the poorest in our society but this can only truly work if everyone has done their utmost to contribute all their working lives and has made real effort to make provision for old age. The problem arises when certain sections don't bother and expect the rest of us to look after them, that's when the resentment surfaces. There is no easy answer.

[tamborine]

We are not compelled to use free travel but I want to keep photo ID

[daffy654]

What about the pensioners who have never worked? They do exist you know.

[emmie]

daffy, most of the pensioners i know worked, the majority since their early teens.

[Khandro]

Why shouldn't millionaires get it, they have paid substantially into the system like everyone else? and if they wish they can give it to a charity as Peter Stringfellow does. It was anyway originally an EU directive and presented to the British public politically, as if it was a generous gift from the then Chancellor GordonBrown. Also retired pensioners in hotter southern parts may not need to buy winter fuel, but make good use of it use it for increased refrigeration and air conditioning during the summer months.

[vetuste_ennemi]

The first £20 of my WFP wnet on a Meursault, the second £15 on a Barolo, but the rest I just wasted.

[emmie]

suggest that pensioners do need it in winter, those who live in sunnier climes, i recall staying with friends in Spain some years ago, in the autumn/winter months, and the nights were perishing.

[Khandro]

v_e That's a lot for Barolo, but even so worth every penny.

[woofgang]

The other issue that none has mentioned is the cost of running the means testing process. Its arguable (not sure if the figures were ever calculated) that it would be cheaper to do away with benefits assessment for means tested benefit and just pay the benefit regardless of income, possibly as a larger pension. This would require the employment of many less clerks and use of much less computer resource.

[vetuste_ennemi]

Got 'em both from Sainsbury, Khandro.

[Khandro]

v_e Have you considered emigrating? Your fuel allowance will go much further over here!

[Davethedog]

I think if you have a lot of money you don't need it, however you have contributed all your life and if they are rich probably more than most. Its £200 a year?

I don't have an answer really, but pensioners, and I am not one, seem a really easy target.

[chrissa1]

What about people like me who are only £10/month over the qualification for Pension Credit?

[chaptazbru]

I remember before Cameron got in, he stated that the winter fuel payments, bus passes and free TV licences for the elderly were SAFE with him, but ever since he got in, these things are constantly on the agenda and pensioners are constantly being threatened with losing them!! What a lying git !!

[emmie]

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

[emmie]

Literal translation: more it changes, more it's the same thing

[factor-fiction]

>chaptazbru- I doubt very much there will be time to sort out the details and implement it before the next election so it won't happen in this parliament, so Cameron won't have lied on this.

[New Judge]

To be fair to Mr Cameron (much as it sticks in my throat) it is not he who keeps raising the issue. This time it has been raised (surprise surprise) by a LibDem MP Paul Burstow. Mr Burstow (making the most of his party's time with the spare keys to No.10) is somewhat dishonestly linking the issue to that of residential care for the elderly and cites a report from something called the "Centre Forum think tank".

Also bear in mind that the Winter Fuel Payment is not only paid to pensioners. It is also paid to those receiving income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance and income-related Employment and Support Allowance.

My own view of the payment is that it is part of the pension “package” that State pension recipients who have paid the necessary NI contributions are due to receive (along with the bus pass and, for those over 75 the free TV lincence). There needs to be a clear distinction in the UK between State pensioners who have paid for their pension and those “pensioners” who have not. At present the former (who have contributed the most) receive the least whilst the latter receive the most. If National Insurance is just to be a wealth redistribution scheme politicians should come clean and say so. They should also remove the link between NI contributions and the State pension and allow workers to keep that portion of their NI which, allegedly, buys their pension so that they can invest it themselves if they wish.

[TWR]

Have you not forgotten, we have to keep the rapists, murderers, thieves that have been allowed to stop in this country because some idiot can not do his / her job properly, that's have a bit of fair play. Winter Fuel Payments, Lim /Dem policy, freeze.

[Mrsspagnoli57]

WFPT's are paid to anyone claiming them who are over 60. This includes a considerable number of men and women who are still in full time employment. Stop payments for all apart from those receiving State Pension (so as to ensure Pension Credit and Non-Pension Credit customers still receive help). Stop payments to those not resident in the UK. Hands on hearts Pensioners what percentage actually spend it on fuel bills? As an ex DWP employee I remember all too well the phone calls we received as soon as the WFPT's were payable from people wanting to go Christmas shopping. The world is facing economic meltdown all members of society will be hit at some stage. Free bus passes need controlling better too-its not just pensioners who pay into society-working age people do too, yet they are being priced off public transport in this area due to fare rises brought in to claw back lost revenue from free transport. The whole system is a mess and both sides of the political spectrum must take blame for it.