Winter Fuel payments in the tropics?

[anotheoldgit]

At a cost of £10m, Is it right for those elderly British who have chosen to live abroad either in Spain or as far away as India and the Caribbean, can still receive their Winter Fuel payments?

[Bobbisox]

by the way, where is aog in all this..lol

[redman41]

He's Queueing up for his Winter Fuel allowance on the banks of the Ganges Bobbi !

[ummmm]

She was born in England....

I'm not bothered by it. When she went I phoned them to inform them, asked would I still be entitled to it, they said No...I said ok.

I thought that the Poles could only claim it if they were working.

[Bobbisox]

I wonder what his take on it is...

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.thisismone...d=429056&in_page_id=2

Hi jake according to the above report there are fifty thousand elderly Britons living overseas

I have just read another report dated April 2008, in which it says,

/// Home Office Minister Mike O'Brien has sought legal advice to find a way around EU laws that allow Britons who have retired to 29 European countries to claim the payment.///

That was 2 years ago, I know the government works slowly, but it doesn't look as if they were successful.

Why only the EU, no mention of those retired to lands outside the EU.

[sp1814]

"Why only the EU, no mention of those retired to lands outside the EU"

There's a reciprocal arrangement within EU nation states whereby anyone from within the region can claim benefits in their country of residence, as long as their home country is within the EU.

Theoretically, you could claim housing benefit in Poland if you moved there.

However, this arrangement only exists within the EU (and I strongly suspect Polish housing benefit wouldn't be as high as ours).

[anotheoldgit]

/// However, this arrangement only exists within the EU (and I strongly suspect Polish housing benefit wouldn't be as high as ours). ///

Not so sp read the link.

/// This means Britons who have emigrated to anywhere from Martinique in the Caribbean to Reunion in the Indian Ocean can receive help to keep warm.///

[youngmafbog]

Do they have to own property in the UK, are they still paying tax on theri UK pensions? If so what is the problem ?

Not quite in the same league as millions of East Europens claiming Child benefit from a system they have harldy paid into is it ?

[joko]

as it is considered a kind of 'emergency' payment to help people survive the winter, as a necessity, i dont see why they should get it...
i understand they have paid in, but they dont 'need' it...it should be based on need

[New Judge]

They receive their payments for the same reason that people on high incomes receive child benefit, child tax credits and child trust fund payments. Such payments are not needed by these particular recipients but they are universal payments that form part of the government’s largesse with other people’s money.

[brionon]

Spain is in the Tropics ??

[Dodger666]

"They can't be descriminated against just because of where they live".

Oh yes they can. Thousands don't even get their pension increased.

"Under the rules, which ministers have conceded are "illogical", British expats in 150 countries including Australia, Canada and South Africa do not see their state pension increased annually in line with inflation, as happens in Britain and the EU".

Quoted from:-
http://www.guardian.c...-lose-pensions-appeal

[naomi24]

Bobbi, I know someone living in Spain who gets disability benefit.

[New Judge]

Did moving to Spain cure his/her disability then?