SOME 10million pensioners will no longer be eligible for winter fuel payments as part of cuts made by Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
The £300 government handout was previously available to everyone aged above 66 and helped with pricey energy costs.
However, Ms Reeves said on Monday that the cash would only be given to retirees on Pension Credit, or other means-tested benefits.
“From this year onwards, the Government will continue to provide winter fuel payments worth £200 for households receiving Pension Credit, or £300 for households in receipt of Pension Credit with someone over the age of 80,” she said.
It comes as part of a number saving measures carried out by the freshly elected Labour government.
Ms Reeves said she had to make “difficult decisions” as she accused the Conservatives of leaving a £21.9billion black hole in public fiances that it had “covered up from the country”.
Already, charities have raised concerns about how the cuts could impact pensioners this winter.
Caroline Abrahams CBE, Charity Director at Age UK said: “As many as two million pensioners who badly need the money to stay warm this winter will not receive it and will be in trouble as a result – yet at the other end of the spectrum well-off older people will scarcely notice the difference – a social injustice.”
“A big reason for this disastrous outcome is that more than one in three pensioners entitled to Pension Credit, the qualifying benefit for WFP under this proposal, don’t receive it, a proportion that’s been roughly constant for many years.”
Only those receiving Pension Credit, or other means-tested benefits, will receive the winter fuel payment from this year onwards.
The benefits that will entitle you for the payment are as follows:
It isn’t known if under the new rules, you will need to apply for the payment, or if it will be made automatically.
Before the changes were made, the payments automatically went into you account.
If you are concerned you will not receive your payment this year, it may be worth having a look at the below benefits to see if your eligible.
This benefit gives you extra money to help with your living costs if you’re over the state pension age and on a low income.
Pension Credit can also help with housing costs such as ground rent or service charges.
This is a separate to your state pension and you can qualify for the scheme even if you have other income, savings or own your own home.
YOU can use a benefits calculator to help check that you are not missing out on money you are entitled to
Charity Turn2Us’ benefits calculator works out what you could get.
Entitledto’s free calculator determines whether you qualify for various benefits, tax credit and Universal Credit.
MoneySavingExpert.com and charity StepChange both have benefits tools powered by Entitledto’s data.
You can use Policy in Practice’s calculator to determine which benefits you could receive and how much cash you’ll have left over each month after paying for housing costs.
Your exact entitlement will only be clear when you make a claim, but calculators can indicate what you might be eligible for.
When applying, you must flag if you are single or living with a partner.
You’ll be eligible if either:
Pension Credit tops up your weekly income to £218.15 if you are single or to £332.95 if you have a partner.
You could get an extra £81.50 a week if you have a disability or claim any of the following:
You can apply for Pension Credit online, over the phone or by post.
You can start your application up to 4 months before you reach State Pension age.
You can apply any time after you reach State Pension age but your application can only be backdated by 3 months.
This means you can get up to 3 months of Pension Credit in your first payment if you were eligible during that time.
Income support is extra money to help people on a low income or none at all.
However, you can no longer apply for this support measure as part of government is changes to the benefit system.
The government is moving two million people on old-style legacy benefits to Universal Credit through “managed migration”.
Letters are being sent to those eligible telling them to make the move across.
But you only have three months from the date the letter was sent to move to Universal Credit.
Fail to do this and you will have your benefit entitlement stopped.
Even if you decide to claim after the deadline, you can still lose out on transitional protection as you only get this if you claim by the deadline date.
You have until the end of July to put in your claim for Universal Credit or risk being without benefits.
You can read more about managed migration here or by visiting the government’s website.
Both income-related employment and income-based jobseeker’s allowance has also been migrated to Universal Credit because of the change.
Those on low incomes are entitled to claim the government benefit Universal Credit.
The cash sum is paid monthly and is designed to help you with your living costs.
Whether you are eligible will depend on your specific circumstances.
You may be eligible if you meet all of the following criteria:
Your partner’s income and savings will be taken into account, even if they are not eligible for Universal Credit.
There are other factors that might make you eligible for a claim, for instance, if you care for a disabled person, you’re in further education or you’ve recently had a child.
You can read the full eligibility criteria on the government’s website.
Applying for Universal Credit should be relatively easy.
You have to go online and create an account, then there are further steps to take.
Once you’ve created an account you must make a claim within 28 days otherwise you’ll have to start the process again.
If you live with your partner, you’ll both have to create accounts and you’ll join them together when you claim.
If you’re struggling to claim online you can use the Universal Credit helpline which is 0800 328 5644.
How much you can receive depends on your age.
Singles aged over 25 are given a monthly allowance of £393.45, while those in relationships were both parties are 25 or over get £617.60.
UNIVERSAL Credit is replacing six benefits under the old welfare system, commonly called legacy benefits. They are:
If you’re on any of these benefits now, you can choose to move over – but you might not be better off.
You should consider carefully what moving over means for your money, as you can’t move back once you’re on Universal Credit.
Using an online benefits calculator can help you compare and are free and easy to use from charities such as Turn2Us and EntitledTo, and it’s also worth asking them for advice.
You may be moved over to Universal Credit if you have a change in circumstances, like moving home, a change in working hours or a have a baby.
But eventually everyone will be moved over to Universal Credit.
This is known as “managed migration” .
