Pensioners 'missing out' on winter fuel payments

"Pensioners will have to choose between heating and eating," said Suzanne Wigmore of Wiltshire Citizens' Advice

Charities are urging pensioners to check if they are eligible for benefits which mean they will get help with winter energy bills.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that in future the winter fuel payments of up to £300 will only be paid to pensioners who receive Pension Credit, or a few other benefits.

But Wiltshire Citizens Advice told the BBC that one in three pensioners entitled to the benefit do not claim it.

Suzanne Wigmore, the organisation's chief executive, said: “There are older people making the choice between heating and eating."

Help with winter fuel bills will be restricted to those on benefits

She added: "For them, it’s really important that they get everything they are due.”

The payments were introduced in 1997 by Tony Blair’s Labour government. All pensioners received £100 tax free, and those on benefits got up to £300.

In the winter of 2022-23 payments were made to 11.4 million people.

There were criticisms that paying all pensioners meant that wealthy people got money they did not need - there were even people who had retired to Spain and received the money.

But in November 2023 Darren Jones, MP for Bristol North West, urged the Conservative government to keep the benefit universal.

He wrote to the then Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt MP, saying: "Pensioners are already having to contend with dramatic increases to the cost of living, particularly when it comes to energy bills".

Mr Jones is now deputy to Rachel Reeves, and has had to defend the new policy of restricting winter fuel payments to those on benefits.

Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, defended the changes to winter fuel payments in Parliament

Restricting the payment to those on benefits has been criticised by charities.

They claim around 800,000 people who qualify for Pension Credit currently do not claim it, and so will lose the winter fuel payments they are entitled to.

Age UK said the move would “jeopardise the health and the finances of millions of older people this winter, the last thing either they or the NHS needs”.

Why don't people claim?

So why are so many people not claiming a benefit they are entitled to?

“It’s partly ignorance," said Ms Wigmore.

“People tell us ‘I’m getting the state pension, why would I get any top up?’

“Some people think of it as charity, and say they don’t want to get into that."

Citizens' Advice is urging older people to check if they qualify for Pension Credit

Many charities who work with older people report what they call 'Pensioner pride'. People have not claimed benefits before, and feel uneasy asking the state for help.

Ms Wigmore explained: “Others think it’s not worth it, it’s only a few quid a week.

"But Pension Credit ‘passports’ people into other benefits, and is now the only way people can get the winter fuel payments.

“So it’s vital people claim it if they can.”

Who qualifies for pension credit?

As with all benefits, this is quite complicated, which is one reason charities say that people don’t claim it.

“Roughly if you get less than £218 a week in pension payments, you will qualify,” said Ms Wigmore.

Citizens Advice offer help with claiming the benefit on their website.

Those who do receive it will then qualify for cheaper water and energy rates, and other help from local councils as well.

Ironically the news has come as a heatwave sweeps the UK, and few people are worrying about heating their homes.

But charities like Citizens Advice want to use the time before winter to prevent more suffering.

Ms Wigmore said: “We know that £300 spread over the coldest months of the winter can halve someone’s fuel bill, so it really is vital.”