Age Cymru Briefing: Winter Fuel Payment – 22 August 2024

Cutting the Winter Fuel Payment this winter, with virtually no notice and no compensatory measures to protect poor and vulnerable pensioners, is the wrong decision. We believe that thousands of older people in Wales will be seriously hit by this cut.   

In Age Cymru’s 2024 annual survey with over 1300 older people across Wales we heard that almost half of older people found cost of living to be a challenge over the last 12 months, and over half of older people had issues with their physical health. This will only worsen with cuts to this vital financial support during the winter months. 
 
We want the UK Government to halt their proposed change to the Winter Fuel Payment and think again. There are 3 key groups of older people we’re particularly worried about:  

• Those who just miss out on Pension Credit because their very modest incomes are slightly too high for them to be eligible, usually because they have a tiny occupational pension. Many of them are women.  

• Those with high energy needs because of disability or illness, and/or who live in energy inefficient homes which cost a lot of money to heat.  

• Between 70,000 to 80,000 pensioners in Wales who don’t receive the Pension Credit for which they are eligible because they do not claim it. The problem of low take up with Pension Credit is deeply entrenched, with about a third of all those entitled to it consistently failing to claim it over many years.  

There’s only been three months warning for this change – and older people will have expected to have this money in their pockets this year. There simply isn’t long enough for many to work out another plan. The UK Government has said more will be done to encourage those entitled to Pension Credit to claim it but this will take time and won’t stop many missing out this year.   

This is not the only decision that will be a hit to many pensioners this year when it comes to help with paying their energy bills. Pensioners will have up to £600 less this winter in UK Government support with their heating bills, compared to last year, because the cost-of-living payments brought in temporarily by the previous Government have now stopped. 

We want the UK Government to rethink their decision on Winter Fuel Payments, and we’re encouraging people to sign our petition with Age UK, which currently has over 470,000 signatures. 

Over 18,000 people in Wales have signed the petition. Most of those that signed have told us that they are affected by the decision to make the WFP means-tested. And just under a quarter of those that signed in Wales have told us that they are just about the threshold to receive pension credit. 

We’ve been hearing from people in Wales about how they’ll really struggle without the WFP – with people cutting down on food, heating, hot water. We are hearing from people with long term health conditions who have to have a warm home, so have told us that they will have to cut back on food.  

We are also encouraging older people to see if they’re eligible for pension credit with over 200million in pension credit going unclaimed in Wales each year.

If you’ve been turned down before, it may still be worth making a new claim, as benefits rates change, as can your finances.  

Call Age Cymru to find out more on 0300 303 44 98 Monday to Friday between 9am and 4pm, email advice@agecymru.org.uk or visit www.agecymru.org.uk/pensioncredit , or to make a claim for pension credit, call the DWP pension credit claim line on 0800 99 1234 or visit www.gov.uk/pension-credit/how-to-claim.