ASPs in the news

margaretclare

No, I don't want those freebies full stop. Some months ago I sent back the half-fare bus pass which was about to be changed into a free pass from April. I never use it anyway! Same with winter fuel which we get whether we need it or not - I'd do without it. We don't do anything in November when it arrives - except put it into savings! 'Winter fuel' is budgeted for over the year and doesn't get paid in November.

'Means testing of state pension' - well, it's included as part of our income for tax purposes, and we're still paying tax on our total incomes. Although this year is the first year ever that I won't pay any tax but DH is still paying some. We've both been paying tax since the summer of 1951 when we were 16, 55 years each. So if you like to look at it from that point of view, 'means testing' is already happening. What I'm saying is: don't give these humiliating little freebies to people who don't need or want them.

Margaret Clare

EdInvestor

Are free bus transport and a subsidy for winter fuel costs humiliating? Personally I don't find them so, and will be happy to accept them when eligible .

Elderly people I've met sometimes find the means-tested benefits humiliating, but not usually the concessions that are available to all.

margaretclare

EdInvestor wrote:

Are free bus transport and a subsidy for winter fuel costs humiliating? Personally I don't find them so, and will be happy to accept them when eligible.

Well, maybe it's just me. I feel that there's something demeaning about the assumptions made about the way we all live our lives, or what we *should* do when we've reached a certain age. Who pays for winter fuel in advance, in November? Years ago in the village where I grew up they used to buy extra coal in the summer when it was a bit cheaper. Maybe this is the thinking behind paying for winter fuel in advance, in November.

Regarding the free bus pass, there were reports in the local paper that people had been queuing round the block to get these, and it was felt that a lot of people were queuing up for them just because it was free and that many would never use them. Don't ask me how these figures were arrived at! The point was made that for every free bus pass, the council was paying the bus company for. It was then that I sent the pass back. I'd had the half-fare pass for 10 years and in that time had used it maybe 5 times. On the other hand, my daughter who has exactly the same disabilities that I have can get a mobility component to her DLA - I can't get anything like that because I'm over 65! What I would really appreciate is some help with paying for running a car, because it's highly unlikely that I'm ever going to be much of a bus user - so a free pass is a complete waste of time.

The same goes for the free TV licence when we reach 75. We watch TV so little, we could really do without it altogether except for DVDs. There's an assumption made that TV is a 'must have' for the over-75s - maybe it is for some.

And of course, to take us back to where we started from, I don't like the assumption that we *have to* do certain things with our money when we reach 75! Which takes us back to ASPs.

Whether you call it means-testing or whatever - I would be happy if concessions were much more tailored to the individual and not a blanket assumption made about how we all live our lives.

Margaret Clare

EdInvestor

Whether you call it means-testing or whatever - I would be happy if concessions were much more tailored to the individual and not a blanket assumption made about how we all live our lives.

I do take that point: perhaps an annual unspecified extra allowance might be better,in addition to the fuel allowance, but some people are always going to complain if you give actual cash that some pensioners are spending it on beer and fags - unlike they themselves who virtuously saved to provide their own pensions and are now having their assets confiscated to pay for long term care and inheritance tax , etc etc....:rolleyes:

And then the unions/welfare orgs are quite likely to jump on it and demand it get consolidated into a higher state pension, or a permanent council tax subsidy or whatever, and then Gordon will get annoyed because his sums don't add up anymore.

There's just no pleasing everybody, is there?

margaretclare

EdInvestor wrote:

I do take that point: perhaps an annual unspecified extra allowance might be better,in addition to the fuel allowance, but some people are always going to complain if you give actual cash that some pensioners are spending it on beer and fags - unlike they themselves who virtuously saved to provide their own pensions and are now having their assets confiscated to pay for long term care and inheritance tax , etc etc.

I'm sure the intention for the winter fuel payment/council tax subsidy WASN'T that a couple like DH and me would put it straight into our cash ISAs. We're supposed to be poor and freezing-cold, grateful for that bit of extra help to keep us warm - aren't we?

Come to think of it, the cash ISAs we saved money in were used to replace our roof a few weeks ago....so I suppose that in a roundabout way it does help to keep us warm and dry - but that isn't the way it's publicised every Budget speech, is it!

Margaret Clare

seven-day-weekend

I shall be delighted to have my free bus pass when I'm 60 (I'll probably be back in the UK by then). And if I'm offered winter fuel payments, I certainly won't turn them down.

I understand if the bus pass is no use to you though....a 'travel allowance' may be better.

I wish my husband could have had a lump sum from his AVC contributions....he had £10,000 in his pot, which would have been so helpful for us....Instead he has a tiny annuity of £49 pcm. It'll pay the car tax, I suppose.

I also had some AVCs, but was allowed to use it to buy two extra years into the Local Government Pension scheme, which was much better for me. Even though I can't draw it till 60 at the earliest.

klondyke

seven-day-weekend wrote:

I shall be delighted to have my free bus pass when I'm 60 (I'll probably be back in the UK by then). And if I'm offered winter fuel payments, I certainly won't turn them down.

I love my bus pass!! Actually it's a full all-zone travelcard, usable on tube, trains within the region, docklands railway, trams ...... I guess Londoners get the best deal on free travel - but with council tax going through the roof (so to speak) it's great to have something back.

Mind you, after major surgery, I haven't been able to use it much lately, Mr K having to spend huge sums in hospital car parks instead - now THAT is where we need help, whatever our age.