Preparedness for when

[Deleted User]

We use the winter fuel payment for exactly that...winter fuel! When we get the payment we order in more logs, we'll have to wait to empty a couple of cradles this year before we can fit any more in but that's because we're proactive about never missing a 'wood' opportunity. It could be argued that because we already have 14 cradles full of wood ready to burn that we didn't 'need' the winter fuel payment, justifiably so perhaps , but knowing the payment will come means that in a cold season we don't have to think about keeping the stove going, we know we can stay warm and replace what we burn so, what price peace of mind for the pensioner? NOT flights to Spain though or new carpets, that really is removing Michael isn't it?

mardatha

Doveling I'm sorry to hear about the scan results xx - I've just had one as well and they found a brain!! Nothing wrong with it either lol so now I need to see a neurologist.
I think pensioners in general are not like that, the ones I know give the money out at xmas to their families. I think most do need it - it's not fun being stuck in the house all day every day through a long cold winter, trying to keep warm. People are starting to turn on pensioners now, thanks to the sods in Westminster and their "divide and rule" tactics. Everybody will get old one day and everybody will be a pensioner - if they make it lol

[Deleted User]

Well said MAR, it's no fun at all being cold and NOT being able to do anything about it! Perhaps it would be a more sensible option for the government to pay the winter fuel allowance to the energy supplier of choice of the pensioners concerned or to a supplier of solid fuel or oil (depends on your form of heating the home) and actually get the money used for its intended purpose, though the admin on that would likely be more expensive than just the bank transfer that is used now.

mardatha

tOr give us reduced rate elect like they do in Ireland... oh sorry no we can't because all the elect companies are foreign owned. ooops.
Let's hope for all ages' sake that they don't choose this winter to rocket their prices up.
And the one big thing for me in that BBC link, is the way that Tories think of us, the people who voted them in. Contempt doesn't cover it! :mad:

thriftwizard

I have a feeling that even the most scatty pensioners will not forget that one in a hurry... At least , I do hope so.

My Mum's lucky enough to be in the category of the pensioners who don't need the allowance, and always donates hers to a local almshouse charity for pensioners who fall through the welfare net. I believe it's paid automatically; I don't think she claims it. But the vast majority of pensioners I know are literally scraping by, unable even to go out & earn a few bob extra to keep the lights on because they'll lose their pension credit if they do. For those that depend on it, as I will have to one day (if there's any state pension at all then) it's already a harsh system. But as for saying the old dears will have died or forgotten before the next election - oh dear, the contempt for us plebs shines through, doesn't it?

greenbee

thriftwizard wrote: »

But as for saying the old dears will have died or forgotten before the next election - oh dear, the contempt for us plebs shines through, doesn't it?

Surely by doing this they're increasing the chance of the 'old dears' having died by the next election?

ivyleaf

Living in the London area I was able to get an "Over 60's Oyster Card", aka "Boris Bus Pass" when I turned 60. I will (in theory) get my State pension when I'm 64-and-9-months, but in the meantime I'm relying on my Civil Service pension. I worked 30 hours a week most of the years I was in the Civil Service, to fit in with school hours, then after I got ME I had to cut it down to 20 hours a week, and even so I had to stop work when I was in my fifties. So my pension is tiny, and the bus pass is a huge help. I'm married, but Mr Ivyleaf had to stop work early too, so both living off work pensions, and in his case, War Pension.

I was working for DWP when the Winter Fuel Payments first came in. Originally it was intended as a one-off; the government announced one year that the country could afford to pay pensioners some money to help with their fuel bill, just for that year.

Then the following year, they said they could afford to do it again......

And somehow it became accepted that it would be paid every year, and I'm sure a lot of people think it always has been.

We did get better-off pensioners ringing up saying they didn't need it, and asking how to go about paying it back; we had to explain that there was no mechanism for doing so, and as far as I know there still isn't.

mardatha

If they had any brains at all they'd stop it for pensioners who live abroad. But that might be too much of a stretch for their wee minds eh..

Perplexed_Pineapple

Glad to see you lot are still nattering on. RL has been very busy so only lurking occasionally of late. MTSTM, I don't want you to take this personally (because it certainly isn't intended that way) but something you posted caught my attention:

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

But myself and my parents are amongst the large number of pensioners that need every bit of income we can get - and that includes the fuel allowance.

I don't personally know of many families where two generations are collecting their pensions, but I guess it is fairly common nowadays. It's a graphic illustration of the demographic problem - multiple generations out of the work force and probably for many families there are two generations of older dependents and one generation of younger dependents for each working age generation. That can't possibly be sustainable, so (coming back to the prepping), all of us who are more than 10 years or so from the state retirement age should be aiming to prepare for the possibility that the state pension simply won't exist when we we get there. For me that would mean mortgage paid off, no outstanding debt, energy requirements minimised, growing as much of our own food as possible and keeping ourselves as fit as possible (to minimise health care expenses). Just a thought!

Frugalsod

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Well said MAR, it's no fun at all being cold and NOT being able to do anything about it! Perhaps it would be a more sensible option for the government to pay the winter fuel allowance to the energy supplier of choice of the pensioners concerned or to a supplier of solid fuel or oil (depends on your form of heating the home) and actually get the money used for its intended purpose, though the admin on that would likely be more expensive than just the bank transfer that is used now.

This is what they do for the disabled and those on benefits. It is called the Warm Home discount. https://www.gov.uk/the-warm-home-discount-scheme/what-youll-get

They could always recover the extra costs by eliminating the age tax allowances which really only benefit the very high income pensioners.

Things like the TV license could be rolled up into general expenditure and the costs eliminated by abolishing the TV detector vans and enforcement units which cost more than £700 million a year to run, which is about 15% of the entire costs of the TV license. This would eliminate the costs of sending those unable to afford the TV license to gaol and that would save money in the Justice department as well.

I am in favour of universal benefits but the costs could be recovered by capping the benefits given to rich tax payers.