Fuel Poverty Means tested winter fuel payment?

Cherryscone

I don't know about the rest of you but I am finding it hard to keep my house warm I have oil heating I can also light my fire but it only heats 1 room ,I always have extra layers on at this time of the year but still find winter very harsh
I have health condition's and take Anticoagulants which doesn't help either ...My question is should the winter fuel payment be means tested you read all the time about people living in Spain winter time and getting their cold winter payments is it fair ..I think not but would be interested to hear what others think about it do you consider your self to be in Fuel Poverty?

tommie

You could qualify for free insulation via PowerNI, check it out here http://powerni.co.uk/saving-energy/insulation/free-insulation/

.... every little helps to keep the heat in.

BigAl94

I think in general people need to "toughen up".

I was 26 years of age before I lived in a house with central heating and that was 36 years ago!

We had an open fire heating one room, I had a one bar electric fire in my bedroom when doing school homework. The house was single glazed and the windows frequently solid ice on the inside. We wrapped up, survived it and possibly healthier than now in our sealed heated homes!

There was a report that ex pats living in warmer climates would lose the allowance http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/spending-review/10144785/Record-numbers-of-expats-claim-winter-fuel-payments.html but don't know the current status of this.

No I don't think it should be means tested, chances are those who would lose out would be those who contributed higher levels of taxation during their working lives.

Cherryscone

BigAl94 wrote: »

I think in general people need to "toughen up".

I was 26 years of age before I lived in a house with central heating and that was 36 years ago!

We had an open fire heating one room, I had a one bar electric fire in my bedroom when doing school homework. The house was single glazed and the windows frequently solid ice on the inside. We wrapped up, survived it and possibly healthier than now in our sealed heated homes!

There was a report that ex pats living in warmer climates would lose the allowance http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/spending-review/10144785/Record-numbers-of-expats-claim-winter-fuel-payments.html but don't know the current status of this.

No I don't think it should be means tested, chances are those who would lose out would be those who contributed higher levels of taxation during their working lives.

I was the same when I was home we had a fire that was it nothing else no duvets but blankets and like yourself the ice was on the inside of the window ..maybe its an age thing now as a child you never worried about the cold life was fun and free

Cherryscone

tommie wrote: »

You could qualify for free insulation via PowerNI, check it out here http://powerni.co.uk/saving-energy/insulation/free-insulation/

.... every little helps to keep the heat in.

Thanks Tommie I got that done about 4 years ago I didn't feel it made any difference the man drilled a hole outside in the wall and said it was insulated but he drilled it on a bit that was added to the house .

snowmen

Cherryscone wrote: »

Thanks Tommie I got that done about 4 years ago I didn't feel it made any difference the man drilled a hole outside in the wall and said it was insulated but he drilled it on a bit that was added to the house .

Did you ask him to drill in a wall on the original house at the time?
You could always get someone out now to check if your actual house (and not the extended part) is insulated or not.

Old_Git

I had a relative that received no means tested benefits .
She received £150 state pension and atendance allowance .
It cost £70 per week to heat the house (no cavity walls) .The heating was on 24/7 . She had savings around £30,000 therefore she had to pay rates off £1200 because she lived near Queens .

The only additional payment she received was the winter heating allowance .There are many people out there who have small pensions but because they saved get no means tested help.

The irony off my story is when my relative died ,I received her heating allowance as she was alive in the qualifying week but had died before the payment was due.The SS assured me this was correct. .

emmett123

Cherryscone wrote: »

I don't know about the rest of you but I am finding it hard to keep my house warm I have oil heating I can also light my fire but it only heats 1 room ,I always have extra layers on at this time of the year but still find winter very harsh
I have health condition's and take Anticoagulants which doesn't help either ...My question is should the winter fuel payment be means tested you read all the time about people living in Spain winter time and getting their cold winter payments is it fair ..I think not but would be interested to hear what others think about it do you consider your self to be in Fuel Poverty?

I think it is fair that all pensioners should get the winter fuel allowance. And to start questioning whether the principle of universality of benefits should be restricted to those in most dire need, is exactly what the government want. Once you establish that a benefit is not for everyone then you decide how much poverty the claimant has to be in before receiving it... and that is a slippery slope to getting rid of it altogether.

further, those pensioners who you are targeting, that can afford fuel, have paid in their tax and national insurance all their lives. They have played their part in the Social Contract, and it is only but right that government can give them a once a year payment for fuel. That principal is the same for all elderly people. I would rather live in a society where the gov.t leads from the front in treating our old people with respect and dignity, as opposed to how we can save money on them and constantly lamenting the burden they represent to the exchequer. A brief look on the internet will reveal the poor conditions for many people elderly who are in care because they have been reduced to lowest price per head ratio.

I would much rather see elderly people get a winter fuel allowance, and increased one too, rather than see where gov.t does spend its money e.g 75million on that Belfast visitor center for a poorly designed ship that sank.

and where does the winter fuel allowance go? to energy companies who charge extortionate rates for fuel motivated only by profits. Address the problem there, reduced their expectation for profits or better still nationalize energy production

the gov.t has plenty of money to treat all pensioners with respect in heating and care, but they don't want to. They want instead to create the belief in the population that our expectations in our lives should be lowered, that we should get used to lower standards of living, whilst they pay off their banking friends bad gambling debts, and never ask tax off their large corporate friends.

don't get caught in fighting between ourselves for the few crumbs off the table, when we should be looking at who is throwing the crumbs

rolo1_2

BigAl94 wrote: »

I think in general people need to "toughen up".

I was 26 years of age before I lived in a house with central heating and that was 36 years ago!

We had an open fire heating one room, I had a one bar electric fire in my bedroom when doing school homework. The house was single glazed and the windows frequently solid ice on the inside. We wrapped up, survived it and possibly healthier than now in our sealed heated homes!

There was a report that ex pats living in warmer climates would lose the allowance http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/spending-review/10144785/Record-numbers-of-expats-claim-winter-fuel-payments.html but don't know the current status of this.

No I don't think it should be means tested, chances are those who would lose out would be those who contributed higher levels of taxation during their working lives.

I take your point, BUT in this day an age is it right to expect pensioners to "toughen up"
No-one especially the elderly should have to put up with a cold house.

Cherryscone

emmett123 wrote: »

I think it is fair that all pensioners should get the winter fuel allowance. And to start questioning whether the principle of universality of benefits should be restricted to those in most dire need, is exactly what the government want. Once you establish that a benefit is not for everyone then you decide how much poverty the claimant has to be in before receiving it... and that is a slippery slope to getting rid of it altogether.

further, those pensioners who you are targeting, that can afford fuel, have paid in their tax and national insurance all their lives. They have played their part in the Social Contract, and it is only but right that government can give them a once a year payment for fuel. That principal is the same for all elderly people. I would rather live in a society where the gov.t leads from the front in treating our old people with respect and dignity, as opposed to how we can save money on them and constantly lamenting the burden they represent to the exchequer. A brief look on the internet will reveal the poor conditions for many people elderly who are in care because they have been reduced to lowest price per head ratio.

I would much rather see elderly people get a winter fuel allowance, and increased one too, rather than see where gov.t does spend its money e.g 75million on that Belfast visitor center for a poorly designed ship that sank.

and where does the winter fuel allowance go? to energy companies who charge extortionate rates for fuel motivated only by profits. Address the problem there, reduced their expectation for profits or better still nationalize energy production

the gov.t has plenty of money to treat all pensioners with respect in heating and care, but they don't want to. They want instead to create the belief in the population that our expectations in our lives should be lowered, that we should get used to lower standards of living, whilst they pay off their banking friends bad gambling debts, and never ask tax off their large corporate friends.

don't get caught in fighting between ourselves for the few crumbs off the table, when we should be looking at who is throwing the crumbs

No one is fighting about anything its a healthy debate ..I agree that the government is wanting us all to get used to a lower standard of living and I for one have cut back on everything
While most deserve the fuel winter payment and need it no doubt there will be lots who don't need it
Every one in this country should be treated with respect but it just isn't going to happen ..believe me if I could return to work and not need to claim any benefits I would maybe then I might be able to keep my house warm when it comes to the point eat or heat it gets scary.

emmett123

Cherryscone wrote: »

No one is fighting about anything its a healthy debate ..I agree that the government is wanting us all to get used to a lower standard of living and I for one have cut back on everything
While most deserve the fuel winter payment and need it no doubt there will be lots who don't need it
Every one in this country should be treated with respect but it just isn't going to happen ..believe me if I could return to work and not need to claim any benefits I would maybe then I might be able to keep my house warm when it comes to the point eat or heat it gets scary.

why is the focus of your post other people in receipt of WFA? do you think that if the government stopping paying them an allowance that the money saved would be redistributed among others in receipt of it and that the amount actually might go up?

mostly likely the government would spend it on things like subsidized restaurants in Stormont. But once they killed the principle that all people should get the allowance, they would then launch into how much poverty to you need to be in to qualify for it.

there are much larger corporate interests in this society that are shirking their financial contributions. if they were perused with the same vigor as we look out our curtains to people living beside us, it would be more refreshing