Everyone paying for utilities on direct debit should check if they have overpaid now!

EssexHebridean

LindsayT said:

The OP's Mum will be getting £600 Winter Fuel Allowance (though I know plenty of pensioners who don't think this should be put towards bills) plus the £400 we are all getting. I don't know if she is on benefits but if so, she will get the £650 as well, so maybe she will be able to pay the higher winter bills. Just a thought.

Yes, if those things are being taken into account and the money ringfenced she might. You’ll notice I mentioned this exact situation in the post two above yours. The concern is that those payments are simply spent elsewhere though. 

lisyloo

EssexHebridean said:

LindsayT said:

The OP's Mum will be getting £600 Winter Fuel Allowance (though I know plenty of pensioners who don't think this should be put towards bills) plus the £400 we are all getting. I don't know if she is on benefits but if so, she will get the £650 as well, so maybe she will be able to pay the higher winter bills. Just a thought.

Yes, if those things are being taken into account and the money ringfenced she might. You’ll notice I mentioned this exact situation in the post two above yours. The concern is that those payments are simply spent elsewhere though. 

It's one lump sum paid in November/Decemeber or maybe even January.
Pretty hard to actually spend it elsewhere.

If people allocate it elsewhere then they have no right to complain about their bills whilst they are getting substantial help.

But agree with everyone that PAYG requires some level of discipline with budgeting and much higher bills in winter. That's the trade-off.

EssexHebridean

lisyloo said:

EssexHebridean said:

LindsayT said:

The OP's Mum will be getting £600 Winter Fuel Allowance (though I know plenty of pensioners who don't think this should be put towards bills) plus the £400 we are all getting. I don't know if she is on benefits but if so, she will get the £650 as well, so maybe she will be able to pay the higher winter bills. Just a thought.

Yes, if those things are being taken into account and the money ringfenced she might. You’ll notice I mentioned this exact situation in the post two above yours. The concern is that those payments are simply spent elsewhere though. 

It's one lump sum paid in November/Decemeber or maybe even January.
Pretty hard to actually spend it elsewhere.

Oh so the winter fuel payment gets applied straight to the energy account? I’d not realised that (I’m enough years away from it as yet that I’d imagine it will have stopped by the time I get there, and beyond checking Mum had checked what was coming, I’ve not had any involvement with hers either as I know she knows her stuff around that). I’d assumed it was paid in the same way that the state pension was - which I know for Mum is straight to her bank account, hence assuming that it could be spent on whatever the recipient chose. Apologies for the misunderstanding! 

[Deleted User]

EssexHebridean said:

lisyloo said:

EssexHebridean said:

LindsayT said:

The OP's Mum will be getting £600 Winter Fuel Allowance (though I know plenty of pensioners who don't think this should be put towards bills) plus the £400 we are all getting. I don't know if she is on benefits but if so, she will get the £650 as well, so maybe she will be able to pay the higher winter bills. Just a thought.

Yes, if those things are being taken into account and the money ringfenced she might. You’ll notice I mentioned this exact situation in the post two above yours. The concern is that those payments are simply spent elsewhere though. 

It's one lump sum paid in November/Decemeber or maybe even January.
Pretty hard to actually spend it elsewhere.

Oh so the winter fuel payment gets applied straight to the energy account? I’d not realised that (I’m enough years away from it as yet that I’d imagine it will have stopped by the time I get there, and beyond checking Mum had checked what was coming, I’ve not had any involvement with hers either as I know she knows her stuff around that). I’d assumed it was paid in the same way that the state pension was - which I know for Mum is straight to her bank account, hence assuming that it could be spent on whatever the recipient chose. Apologies for the misunderstanding! 

The Winter Fuel Payment is paid to bank accounts - and always has been. Letter from DWP received today confirming payment and receiving Bank details.

lisyloo

EssexHebridean said:

lisyloo said:

EssexHebridean said:

LindsayT said:

The OP's Mum will be getting £600 Winter Fuel Allowance (though I know plenty of pensioners who don't think this should be put towards bills) plus the £400 we are all getting. I don't know if she is on benefits but if so, she will get the £650 as well, so maybe she will be able to pay the higher winter bills. Just a thought.

Yes, if those things are being taken into account and the money ringfenced she might. You’ll notice I mentioned this exact situation in the post two above yours. The concern is that those payments are simply spent elsewhere though. 

It's one lump sum paid in November/Decemeber or maybe even January.
Pretty hard to actually spend it elsewhere.

Oh so the winter fuel payment gets applied straight to the energy account? I’d not realised that (I’m enough years away from it as yet that I’d imagine it will have stopped by the time I get there, and beyond checking Mum had checked what was coming, I’ve not had any involvement with hers either as I know she knows her stuff around that). I’d assumed it was paid in the same way that the state pension was - which I know for Mum is straight to her bank account, hence assuming that it could be spent on whatever the recipient chose. Apologies for the misunderstanding! 

No, it gets paid to the bank account.
Hard pressed pensioners can spend it on other things if they want and then complain about their energy bills - but not sure why we need to spend any time discussing people doing that after receiving significant government help (as well as £150 council tax, £150 for disabled, £650 for those on benefits, £400 everyone with supply).
If they want to spend it on something else they can but unless it's literally subsistence food then they don't deserve any sympathy.

My point was that it's physically impossible to spend it before getting the winter bills.

ariarnia

lisyloo said:

EssexHebridean said:

lisyloo said:

EssexHebridean said:

LindsayT said:

The OP's Mum will be getting £600 Winter Fuel Allowance (though I know plenty of pensioners who don't think this should be put towards bills) plus the £400 we are all getting. I don't know if she is on benefits but if so, she will get the £650 as well, so maybe she will be able to pay the higher winter bills. Just a thought.

Yes, if those things are being taken into account and the money ringfenced she might. You’ll notice I mentioned this exact situation in the post two above yours. The concern is that those payments are simply spent elsewhere though. 

It's one lump sum paid in November/Decemeber or maybe even January.
Pretty hard to actually spend it elsewhere.

Oh so the winter fuel payment gets applied straight to the energy account? I’d not realised that (I’m enough years away from it as yet that I’d imagine it will have stopped by the time I get there, and beyond checking Mum had checked what was coming, I’ve not had any involvement with hers either as I know she knows her stuff around that). I’d assumed it was paid in the same way that the state pension was - which I know for Mum is straight to her bank account, hence assuming that it could be spent on whatever the recipient chose. Apologies for the misunderstanding! 

No, it gets paid to the bank account.
Hard pressed pensioners can spend it on other things if they want and then complain about their energy bills - but not sure why we need to spend any time discussing people doing that after receiving significant government help (as well as £150 council tax, £150 for disabled, £650 for those on benefits, £400 everyone with supply).
If they want to spend it on something else they can but unless it's literally subsistence food then they don't deserve any sympathy.

My point was that it's physically impossible to spend it before getting the winter bills.

november bills wont come through until the end of november and might even be estimates. if the bill cycle isnt lined up then it might even be mid december before they no what is spent in november. and the coldest months are normally jan or feb. so lots of time to spend money on something else before the bill comes in. not spending it on something else means they need to know/understand that they might not have enough in there energy account to cover there winter bills.

thats what i think EH is worried about. if they have had there credit refunded and been told by there adult child the dd is now set at the right amount then why shouldn't they spend it on buying there grandchildren christmas gifts? 

lisyloo

Good point, we all need to take care of our elders.
I guess I was struggling to understand the mentality but you’ve explained well how someone could come to that conclusion.

jbuchanangb

The energy support picture is complex. My wife and I will receive the Winter Fuel Allowance increase of £300. We are receiving the £66pm Energy Bills Support Scheme. My October electricity bill was £20 less than expected because it has been reduced to the EPG tariff from the fixed tariff I signed up for in July. We did not receive the £150 Council Tax Rebate because our house is in Band E. Our energy account is currently £468 in credit from a standing start 11 months ago with £23.78 credit transferred from Symbio. We do not ring fence the funds received from any of the schemes. We receive the EBSS and the WFA into our bank account and use for general expenditure.

t0rt0ise

In actual fact only the pensioners usual 200 or 300 pounds is a winter fuel payment. The extra 300 pounds is a cost of living payment and is meant to be spent on whatever is necessary. So those saying it is all meant to be spent on fuel are wrong. And that doesn't even take into account the fact that becoming a pensioner doesn't immediately remove all one's common sense and make a person unable to cope with their finances, much as many here would have us believe.

EssexHebridean

Dolor said:

EssexHebridean said:

lisyloo said:

EssexHebridean said:

LindsayT said:

The OP's Mum will be getting £600 Winter Fuel Allowance (though I know plenty of pensioners who don't think this should be put towards bills) plus the £400 we are all getting. I don't know if she is on benefits but if so, she will get the £650 as well, so maybe she will be able to pay the higher winter bills. Just a thought.

Yes, if those things are being taken into account and the money ringfenced she might. You’ll notice I mentioned this exact situation in the post two above yours. The concern is that those payments are simply spent elsewhere though. 

It's one lump sum paid in November/Decemeber or maybe even January.
Pretty hard to actually spend it elsewhere.

Oh so the winter fuel payment gets applied straight to the energy account? I’d not realised that (I’m enough years away from it as yet that I’d imagine it will have stopped by the time I get there, and beyond checking Mum had checked what was coming, I’ve not had any involvement with hers either as I know she knows her stuff around that). I’d assumed it was paid in the same way that the state pension was - which I know for Mum is straight to her bank account, hence assuming that it could be spent on whatever the recipient chose. Apologies for the misunderstanding! 

The Winter Fuel Payment is paid to bank accounts - and always has been. Letter from DWP received today confirming payment and receiving Bank details.

Yes, this was what I thought previously. So in fact perfectly possible for the recipient to spend it wherever they choose then! Thank you for clarifying. 

ariarnia said:

lisyloo said:

EssexHebridean said:

lisyloo said:

EssexHebridean said:

LindsayT said:

The OP's Mum will be getting £600 Winter Fuel Allowance (though I know plenty of pensioners who don't think this should be put towards bills) plus the £400 we are all getting. I don't know if she is on benefits but if so, she will get the £650 as well, so maybe she will be able to pay the higher winter bills. Just a thought.

Yes, if those things are being taken into account and the money ringfenced she might. You’ll notice I mentioned this exact situation in the post two above yours. The concern is that those payments are simply spent elsewhere though. 

It's one lump sum paid in November/Decemeber or maybe even January.
Pretty hard to actually spend it elsewhere.

Oh so the winter fuel payment gets applied straight to the energy account? I’d not realised that (I’m enough years away from it as yet that I’d imagine it will have stopped by the time I get there, and beyond checking Mum had checked what was coming, I’ve not had any involvement with hers either as I know she knows her stuff around that). I’d assumed it was paid in the same way that the state pension was - which I know for Mum is straight to her bank account, hence assuming that it could be spent on whatever the recipient chose. Apologies for the misunderstanding! 

No, it gets paid to the bank account.
Hard pressed pensioners can spend it on other things if they want and then complain about their energy bills - but not sure why we need to spend any time discussing people doing that after receiving significant government help (as well as £150 council tax, £150 for disabled, £650 for those on benefits, £400 everyone with supply).
If they want to spend it on something else they can but unless it's literally subsistence food then they don't deserve any sympathy.

My point was that it's physically impossible to spend it before getting the winter bills.

november bills wont come through until the end of november and might even be estimates. if the bill cycle isnt lined up then it might even be mid december before they no what is spent in november. and the coldest months are normally jan or feb. so lots of time to spend money on something else before the bill comes in. not spending it on something else means they need to know/understand that they might not have enough in there energy account to cover there winter bills.

thats what i think EH is worried about. if they have had there credit refunded and been told by there adult child the dd is now set at the right amount then why shouldn't they spend it on buying there grandchildren christmas gifts? 

Exactly this - the OP seems so certain they are correct, while a number of people here are less convinced.This is why I would urge them to ensure that the money being saved on the DD, and any other help designed to go towards energy bills is set aside in case it is needed come the spring.