Winter Fuel Allowance

losdandos

My mother is 89 and lives in over 55s sheltered housing with a wrist band and connection to a control room if she falls.

There is no warden nor a communal area.  All are separate flats.

Mum only has her state pension as her income.  As it is over the minimum amount she is not eligible for pension credit.  She does get Housing Benefit and help towards her Council Tax.

With the new rules it appears she is no longer eligible for a Winter Fuel Allowance.  The help sites only refer to Care Homes.

Do you think she should still receive a WFA?  Thank you.

DE_612183

Cam she claim Pension Credit at all?
What amount doe she get fro state pension?

Spoonie_Turtle

losdandos said:

My mother is 89 and lives in over 55s sheltered housing with a wrist band and connection to a control room if she falls.

There is no warden nor a communal area.  All are separate flats.

Mum only has her state pension as her income.  As it is over the minimum amount she is not eligible for pension credit.  She does get Housing Benefit and help towards her Council Tax.

With the new rules it appears she is no longer eligible for a Winter Fuel Allowance.  The help sites only refer to Care Homes.

Do you think she should still receive a WFA?  Thank you.

What any of us think is irrelevant, you'll have to take it up with your MP, or find out if any of the charities are campaigning for changes to the criteria. 

Housing Benefit is means-tested like the other qualifying benefits so it could make sense to include that too, but it's administered by individual councils and thus much less simple (i.e. more time-consuming and expensive) to verify than the listed DWP benefits.


[Incidentally the reference to care homes would presumably still require a person to be claiming the listed qualifying benefits ("certain benefits" per the gov.uk page).]

DougMLancs

Octopus are expanding their assistance fund to help cover the loss of WFA for many. May be worth looking into? https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/money/bills/octopus-energy-support-pensioners-winter-fuel-payment-cuts-3215976

Ildhund

This sounds unlikely. You say your mother's state pension income is 'over the minimum' - the state pension is a fixed amount. Eligibility for Pension Credit depends on assets, too, so property, shares and money in the bank reduce any amount payable. They are converted to virtual income at the rate of £1 per week for every £500 of savings over £10,000. Is this perhaps why she can't get Pension Credit? 

Spoonie_Turtle

Ildhund said:

This sounds unlikely. You say your mother's state pension income is 'over the minimum' - the state pension is a fixed amount. Eligibility for Pension Credit depends on assets, too, so property, shares and money in the bank reduce any amount payable. They are converted to virtual income at the rate of £1 per week for every £500 of savings over £10,000. Is this perhaps why she can't get Pension Credit? 

I interpreted that as over the minimum income guarantee, i.e. the threshold for being eligible for PC.  The full state pension is a couple of pounds above the PC threshold for a single person not entitled to any additional PC premiums.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-and-pension-rates-2024-to-2025/benefit-and-pension-rates-2024-to-2025#pension-credit

(Being eligible for HB and CTS would indicate she doesn't have a large amount of assets.)

wrf12345

state pension is not a fixed amount, it depends on the number of years of NI contributions made, currently 35 years for the full whack - a pointlessly complex system as people are better off on pension tax credit if they did not make enough contributions and don't have much savings, as that gets them into multiple benefit possibilities. A clever chancellor would upgrade the pensions of those who did not make enough NI contributions, taking them out of pension tax credit and actually save some money overall.

GibbsRule_No3.

As a State Pensioner I am told I am on a benefit but when it comes to WFA, I’m suddenly not on a benefit, which is it?  If SP is classed as a benefit, then I claim my WFA!!  When will the bus fare be taken away, probably not long.  I don’t understand how JSA and other claiming benefits will still get WFA but old people on SP won’t continue to get it.

Spoonie_Turtle

GibbsRule_No3. said:

As a State Pensioner I am told I am on a benefit but when it comes to WFA, I’m suddenly not on a benefit, which is it?  If SP is classed as a benefit, then I claim my WFA!!  When will the bus fare be taken away, probably not long.  I don’t understand how JSA and other claiming benefits will still get WFA but old people on SP won’t continue to get it.

State Pension and other contributory benefits are benefits, but the only ones that qualify for WFA are means-tested benefits. 
You'll notice they specify income-based JSA and ESA, which excludes contributions-based JSA etc.

https://www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment/eligibility

Ildhund

Spoonie_Turtle said:
The full state pension is a couple of pounds above the PC threshold for a single person not entitled to any additional PC premiums.

Sorry, but if your mother is 89, she's entitled to the 'old' basic state pension, currently £169.50 pw. Pension Credit can boost this to £218.15, meaning she would get almost as much as someone younger on the 'new' system. It's a bit of a swizz, because it means that someone over 75 who never paid NI can get as much as someone younger who paid NI contributions for 40-odd years.

molerat

wrf12345 said:

state pension is not a fixed amount, it depends on the number of years of NI contributions made, currently 35 years for the full whack - a pointlessly complex system as people are better off on pension tax credit if they did not make enough contributions and don't have much savings, as that gets them into multiple benefit possibilities. A clever chancellor would upgrade the pensions of those who did not make enough NI contributions, taking them out of pension tax credit and actually save some money overall.

35 years only applies to those born this century so way off retirement.