Winter Fuel Payment

Spoonie_Turtle

luvchocolate said:

I thought she could have set the level to take in housing and council tax benefit plus attendance allowance not just pension credit...but as said impossible to please everyone 

Would have been a ton more work for already stretched councils.

Also restricting it to pension-age benefits would have excluded pensioners in mixed-age couples claiming UC, which is at a much lower level than Pension Credit.  Thus also excluding pensioners in a mixed-age couple with too much household income for UC yet still lower than those on PC.

Pollycat

HarryIb said:

I got a letter today from the DWP telling me that I'm getting a Winter Fuel Payment of £200. Hip, hip, hooray! I'll use the money to increase my shareholding in Drax, the power generation company. However, the payment is only a short-term gain. I'm informed in the letter that if my pre-tax income is above £35k (it is) then the combined chumpery of DWP, HMRC and the Whitehall Blob will conspire to claw back the money via my tax code. You could not make it up! No wonder the country is going down the pan. Fine; I don't need this money, but why give it to me in the first place? If pointless bureaucracy and stupidity such as this were stamped on there might just be enough money in the coffers to allow a universal winter fuel payment.
BTW, I wish those buffoons at DWP would learn to write letters correctly. They use Dear [Christian name] [surname] rather than Dear [title] [surname], and there's no Yours sincerely. Pathetic!

This board is not for discussing benefit policy.
From the sticky at the top of the board:

Its about helping people get their entitlement! Not about benefits policy!

1 February 2007 at 11:24PM edited 14 February 2023 at 11:11AM

Its about helping people get their entitlement! Not about benefits policy!

This board is here for help and support for those on or looking to claim benefits, not for judgement.

Its ONLY focus is helping people with their money.

It's here to help people find out what they are entitled to under the current system, and to help them get it.

Benefits provide a lifeline for many, and this site is here to help people with their money, and not to judge. Of course, how to illegally defraud the benefits system shouldn't be discussed here, but ensuring you're getting your entitlement is exactly what it’s about.

TELLIT01

The underlying issue with entitlement to many benefits is the cliff edge cut off.  If you have £999.99 for example, you may be entitled to many benefits.  Have one penny more than that and any entitlement ceases.  My brother was disabled but his work pension took him less than £2 per week over the limit.  He lived in supported accommodation and had to pay his own rent, rates etc.  The person living next door had none of those bills.  The system is, and always has been, an all or nothing system.  If you fall outside it - tough.

maman

Thank you @Pollycat. I noticed this post on 'Latest Threads' so wasn't aware of the sticky and responded, because it's a topical subject, totally unaware of rules of the Benefits board. Perhaps something for mse to consider. 🤔

Murphybear

HarryIb said:

I got a letter today from the DWP telling me that I'm getting a Winter Fuel Payment of £200. Hip, hip, hooray! I'll use the money to increase my shareholding in Drax, the power generation company. However, the payment is only a short-term gain. I'm informed in the letter that if my pre-tax income is above £35k (it is) then the combined chumpery of DWP, HMRC and the Whitehall Blob will conspire to claw back the money via my tax code. You could not make it up! No wonder the country is going down the pan. Fine; I don't need this money, but why give it to me in the first place? If pointless bureaucracy and stupidity such as this were stamped on there might just be enough money in the coffers to allow a universal winter fuel payment.
BTW, I wish those buffoons at DWP would learn to write letters correctly. They use Dear [Christian name] [surname] rather than Dear [title] [surname], and there's no Yours sincerely. Pathetic!

Sorry but I think you are the pathetic one getting so wound up by trivia 

HarryIb

Murphybear said:

HarryIb said:

I got a letter today from the DWP telling me that I'm getting a Winter Fuel Payment of £200. Hip, hip, hooray! I'll use the money to increase my shareholding in Drax, the power generation company. However, the payment is only a short-term gain. I'm informed in the letter that if my pre-tax income is above £35k (it is) then the combined chumpery of DWP, HMRC and the Whitehall Blob will conspire to claw back the money via my tax code. You could not make it up! No wonder the country is going down the pan. Fine; I don't need this money, but why give it to me in the first place? If pointless bureaucracy and stupidity such as this were stamped on there might just be enough money in the coffers to allow a universal winter fuel payment.
BTW, I wish those buffoons at DWP would learn to write letters correctly. They use Dear [Christian name] [surname] rather than Dear [title] [surname], and there's no Yours sincerely. Pathetic!

Sorry but I think you are the pathetic one getting so wound up by trivia 

How about commenting on the points being made rather than the person making it - just  a thought.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem

Grumpy_chap

HarryIb said:

I got a letter today from the DWP telling me that I'm getting a Winter Fuel Payment of £200.
I'm informed in the letter that if my pre-tax income is above £35k (it is) then HMRC will claw back the money via my tax code. 

Cutting out the rant and emotion, this does make some sense.
WFP is paid in winter.
The qualifying threshold - the actual annual income for the tax year is not known (for definite) until April at the very earliest.
There can be a change between the payment being made and the qualifying threshold being confirmed such that an individual might move into or out of the eligible band.  There are a good number of cases where income for a retiree is more certain than it might be for an employee, but also a good number of cases where income for a retiree may still vary around that band.

Eldi_Dos

HarryIb said:

BTW, I wish those buffoons at DWP would learn to write letters correctly. They use Dear [Christian name] [surname] rather than Dear [title] [surname], and there's no Yours sincerely. Pathetic!

Buffoonery indeed.

I would imagine their thinking for using forename could revolve around the chance that there  might be more than one (title) Dos in the household.

silverwhistle

At least this way we get fewer rants on here, as if it had been as originally proposed we'd have had endless posts about poor pensioners freezing to death.

I'll be under the threshold, and like many have savings (PBs and ISAs) that aren't taxable income, FITs and a de minimis sideline too which comes under the taxation limit.  I might have the heating on a bit more this year if it's a cold one, but I can afford to give the local food bank half of it to help them give out a bit of Christmas cheer.

We also get lots of moans about bureaucracy, so I'm all for them doing it in the cheapest and most efficient way.