Why the winter fuel cut has been ‘positive’ for some of the poorest pensioners

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1. The winter fuel payment cut spurs an uptick in pension credit claims – which is positive news for the poorest retirees

   The Government’s decision to cut winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners has proved unpopular among many voters and its own MPs, but has had a side-effect of boosting the finances of many of the country’s poorest pensioners, according to experts.

   In July, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves, said the payment – worth up to £300 a year –[ would be scrapped for those not in receipt of pension credit or other means-tested benefits](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/rachel-reeves-universal-winter-fuel-payments-3196527?srsltid=AfmBOopcL2UPus_5J11oFlyRiFvHK4H_m3kr3s5uVh0TTdKaCvAXNSWp?ico=in-line_link).

   The decision was made in order to save money, with the Chancellor warning of a £22bn “black hole” in the Treasury Budget, but some have suggested the policy will not raise as much as initially had been expected.

   This is because thousands more pensioners are now claiming pension credit than before – meaning a higher number of retirees will actually be paid pension credit itself as well as the fuel payments, whereas experts say previous attempts to drive up take-up of the benefit have “fallen fairly flat.”

   Alongside introducing the policy, the Government announced an awareness drive to get more people to claim pension credit so that they do not miss out on their fuel allowance, with Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) figures suggesting an extra 5,500 claims have been made per week over the eight weeks since the announcement.

   When calculating how much cutting winter fuel payments would save, the Government estimated £1.5bn, but it’s possible this figure could end up being bigger, if a higher number of pensioners than expected claim the benefit.

   Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, told **i**: “The underclaiming of pension credit has been a massive issue for a long time with many thousands of pensioners missing out on vital support.

   “Previous attempts to spur people to claim have fallen fairly flat, so it is hugely positive to see that the news around the winter fuel payment has spurred more pensioners to get a claim in. Of course, this means the potential savings to government will not be as high as first thought but it means more pensioners are getting the support to which they are entitled.”

   Sir Steve Webb, former pensions minister and now partner at LCP, added: “For the people who do now claim pension credit who would not otherwise have done so, they will clearly be quite a bit better off.”