Four million state pensioners told they are too wealthy for Winter Fuel Payments

26 comments

1. hmm… it says give it to everyone then claim it back. Yeah, that worked nicely for Covid fraud didnt it!?

2. Coincidentally, don’t we also have more than 3 million pensioners who are millionaires?

3. News just in, wealthiest generation is too wealthy to claim benefits.

4. My parents who are currently eyeing up their 5th cruise this year will be mad about this I bet 

5. Okay, good? Means-tested benefit is means-tested. Apparently this is controversial now, but maybe benefits should only be available to the people who actually need them, and not just handed out to the entire population as an electoral bribe.

6. Give everyone benefits.

   Tax each benefit at 100% at certain thresholds

7. There’s about 13 million pensioners, that’s less than 1 in 3 being told they are too wealthy for a top-up benefit meant to help the poorest people.

   I know a good few pensioners and I’d say at least a third have a higher income than me and I’m worked. I don’t begrudge them a decent standard of living, but they don’t NEED the extra money, and other much poorer people do.

8. One of the worst things we do in this country is confusing wealth and income

   You can have a very high income but have no wealth

   This means testing is purely on income, not wealth.

9. I remember when Cameron an Osbourne came in and we were about £200 a month worse off from the loss of child benefit and tax credits. WFA is max £25 a month..

10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_each_according_to_his_ability,_to_each_according_to_his_needs

11. You wot! Laybor are staeelin’ ma naaan’s maneee!
    Righ! Am getttin’ me flag aaaaat! Caaamon Tommiii!

12. £35k seems fair. £12k definitely wasn’t

    Met the mother of a friend of mine on a coach trip. She lost her husband but has his pension from the navy + his pension from the police + her full NHS pension + state pension. She does not need another £300

13. Does this include the pensioners that live in palaces? Or do they still get a teet to suckle?

14. I think there is a sense of entitlement to a lot of old age benefits. Driven by a mentality of “I’ve worked all my life, paid taxes all my life, the social contract means I should be able to retire in comfort with the state looking after me”…

    Not saying I agree with it.

    However one thing I think we should keep is free bus passes for OAPs.

    Busses help with loneliness, mobility and christ, half the OAPs should have their licenses removed anyway so hopefully it encourages some modal shift.

15. “Retirees will not qualify for the payments this year if they have annual incomes above £35,000”

    Given the median income in the UK is basically £35K, that means you can be earning more than 49% of working Britons and *still* get a government handout. Even with this restriction, pensioners are the most pandered to class.

16. Complain about “benefits scrounging” when pensions are, definitionally a state benefit..as is a winter fuel payment.

17. People keep bitching about taxes and government spending/inefficiency. What is less efficient than literally giving money away to people who don’t in any way need it?

    Yet weirdly the people who criticise government spending the most are usually silent when it comes to pensions and benefits to the elderly – which are some of the heaviest costs on the state budget.

18. So that’s what, 1/3 of a billion to help with the black hole? it’s at least something I guess. What else can we means test to help pay the triple lock?

19. I have to laugh.

    RANT TO FOLLOW 

    My kid’s school is doing better than most primary schools as thanks to them having a low turnover of staff, including a teacher who retired this year at 70, they have been able to get local business people to donate money so they can buy textbooks, local businesses to pride material and expertise so they can do up their playground, etc. They are also in London so the entire school gets free school meals though when they have school trips which are subsidised again by a mixture of businesses and better of parents some of the kids don’t bring enough to eat as their parents are too ashamed of asking for lunch. However the building, which is Victorian still needs substantial maintenance which donations cannot pay for. 

    While London schools are lucky they can at least feed their kids during term time like loads of others across the country they find their kids don’t have the basics to get educated and the school buildings are falling apart. 

    And some pensioners are moaning about money they don’t need. 

20. It was the funniest thing when the Tories made a sad video about pensioners losing winter fuel payments. One of the people they interviewed blatantly admitted they don’t need it and use it to buy Christmas presents for the grandkids, another did the interview in front of a grand piano, and a third was wearing a rolex.

21. Well, yeah. Such payments should go to those who need it, those who would otherwise freeze in their homes, not those who are wealthy enough to easily afford it.

    Our society should take care of those who cannot take care of themselves, and provide a robust safety net, but it shouldn’t throw free money at people who literally don’t need it.

22. Because maybe they are and, being boomers, have bled the system dry and there’s no money left? 

23. It is odd how we overpay rich people based on their age ,but won’t use that money to pay poor families and their kids because they just need to “work harder”.

24. The cut-off should be much lower for pensioners that don’t have housing costs. £35k a year is quite a bit of money if you don’t have to deal with a mortgage or rent.

25. They are, the backlash against this tepid reform to benefits from the most spoiled generation (while every subsequent generation has had to do nothing but make sacrifices) is absurd. I’m glad they actually went through with it rather than walking it back after the media backlash

26. Well yes, you are collecting more than the median income without doing a spot of work, you are rich enough to not need benefits.

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