Winter Fuel Allowance payments scrapped for millions of pensioners.

[Pyrotequila]

On 14/08/2024 at 14:33, geared said:

If it's a particularly harsh winter tho, you may end up losing out.

Even last winter it never went over the standard tariff price per kWh for us 😎

 

The fuel allowance payment story has just popped up on another site I read, and something stuck out about the savings, and the number of people who won't get it this year and the reported money... it doesn't add up.

 

Quote

The government figures mentioned in this story don't add up... the number of people getting the winter fuel payment will drop by 10 million, the government says this will save £1.4 billion... but 10 million times by £300 is actually £3 billion... so who is pocketing the missing £1.6 billion??

 

[lavery549@yahoo]

Well , as if it's not bad enough removing the fuel allowance , electricity prices are going up now . I have to say ,this is not on . But , what does Starmer do ? , he gives the greedy train drivers , who are already very well paid , another pay rise . Talk about get the priorities right , not !!!!!!.  

[cressida]

Yes,  up 10% I read.

[despritdan]

There's nothing wrong with targetting benefits to those who need it but you only have to have an income of over around £11,400 to lose the fuel allowance which is a very low threshhold. Perhaps they could make it around £17,000 pa using tax codes to identify who would qualify for it.

[geared]

55 minutes ago, lavery549@yahoo said:

Well , as if it's not bad enough removing the fuel allowance , electricity prices are going up now . I have to say ,this is not on . But , what does Starmer do ? , he gives the greedy train drivers , who are already very well paid , another pay rise . Talk about get the priorities right , not !!!!!!.  

 

Prices are predicted to rise 10%.  It's just winter and the increased gas use that brings.  I can't remember last year, but I think it's a lower increase than 2023?

 

Obviously it's driven by the Russian-Ukraine war and the shut down of gas pipelines, we no longer have a convenient source of gas being pumped to use 365 days of the year.  Plus the UK especially decided it was a good idea to bin off all our gas storage, so we can't really take advantage of storing gas when it's cheap.

Edited August 24 by geared

[Prettytom]

19 minutes ago, despritdan said:

There's nothing wrong with targetting benefits to those who need it but you only have to have an income of over around £11,400 to lose the fuel allowance which is a very low threshhold. Perhaps they could make it around £17,000 pa using tax codes to identify who would qualify for it.

I agree entirely with this. I think that Reeves made a mistake by setting the limit so low. I still think that it is a correct policy, there are plenty of people who really don’t need the allowance and we can’t afford to waste money.

 

On the subject of price rises, there were plenty of fixes around a few months ago. They were available to just about anybody. People do need to take personal responsibility to control their own expenditure.

[crookesey]

Labour won the G/E with a massive majority, this means that they can do as they wish, just like the Tories did, so get used to accepting their policies for the next 5 years, even if they cost you.

[Slighty batty]

In Belgium they have special “social tariffs” for electricity and gas. For example, if you’re handicapped or elderly and housebound you pay a lower rate for your energy costs. 

[hackey lad]

4 hours ago, Prettytom said:

I agree entirely with this. I think that Reeves made a mistake by setting the limit so low. I still think that it is a correct policy, there are plenty of people who really don’t need the allowance and we can’t afford to waste money.

 

On the subject of price rises, there were plenty of fixes around a few months ago. They were available to just about anybody. People do need to take personal responsibility to control their own expenditure.

Victim blaming?

[Prettytom]

14 minutes ago, hackey lad said:

Victim blaming?

You’d do a lot better on here if you explained yourself more clearly.

 

Use a few more words and I’ll see whether it’s worth discussing this simple issue with you.