Pensioners who have struggled through the coldest months of the year without winter fuel payments have called for Chancellor Rachel Reeves to re-think her decision to end universal support.
Carole, an 87-year-old disabled widow living alone in Bournemouth, told The i Paper she had endured a terrible few months of feeling cold inside her home this winter.
She has badly missed the £300 winter fuel payment that she had previously depended on to be able to turn up her heating in recent years.
“It’s been a rotten winter. It’s been really cold,” said Carole, who has arthritis. “I have a blanket over my knees and I have a hot water bottle – that’s how I try to keep warm.”
Carole, who lives in social housing, said she had to keep her heating off or turned down to keep her energy costs affordable.
Her average monthly electricity bill has tripled from around £30 before Covid and the Ukraine energy crisis to around £90 now.
“I’m housebound because I’m disabled, and it’s hard to keep my circulation going,” she said. “I don’t want to think about what might happen [in future]. I’m just praying for no more cold snaps.”
Reeves decided to ditch universal winter fuel payments in July, saving £1.4bn a year as the new Labour Government looked to plug a hole in the public finances.
The Chancellor limited the annual energy bill support payment, worth £200 to £300 per household, only to pensioners in receipt of means-tested benefits – including pension credit.
It lead to a massive surge in claims for pension credit, with around 150,000 people applying to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in the 16 weeks after Reeves’s announcement.
Carole applied to the DWP for pension credit in a bid to get the winter fuel payment and other support – but was rejected because her income was narrowly over the threshold.
“They told me I was £15 [a week] over the threshold limit, which feels ridiculous – very frustrating,” said the 87-year-old, who has sought advice from Age UK.
Pension credit helps tops up weekly income to £218.15 for single people and joint weekly incomes to £332.95 for those living below those sums.
Some might still be eligible for pension credit if their income is higher, but it will depend on disabilities, savings and housing costs.
Carole said Labour’s decision to scrap universal winter fuel payments was “awful”, arguing that Keir Starmer’s Government “don’t seem to care about old people at all”.
She added: “The winter fuel payment meant a lot to me. It made a big difference. So many people are suffering. They should bring it back and it shouldn’t be means tested.”
The i Paper reported earlier this month on the thousands of struggling pensioners who will have to wait until spring to find out if they are eligible for pension credit and winter fuel payments.
Welfare experts said they expected a huge backlog of 74,000 pension credit claims that had built up to mid-January could take several months for the DWP to clear.
“There are a lot of people struggling who aren’t eligible [for pension credit] – I don’t know how people will manage,” said Carole. “It’s dreadful that some people are still waiting to hear if they’ll get it.”
Energy bills are set to soar again from April after the price cap was increased, adding to the pressure on vulnerable older people who have been forced to restrict their heating costs in recent months.
The Government announced this week that 2.7 million extra households would be eligible for the warm home discount scheme, a £150 discount on energy bills, next winter.
Charities welcome the move – but called on ministers to urgently widen the eligibility for the winter fuel payment so more vulnerable pensioners can access it next winter.
Caroline Abrahams, Age UK’s charity director, welcomed the warm home discount extension and Ofgem’s proposals to provide energy bill debt relief.
However, she warned that the moves “will not be enough on their own to give older people on low and modest incomes – and others with high energy costs through illness or disability – the confidence to run their heating when it’s cold”.
Abrahams said ministers should give the winter fuel payment to older people “who receive a wider range of benefits than just pension credit”, or bring in a social tariff to give all those on low incomes a discounted energy deal.
Joanna Elson, chief executive of Independent Age, said the charity “hears from older people every day” who have missed out on the winter fuel payment despite living on a low income.
“Like Carole, they have been forced to sit freezing in their homes, or cut back in other dangerous ways, such as on food. This isn’t right.”
A Government spokesperson said it was “committed to supporting pensioners”, adding that millions were “set to see their state pension rise by up to £1,900 this parliament through our commitment to the triple lock”.
They added: “Many others will continue to benefit from the warm home discount and extended the household support fund which will help with the cost of heating, food and bills.
“And last year Energy UK, in collaboration with the Government, published a winter 2024 commitment which promised £500m of industry support to billpayers this winter.”
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