Winter fuel allowance UK

10/28/2012 - 06:17

I have just applied (form available from Govt pensions online) for the winter fuel allowance for over 60's. The rules have changed and anyone who is over 60 before July 2012, and not necessarily in receipt of the state pension, who has worked most of their life in UK is entitled to the £200.

Comment

... think the only rule change is the fact you can get it now even if you live here in Italy (due to an EU ruling against the UK). You always could get it without having a RP (i.e. over 60), just if you were in receipt of retirement pension (RP) it was paid with it (or other benefits). Do belive they now intend to creep the age limit up over... More info here https://www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment/overview   :)

"Even if you are getting the UK state pension, the winter fuel allowance is not an automatic payment. You have to fill in the form, and my husband is not in receipt of the state pension is also entitled to the allowance."   The married couple allowance is the same as a single persons - they get half each - so its hardly worth the second person applying   [until after the other one dies!]

Have printed off the form, so will see if we have more luck this time. 6 years ago it was rejected as we had left the UK a few months before 60th. Will be interesting to see how it goes this time!!!

I'm not sure I agree with all this in taking money for a UK heating allowance, when you live in another Country, whether or not you 'qualify' for it or not. The UK economy is in a bad enough state as it is without added funds disappearing abroad, and the coffers have only so much. With NHS service cuts and other benefits being cut to people who desperately need it, I'm not sure claiming it just because EU rules say you should be eligible to is ethically correct. I know a Disabled friend of ours, who lives in the UK who is unable to get work so relys on Benefits, that has recently had certain benefits cut, would love to have the extra £200 to help her through the Winter: but because she is in her 50's wont qualify. Still I suppose it's a matter of conscience !!!

The rule used to be that if you left the Uk before you were receiving the Winter Fuel Allowance then you would not be entitled to it.  If you were receiving it and then left the UK you would be entitled to still receive it.  If you went to other than an EU country then you wouldn't get it at all. Now, if you move before receiving the allowance you are still able to claim it when you are 60.  (July 1951 is the actual date at present)

Joy, do you mean even if you are non resident and classed as Resident in another Country you can still claim it when you are over 60? If this is correct then no wonder the UK is seen as the soft touch in Europe.

Since it is for pensioners, who have paid all their taxes and NI contributions for 39 years, I have no qualms is applying for it to suppliment the lowest state pension in Europe! Italians were protesting a few months ago because the average pension was €1,000 ----I wish mine was!!

with Flip. Having worked for the NHS for a number of years and now see what the cut backs have done, I honestly do not think that those who have elected to become residents or even worse, permanent residents in another country, EU or not should be entitled to claim such benefits.  Even though I am a UK resident I will be unable to claim my pension until I am 67 yrs old, by which time there probably wont be one,  let alone winter fuel payments, if they still exist when the time comes to claim.  (15 yrs time......)  Mrs Dylano.

Well make the best of it rosietat, because as Dylano says it wont last forever, and when you moved to Italy didn't you realise that they have  some of the worst Pensions/benefits in the EU? Just saying that the mentality of 'I've paid for it so I'm entitled' should be tempered with 'do I need it more than others'. Sorry for my staunch Socialist views, but I'm pretty sure Nye Bevan or Herbert Asquith didn't have these sentiments when the thought up the Welfare State and NHS. I just hope you declare it to the Finaza as income !

So a few of us who have paid taxes etc all our lives, should not be entitled to it then Flip? Its so amazing that since joining the EU, there has been such a influx of member EU countries people flooding into the UK, to get on the benefits wagon. I see no reason why the Polish workers in the UK, can claim child benefit for children that do not even live here, but you begrudge people who have worked all their life in the UK for £200 a year!!! The great Gordon Brown raided pension funds, sold off a load of gold at the lowest price he could get, as he was brainless. No wonder British pensioners are paid the lowest in Europe. http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/274972/-42m-child-benefit-sent-abroa...

Whoops have modified my language on this. I find it amazing that anyone should suggest that I should not finally receive my winter fuel allowance even though I am a permanent resident here in Italy. I have paid my UK taxes and still do after having worked for over 35 years in the public sector. Sour grapes I think from anyone that says this is unfair!. With Badger on this...and have deleted more comments in case much is made of a dispute over this. Sometimes age has its meagre benefits!.

It was on moneybox ages ago and I have since read about it referring to the people who have moved to Spain (in particular) that if they were in receipt of the WFA before they left the UK then they were still entitled to receive it even though they lived in Spain (where for most they would not need it) but if you moved to eg Canada (which gets really freezing) you would not be entitled to it.  I further understand that the EU classed it unfair for people who moved before the age of 60. I do not know if it only applies to people who are in receipt of State Pension from UK.  If you go on the Government Pensions website I think there is a form that you can fill in. I can understand Flip  flipping his lid (lol) but I reckon we must be an extremely rich country and can afford it!!  Yes, foreign workers come here and get benefits to send to their home country for their kids (probably half of them are not even theirs)  We let the scum of the world in here and give them accommodation in front of english people (can't say white as that would be racist)  We pay child benefits to well off people.  This just having changed to if a couple each earn less than £50,000 a year then they get the benefit!  So £100,000 per year and they can't f... manage on that - I feel really sorry for them.  A woman emailed Jeremy Vine show on Monday to say her and her husband are accountants and earn approx £60,000 EACH a year and they will lose the benefit and she says they only manage 'to get by'. If you can get it then good luck and claim it as I said before this country must be absolutely rolling in money.

From il Sole 24 03-08-2012 -

welfare

Pensioni, donne penalizzate rispetto agli uomini   Le donne in pensione percepiscono assegni più bassi rispetto agli uomini. Lo ha certificato l'Istat in uno studio su trattamenti pensionistici e beneficiari, secondo il quale nel 2010 oltre la metà (54,8%) delle donne percepiva meno di mille euro, contro un terzo (34,9%) degli uomini. Il numero degli uomini (597mila) che percepiscono un reddito pensionistico mensile pari o superiore ai 3.000 euro è di oltre tre volte più elevato di quello delle donne (180 mila). Nel 2010, dei 23.763.023 trattamenti pensionistici il 56,5% é stato erogato a donne e il 43,5% a uomini. Le donne, pur rappresentando il 53% dei pensionati (8,8 milioni su 16,7 milioni) e più della metà delle pensioni, percepiva solo il 44% degli oltre 258 miliardi di euro erogati, mentre il 56% è destinata agli uomini. L'importo medio annuo delle prestazioni di titolarità maschile ammonta a 14.001 euro, il 65,3% in più di quello delle pensioni di titolarità femminile, che si attesta a 8.469 euro. Secondo Istat, la crescente prevalenza del genere femminile all'aumentare del numero di trattamenti percepiti fa sì che il divario tra uomini e donne si riduca al 43,6% se calcolato sul reddito pensionistico medio, pari a 18.435 euro per gli uomini e 12.840 per le donne. Tra il 2000 e il 2010, i differenziali degli importi medi delle pensioni e dei redditi pensionistici tra uomini e donne sono cresciuti, rispettivamente, di 5,4 e 2,3 punti percentuali.

  Socialist view.... sounds more like a "ultra right of  Margret Thatcher" view to me.... Under the EU we have a broad reciprocal agreement and under that agreement there is an equal rights to benefit no matter where you live in the EU. Of course we could all give up our wealth etc , so I’ll be around for your PC later thanks…. :)   

Well well, this is more like it a bit of passion at last. Firstly Steve g w etc 'Under the EU we have a broad reciprocal agreement and under that agreement there is an equal rights to benefit no matter where you live in the EU.' so it's OK to pick and choose what we benefit from and what we loose out on then, well this does not apply to everyone , ask any Italian and I think they would prefer the benefit system in the UK than here but they can't have it ; so don't you think it rich that a UK citizen should live in Italy and get the best of both Worlds, forgive me but don't you make a choice to live in Italy over the UK so why should you have any greater benefit than an Italian citizen? yet I see people moaning about the fact they are unable to get the equivalent Health Cover here month in and month out. I think you'll find the phrase ' Swings and Roundabouts' applies. Joy , please calm down..let any scum of the Earth into our Country.... a bit of Fasict speak there I think too much reading of the Daily Express, try the Guardian Dear! And Badger, aren't we a tad Xenophobic here being in the spirit of EU harmony, it's not OK for a Polish person to work and pay taxes in the UK and get the benefits, but it's fine for a Brit to come to Italy and get their Benefits?? I don't begrudge anyone getting what they are due if it's done properly and benefits are transferred (as in the Form S1/S2 not sure what the Polish equivalent is) between Counties but it is not perceived as easily as that, is it, because we are not 'Johnny Foreigner' sponging of the State are we?  A&R well what do I say 'sour Grapes' NO I don't qualify, but this typically British mentality of ..Well why shouldn't I get it, we let anyone get the UK benefit system as soon as they walk in the door.... you probably left the UK for exactly those reasons so pleeeaaase ! It beggars belief that some people can be so insensitive to the needs of people who seek help or a better life, because they cannot get it in their own Country; why do you think Polish workers went to Britain and why Albanians come to Italy; they need to work to support their families and be able to support themselves, a concept that is a distant memory to people in the UK I'm sure. The sooner people who have lived a relatively cosseted life in the UK wake up to the fact that not every EU citizen is as privileged the better; oh! and having a bit of a social conscience helps as well. Stands back and dons flak jacket !!!!

Very funny Steve!...and may I point out to those that misunderstand, this benefit is based on NI contributions in the Uk prior to residence in Italy...so tough luck my application is in the post. Re Joys post, non Uk workers do the crap jobs that others will not do, the UK and for that matter the Italian economey is dependant on these people being exploited and living in shocking conditions, its never so black and white. PS wonder if Flip could share the wealth and give me a few bits of wood for the stufa?

Sorry Flip don't read the Express!  I think if people have spent their working life (or at least most of it) in the UK and want to retire to someone warmer or anywhere else for that matter then they should be able to benefit the same as folk who stay in the UK.  I have no problem with people who come here from anywhere so long as they work and keep themselves.  They should be sponsored and only allowed in if they have a job to go to.  Unfortunately a lot just come here and live on benefits - which they, or their families have never paid in to.  Could you or I go to Italy, Poland, Pakistan and be given accommodation and money to live on?  No, I don't think so. So Flip if you worked in the Uk for most of your life and you are entitled to the WFA you claim it sweetie and if you don't need the money share it between Angie and me as we will put it to good use!  xx

And Badger, aren't we a tad Xenophobic here being in the spirit of EU harmony, it's not OK for a Polish person to work and pay taxes in the UK and get the benefits, but it's fine for a Brit to come to Italy and get their Benefits?? I don't begrudge anyone getting what they are due if it's done properly and benefits are transferred (as in the Form S1/S2 not sure what the Polish equivalent is) between Counties but it is not perceived as easily as that, is it, because we are not 'Johnny Foreigner' sponging of the State are we? No I am not xenophobic, as you put it, otherwise would not have worked in Saudi Arabia for 4 years. In fact I had very good Saudi friends as I did not live on a compound, but in the local community. Also we had no problem in taking a Cambodian Tuk - Tuk driver on a weeks holiday from Phnom Penh to Angkor Wat, or buying $50 of food for his family as they were so poor. Had a lovely meal in the Kampong and meeting the Monks and locals in the Temple!!! There you see poverty, without benefits being given. Another case of the 2 cyclo guys we had in Saigon. They lost their businesses after the war to the vietcong, so were living on $10 a day, when they managed to get work that is. We used them every day to sightsee, and bought them meals in restaurants they recommended, which was not part of the $10. Those people I am pleased to help out, not the spongers, layabouts, asylum seekers, benefit cheats or other detrius that comes into the UK from the great EU, just to work the system. I do not receive any benefits in Italy, apart from the reciprical health treatment and a reduced UK company pension, thanks to the last Liebor Govt. If you read the articles properly that I posted, then you would see childcare allowance in Poland is only 3.30Euro per week, but the loophole allows them to claim for their children not living in the UK, so one works in the UK and pays taxes and claims for children in another country. The article just really mentioned the Poles, but I am sure many others are working the system. It's OK, only your money, keep paying!!