Labour’s attack on the winter fuel allowance has left pensioners facing a battle to still receive the payment even if they are eligible – because they have to fill out a 243-question form.
Charities have warned older people face a “daunting” battle claiming what they should be owed because of the mountain of red tape they have to negotiate.
Under Labour plans biting from September, people who don’t already receive pensions credit or other means-tested benefits will lose their winter fuel payments worth up to £300 a year.
In a double whammy for worried elderly people, Ofgem have also announced a 10 percent hike in energy prices in the same month the Prime Minister warned of a “painful” budget on the horizon for October.
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, told the Money blog: “The pension credit form has 243 boxes to navigate. It is not particularly long or complex as claim forms go, but completing it would still pose a challenge for many of us, including many older people with no one to help them.”
Are you, or someone you know, being affected by Labour’s winter fuel allowance cut? if you’d like to share your story email [email protected]
Joanna Elson, chief executive of Independent Age, went further saying the scale of the forms and “gathering this amount of personal information can be daunting”.
She added that for older people struggling financially they could be suffering from “anxiety and stress” about money woes, making the long forms “difficult to tackle”.
Liberal Democrats leader Sir Ed Davey has said his party will attempt to block the Government’s proposed move to end the winter fuel allowance to some pensioners, describing the move as the new administration’s “first big mistake”.
Sir Ed said Labour MPs and others across the House will be “genuinely worried” about the move after correspondence with constituents.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the Government is withdrawing winter fuel payments from millions of pensioner households not in receipt of benefits.
Ms Reeves defended that decision, which she blamed on a £22 billion black hole in the public finances inherited from the Conservatives, stating: “it’s not a decision I wanted to make.”
The Prime Minister, making his first keynote address from Downing Street on Tuesday, also blamed the previous Conservative administration and said he would not shy away from making “unpopular decisions”.
If you think you might be eligible for pensions credit, you can check your status via the Government website calculator here.
