A Third of Pensioners Will Struggle Financially Without Winter Fuel Payments: Age UK

Some 37 percent of pensioners, around 4.4 million people, will find it difficult to manage financially without the Winter Fuel Payments (WFP), charity Age UK has said.
Research conducted by Age UK found that this proportion rose to 53 percent of pensioners (aged 66 or older) who are not currently eligible for WFP but who are receiving other forms of benefits, “indicating that they are either likely to be on a low income or living in quite difficult circumstances due to disability, ill health or being a carer.”
The report, published on Tuesday, also found that 77 percent of pensioners—equivalent to around 9.2 million people—had spent their fuel allowance last year on energy-related expenditure, such as heating their homes, running household appliances, and hot water.
Nearly a quarter (24 percent) spent it on cooking meals, according to the survey of more than 1,000 people aged 66 and over conducted by Kantar.
This winter, 55 percent of pensioners told the charity that they have had to turn down or reduce the hours they use heating at home to save money, with that figure rising to 63 percent for disadvantaged seniors.
Charity Director Caroline Abrahams said in a statement: “It’s no surprise to us at Age UK, and it really shouldn’t be to anyone else either, that the great majority of older people spent their Winter Fuel Payment on energy related costs last year.
“With fuel prices having gone up so much compared to five or ten years ago, even older people who expected to be relatively comfortable in retirement have been impacted and forced to tighten their belts. And for those without much money behind them, energy bills have become a source of real fear.”
Responding to the charity’s findings, a government spokesperson said in a statement: “We are committed to supporting pensioners – with millions set to see their state pension rise by up to £1,900 this parliament through our commitment to the triple lock.
In July, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves ended universal access to the WFP support and restricted it only to those claiming Pension Credit from this winter in a bid to save £1.5 billion a year.
The government said means testing the benefit would reduce the number of people in England and Wales receiving it from 11.4 million to 1.5 million.
The SSAC wrote to the DWP last month saying, “The direct savings from the significantly reduced eligibility for Winter Fuel Payments are partially offset by the cost of the rise in the number of claims to Pension Credit and the additional resources being deployed to process them.”