Fresh call for public to help ensure that vulnerable pensioners receive Winter Fuel Payment

Official figures suggest that 10,000 vulnerable East Sussex pensioners risk missing-out on Winter Fuel Payment this year. Energise Sussex Coast’s Gabriel Carlyle reports.

Community energy co-operative Energise Sussex Coast (ESC) is urging East Sussex residents to check if anyone they know is entitled to pension credit, and (if they are eligible) to make sure that they apply for the benefit before the 21 December deadline.

The call comes in the wake of the government’s decision to means-test pensioners’ access to the Winter Fuel Payment, which last year provided over 11 million pensioners with between £100 – £300 in assistance.

For most UK pensioners, access to the Winter Fuel Payment will now depend on whether or not they are receiving pension credit, a benefit given to poorer pensioners. However, Age UK estimate that roughly 1 million pensioners who are entitled to receive pension credit don’t currently claim the benefit.

Hastings Borough Council Leader Julia Hilton recently made a similar call to members of the public. (Meanwhile, Hastings & Rye MP Helena Dollimore voted against a Commons motion to block the cut to the winter fuel payment.)

However, the government is actually relying on the majority of the estimated 850,000 pensioners who are eligible-for-but-not-receiving-pension-credit remaining in that category: indeed, if enough of them were to apply and start receiving the benefit the move would actually result in a net loss to the Treasury.

10,000 vulnerable pensioners

Figures released last month by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) suggest that across East Sussex roughly 10,000 vulnerable pensioners may miss out on Winter Fuel Payment this year because they’ve failed to apply for pension credit that they’re entitled to.* Of these, maybe 1,300 live in Hastings & St Leonards.

According to Age UK ‘as many as 2.5 million pensioners who find paying their energy bills a real stretch will be seriously hit by this cut.’ ‘Cutting the Winter Fuel Payment this winter, with virtually no notice and no compensatory measures to protect poor and vulnerable pensioners, is the wrong policy decision’, they note.

‘Holding Labour’s feet to the fire’

Last month Labour’s national leadership lost a motion at the party’s conference last that called on ministers to reverse the cuts to winter fuel payment.

Unite, which strongly backed the motion and is actively campaigning on the issue across the UK, said: ‘[W]e make no apology for holding Labour’s feet to the fire, because unless Labour makes the right choices, there won’t be a second Labour government. People need to see their lives improve. Taking money off pensioners on as little as £220 a week, while the 50 richest families in Britain own a combined £500 billion, doesn’t do that. That is why Unite is holding Labour to account over winter fuel.’

Meanwhile, over half-a-million people signing an Age UK petition calling on the government  to scrap the change.

Check eligibility and apply before 21 December

Anyone wanting to check their eligibility can do so themselves by following this link to Age UK’s free benefits calculator or (if they need further help) by ringing Age UK’s free advice line: 0800 678 1602.

Energise Sussex Coast’s own energy advisors can also help refer East Sussex residents to local charities who can help them check their eligibility and guide them through the process if necessary. Energise Sussex Coast’s free energy service can also provide help with energy-efficiency measures, debt write-offs and fuel vouchers. East Sussex residents can book a free appointment by ringing of texting 01424 390 062.

There are also opportunities for members of the public to get free, friendly and impartial advice on all energy-related issues at ESC’s  new community drop-in sessions at Hastings library and as well as the Community Info Hub in Hastings Town Hall:

• Hastings Library (Brassey Institute, 13 Claremont, TN34 1HE), 10am – 12pm, Tues 8 Oct and Tues 22 Oct
• Community Info Hub (Hastings Town Hall, Station Road, TN34 1NG), 10am – 12pm, Thurs 10 Oct, Thurs 17 Oct, Thurs 24 Oct and Thurs 31 Oct

Thousands of deaths

Every winter thousands of people in the UK die because they live in cold homes, and the decision to withdraw the Winter Fuel Payment from thousands of vulnerable pensioners is only likely to increase that number.

Last year ESC’s energy advice service helped over 900 households across East Sussex save over £170,000. Yet those gains will be dwarfed by the losses incurred if thousands of pensioners across the County don’t get this year’s Winter Fuel Payment because they’ve failed to apply for the pension credit to which they’re entitled.

So if you know someone who you think might be eligible then please make sure that they check their eligibility and apply before the 21 December deadline!

Energise Sussex Coast: www.energisesussexcoast.co.uk

Age UK: https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/money-legal/benefits-entitlements/winter-fuel-payment/

Unite: https://www.unitetheunion.org/campaigns/defend-the-winter-fuel-payment

* According to DWP figures, 135,955 people across East Sussex received a Winter Fuel Payments during the winter of 2023/2024. This is out of a total of 11,626,099 recipients across the UK. Unite estimate that over 850,000 pensioners who qualify for pension credit are not currently receiving it. If those 850,000 people are spread across the UK in the same proportion as last year’s Winter Fuel Payment recipients that would mean that some 850,000 x (135,955 / 11,626,099) = 9,940 East Sussex residents will lose-out this year, despite being eligible, if they fail to apply.

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