Awareness drive launched as thousands yet to claim pension credit after Winter Fuel Payment changes

Pensioners are being urged to check if they are eligible for the winter fuel allowance after universal payments were scrapped.

Last month Chancellor Rachel Reeves said that the tax free benefit, to help older people with higher heating costs during the colder months, would be limited to those on pension credit.

The surprise move was part of efforts to plug a £22bn hole in the public finances which Labour accused the Conservatives of "covering up" during their time in office.

Today the new government is launching a drive to make people aware of the changes, amid concern that hundreds of thousands of eligible pensioners are yet to claim.

Previously, the money was available to everyone above state pension age, but now it will be limited to people over state pension age who are receiving pension credit or other means-tested support.

It means the number of people entitled to the money will drop from 11.4 million to just 1.5 million.

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The payment is £200 for households where the recipients are all under 80, and £300 where they are over 80.

While around 1.4 million pensioners are already receiving pension credit, there are up to an estimated 880,000 households eligible for the support who are yet to claim, the Department for Work and Pensions said.

The government's awareness drive will help identify households not claiming the benefit, and encourage pensioners to apply by 21 December - the last date for making a backdated claim for pension credit in order to receive the Winter Fuel Payment.

It will focus on "myths" that may stop people applying, such as how having savings, a pension or owning a home are not necessarily barriers to receiving pension credit.

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More information on applying for pension credit can be found on the government's How to Claim page.

The awareness drive comes after experts warned the average household energy bill is set to rise by £146 in October, the latest increase since the Russian invasion of Ukraine triggered a global energy crisis.

Defending the cuts, Ms Reeves repeated that the "dire state of the public finances" inherited from the Tories meant making "some very difficult decisions", and that the government was supporting pensioners by maintaining the triple lock.

But Laura Trott, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said the plans would "increase pensioner poverty" as she accused ministers of "acquiescing to every union demand" in light of recent strike negotiations.

"Instead of desperately trying to mitigate the impact of their own decisions, the Chancellor should come clean and publish the internal impact assessment so the public can truly see the damage of this policy," Ms Trott said.

-SKY NEWS