Winter fuel repayments are a blight on U-turn joy

IT'S GOOD news that Chancellor Rachel Reeves is restoring the winter fuel payment for most pensioners.

- By Harvey Jones

But don’t celebrate too soon — her solution is far from perfect.

From this winter, around nine million pensioners will once again receive money towards their bills, worth up to £300 per household. That’s a big leap from just two million last year.

But as many as three million pensioners won’t benefit at all because they earn too much: the cut-off point is £35,000 a year.

Those above the threshold will still get the winter fuel payment, but HMRC will claw the money back through tax code adjustments.

They'll get the cash, then lose it. The Government says this change will save £450million. Originally, Reeves hoped to save £1.4billion and demonstrate that she could make tough decisions. Following last week’s reversal, neither has happened.

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Pensions campaigner Ros Altmann called scrapping the payment “one of the worst policy decisions for pensioners I have ever seen”.

She said the U-turn is more generous than expected. “It will help ensure the poorest and those most needing help receive it this winter.”

Now we need details, said Altmann: “Crucially, nobody knows yet how HMRC will determine which pensioners need to repay the money, or how they'll be informed.”