by Retired electrical design engineer Paul Taylor must. The 74-year-old, based near Sheffield, has been cutting back on his outgoings for the past 18 months to cope with rising prices.
He describes his food bill as “very clinical” and is always looking for the best deal from his energy supplier. This winter, he will have to be even more economical with his money as he is one of the 10 million pensioners who will miss out on the fuel payment.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves decided to cut the winter allowance for most recipients after inheriting a £22bn black hole in the public finances.
Under the new plans, only pensioners on certain benefits will be able to get help with winter fuel. These benefits include universal credit, income support, child tax credit and pension credit.
However, the charity Age UK has identified around 2 million older people who are on low incomes or have other vulnerabilities, such as a disability, but are just above the pension credit threshold. It is these people who will be most affected by the cuts, they say.
Mr Taylor is just over the cut-off point for pension credit and, despite having mobility problems that qualify for attendance allowance, he will not be eligible for fuel payments this winter. He told The Independent: “Even before all this I stopped taking holidays. I usually go abroad a few times a year and I haven’t done any of that in the last 18 months. I don’t expect to be able to do that anymore.
“I’m very careful about what I wear in general. I am very clinical with my food bill, nothing unusual. I tend to shop in the cheapest supermarkets.
“At the moment, due to my mobility problems, my sons are doing my weekly shop. I give them a list and they do my shopping and bring it to me. I haven’t been out much in the last few weeks.”
Mr Taylor, who is a widower, has arthritis and had an operation four weeks ago to remove a pin from his painful ankle. He now has a grip on his ankle, which makes it difficult to move around.
Will the winter fuel cut affect you? Get in touch at holly.bancroft@independent.co.uk
“I’m basically in the house all the time and the heat is always on. I try to keep it around 19 degrees,” he said. Mr Taylor receives a pre-2016 state pension of £1,279 every four weeks, on top of which he receives £286 from his private pension and £434 in attendance allowance each month.
He added: “I was quite comfortable before, but now I will be quite strict with everything. I don’t think so [the cut] it will play too much on me, but if things get worse then it will. As a pensioner goes, I think I’m probably getting by with what I have without spending my savings, but it’s tight. I’m careful.”
Sarah, 79, who lives in Hackney in London is also over the threshold for pension credit. But almost all of her money goes on rent and bills every month.
She explained: “My biggest out-of-pocket expense is rent, which is £963 a month. That will increase in November to £1,020 for a very cold one-bed flat.
“I have some secondary double glazing but it doesn’t do any good. You can still see the curtains moving when the wind blows.”
Sarah, who did not want to share her last name, has high blood pressure, high cholesterol and a broken shoulder.
“I’ll stay in when I can,” she said. “I have additional costs at the moment because if I want to go out I have to pay for a taxi. Getting on the bus makes me anxious because I don’t want to fall again; that’s how I broke my shoulder. I also have food delivered, which is an additional cost.
“And I have ready meals because I can’t cut things like usual.”
Referring to the cut in winter fuel payments, she said: “It doesn’t seem like the right thing to do. I know there are many pensioners who are richer for it, but that is not the case for all of us who are not on pension credit. If you have a lot of payouts, everything gets swallowed up.”
Sarah receives £994 a month from her teacher’s pension, and £818 from her state pension. The money from her teachers’ pension all goes towards her rent and her state pension pays her bills, she explained. She also receives around £100 a month from a small private pension she has saved.
“I really need new things in the apartment, like heavy curtains, but I can’t afford that. I don’t buy new clothes or anything like that. Even small things like hot water bottles I have to consider if I can afford it.
“I wrap blankets around me and have hot water bottles during the day when I’m at home. Then I turn the heat on for a short time at night and often turn it on for a short time when I shower in the morning.
“I run it for three or four hours in the evening. Even that currently takes me up to £88 a month, which will go up with the price cap increase.”
A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: “We are committed to supporting pensioners – with millions set to see their state pension rise by up to £1,700 this parliament through our commitment to the triple lock.
“More than a million pensioners will still receive the winter fuel payment, and claims have already increased by 152 per cent as a result of our drive to increase pension credit take-up. Many more people will also benefit from the £150 discount for warm homes to help with energy bills over the winter and our extension to the Family Support Fund will help with food, heating and bill costs.”
