Millions could be paid to EU residents as British pensioners remain hard-up.

DWP handing EU residents Winter Fuel Payments while UK pensioners 'live in cold homes'

by · Birmingham Live

State pensioners who are living outside the UK and in the European Union could be paid the £300 Winter Fuel Payment - while Brit-based OAPs struggle in cold homes. Millions could be paid to EU residents as British pensioners remain hard-up.

The Labour Party Chancellor's decision to means-test the Winter Fuel Payment has pensioners outraged. Last year, 34,307 of allowance payments were delivered to residents living in EU counties. These figures were confirmed as part of a Government response to a written parliamentary question from Sir John Hayes MP.

The Conservative MP for South Holland & the Deepings asked: "How many people eligible for Winter Fuel Payments live overseas, broken down by country." Emma Reynolds, the DWP's Parliamentary Under-Secretary, responded by saying recipients could also be EU nationals who have previously worked in Britain years past.

READ MORE Met Office breaks silence over 13 towns and cities facing snow next week

She added: "For winter 2024/25, to be paid Winter Fuel Payments abroad, customers must be in scope of the Withdrawal Agreement and equivalent agreements with the EEA-European Free Trade Association (EFTA) states and Switzerland, and the 2019 Convention with Ireland.

"Customers must also be in receipt of a benefit equivalent to Pension Credit or another qualifying benefit and be able to show that they have a Genuine and Sufficient Link to the UK. A Genuine and Sufficient Link to the UK can include having lived or worked in the UK and having family in the UK. Statistics for winter 2024/25 do not yet have a confirmed date for release."

Simon Jordan, the coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said: "Until the Government fully implements its plans to improve insulation and ventilation of buildings as well as stabilise energy costs, vulnerable households will continue to need financial support.

"That’s why the WinterFuelPayments were so important, the money provided help for older households to stay warm each winter. Sadly, now more older people are expected to live in cold damp homes this winter and this puts them at greater risk of ill health, meaning the costs to the NHS will soar."