Pensioners who lost winter fuel payments face £500 energy bill rise after new price hike _ Hieuuk
Some retirees losing the allowance will need to find an extra £500 for energy bills compared to last winter.
Most pensioners have lost winter fuel payments under changes by the Labour Government (Image: Getty)
Pensioners stripped of winter fuel payments face being £500 worse off after today’s energy bill rise, campaigners warn.
The price cap has gone up by 1.2% in the latest jump in electricity and gas costs following a 10% rise last October.
Some OAPs who have lost the cold we ather allowance will have to find an extra £522 for energy this winter compared to the year before, according to analysis by the End Fuel Poverty Coalition.
And in a further blow experts have predicted a further 3% price cap hike in April.
Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said: “The Chancellor’s greatest mistake since taking office has been her total failure to understand the impact of the cruel winter fuel payment cut to some of the most vulnerable older people.
“With the price cap rise coming into force today and the latest predictions that bills will rise even more from April, older people are counting the cost of this decision and having to find more than £500 a year extra to keep their homes warm.
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“Of course, people of all ages have seen first-hand the impact of the energy bills crisis – driven by the UK’s reliance on volatile energy markets.
“Millions of people from the youngest children to our oldest pensioners are living in cold, damp homes, unable to heat their homes to a safe temperature or racking up massive debts – with some even turning to loan sharks.
“To add insult to injury, around a quarter of what is spent on heating our draughty properties is wasted, because the UK’s old housing stock is some of the worst insulated in Europe.
“2025 will be a momentous year for setting the future direction of energy policy with reforms to Ofgem itself, changes to standing charges and overhaul of electricity markets on the cards as well as the roll out of the Clean Power Plan.
“But the UK government needs to ensure that those suffering now are not abandoned. This means more support for households through a social tariff, helping those who have lost winter fuel payments and delivering on ministers’ promises to help people to insulate their homes.”
The previously universal winter fuel allowance, which has been restricted by Labour to only those on pension credit, cuts up to £300 a year off older people’s energy bills.
The elderly also received a one-off additional cost of living payment of up to £300 last year.
The average household energy bill for a pensioner receiving the maximum winter fuel and cost of living payment last winter was £341 during the coldest six months from October 2023 to March 2024, according to the analysis.
The total is based on three months under the October 2023 price cap of £1,834 and three months under the January 2024 cap of £1,928, deducting the £600 support.
While the price caps were lower in October 2024 at £1,717 and January 2025 at £1,738, OAP households who received the £600 support last year but have now lost the winter fuel allowance face an average bill of £863 for the six-month period, according to the analysis.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (Image: Getty)
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Shadow energy security minister Claire Coutinho said: “When Labour snatched away the winter fuel payment from millions of pensioners, they did so knowing that energy insecurity would make winter harder and colder for all Britons.
“Ed Milliband’s rush to Net Zero, which is harming energy security, partnered with Rachel Reeves leaving pensioners to freeze this winter, shows one thing and one thing only: Labour simply don’t care about pensioners in this country.”
Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately added: “After 14 years of rising living standards, Labour are letting down pensioners.
“Starmer said he would cut your energy bills, now they’re going up. And he said he would help pensioners, now he’s betrayed them, leaving 100,000 in poverty. Why should we believe a word he says?”
Analysts Cornwall Insight yesterday predicted an almost 3% energy price cap rise to £1,785 in April.
Meanwhile, households in England and Wales will see their water bills increase by an average of £86 in 2025.
Over the next five years, the average rise in bills will be £31 a year, but regulator Ofwat said firms are expected to hike tariffs more in the first year.
Council tax will also be going up from April 1, with many local authorities increasing bills by the maximum 4.99%, although some struggling councils are increasing their rates by more than this, with Birmingham City Council increasing the charge by 10%.
TV licence fees will also go up in line with inflation, meaning the cost of a standard colour TV licence will go up £5, increasing from the current £169.50 to £174.50.
New polling for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition found 74% of the public are worried about the global insecurity of energy prices over the next five years amid the ongoing crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Opinium survey of 2,000 people also found 79% are worried about further price rises.
It comes as the Labour Government has faced an ongoing backlash for means testing winter fuel payments.
Ministers have blamed a £22 billion black hole in the public finances left by the Tories, which they deny.
The controversial move means around 10 million OAPs have lost the allowance in a bid to save the Treasury up to £1.5billion a year.
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But the change has been condemned by opposition parties, charities, unions and some Labour politicians.
The Daily Express has been crusading for winter fuel payments to be reinstated to all pensioners.
A Government spokesperson said: “Every family in the country has paid the price of Britain’s dependence on global fossil fuel markets. That is why we are sprinting to clean, homegrown energy, so the UK can take back control of its energy with cleaner, affordable power.
“We will also do everything possible to support vulnerable families this winter, including through the £150 Warm Home Discount – expected to support three million eligible households.
“Many pensioners will still receive the winter fuel payment, while millions are set to see their state pension rise by up to £1,900 this parliament through our commitment to the triple lock.”
Comment by Dennis Reed, director of Silver Voices
Older people need reports of further energy price hikes and global energy insecurity like a hole in the head.
Already finding themselves £500 a year worse off than last winter and with prices going up today, and again in April, the inaction and lack of empathy by the Government borders on institutional cruelty.
When Ministers talk glibly about pensioners being “better off” under Labour they are lying through clenched teeth, and they know it.
Lest they forget, last winter there was a universal payment to pensioners of £300, on top of their winter fuel payments.
Not only has this special energy support been discontinued, but the winter fuel payment has been withdrawn from most pensioner households.
Energy prices remain on average £700 higher than only four years ago. To suggest that the triple lock increase of 4.1%, not due until next April, compensates for this huge hit to pensioner incomes beggars belief.
A comprehensive home insulation plan and less reliance on fossil fuels is all fine and dandy, but we will not see the benefit of those policies for several years, too late for many.
The energy crisis is here, this New Year pensioners are dying from cold, and the Government is sitting on its hands.
Millions of older people are already struggling to keep themselves warm this winter, and with another Arctic blast forecast, the weakened immunity of so many pensioners will once again swamp accident and emergency departments.
It is so depressing that the Government appears unmoved by the plight of older UK residents, despite so many reports from the charities about the impact of the winter fuel cuts, including millions only heating one room and wearing outdoor clothes indoors.
As its New Year resolution, the Government should grow a new heart, and reinstate the universal winter fuel payment to see us through this hard winter.
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