This piece first appeared in Saga Magazine in February 2000
The text here may not be identical to the published text

More fuel for the fire


Postman took on the government and won

A million and a half extra people are now entitled to the winter fuel payment of £100 a year following a ruling by the European Court of Justice just before Christmas. Most of the people who benefit will be men aged 60 to 64 who were too young to get retirement pension and so did not qualify for the payment. It will also benefit a large number of people who are over pension age but had deferred claiming their pension as well as many women who were over 60 but did not have enough National Insurance Contributions to get a retirement pension.

The European judges upheld a claim by John Taylor, a retired postman from Yorkshire. He said that the government was breaking sex discrimination rules by refusing to give him the winter fuel payment in 1997 when he was 62. The money was paid to men and women who get the retirement pension or one of twelve other benefits. Women can claim the pension - and qualify for the payment - at 60. But men must wait until they are 65. The only exception is men who receive income support - they got the payment at 60.

The Government said that as the payment was linked to the retirement pension - which has an exemption from the sex discrimination rules until 2020 - the law allowed different qualifying ages for men and women. But the court ruled it was not part of the pension and had to be paid equally to both sexes.

John Taylor, who is a member of a campaigning organization called Parity which works for equality between men and women in the state pension system, told Saga Magazine

"I am very pleased but it is only one battle. The main objective is the repeal of section126 of the Pensions Act 1995 which raises the pension age of women to 65 by 2020 and robs women of five years pension."

The Government has accepted the judgment and has decided to change the qualifying conditions for the payment completely. Now, people simply have to be aged 60 or more on the qualifying date. That was September 20 this year. But in 1998 it was November 9 and for the 1997 payment, the qualifying date was not until January 5 1998. Anyone who was aged 60 or more on those dates and was resident in the UK should have a claim if they have not already had a payment for that year.

Three main groups will benefit.

· Men aged 60 but less than 65 on those dates.

· Men or women who had reached pension age at that time but had deferred claiming their retirement pension.

· Many women, and some men, who were over pension age but did not qualify for a retirement pension or one of the other benefits because they had not paid enough National Insurance Contributions.

 

The payment was £20 in 1997 and 1998 and £100 this year so some people could get £140. The change will cost the Government £125 million in back payments and £85 million a year in future.

Some people will still be denied the payment including those in hospital for more than a year and those in a residential care or nursing home who do not pay all their own fees. Some people will not qualify because their partner has already had a payment. And some others will already have had a payment if they claimed income support at the time. They will not get another.

The people who are now entitled will be largely unknown to the Benefits Agency and will have to claim. A campaign to find them will begin in 2000.


There is one group of men who are in a complicated position and may be able to get even more winter fuel payment than others. Each year the winter fuel payment is made to a pensioner household. Where both members of a couple are entitled, they get half the payment each. So a pensioner living in a household with younger people will get £100 this year, while two pensioners living together will get £50 each. Before the court judgment, a man aged 60-64 who lived with a woman who was over 60 would not have got a payment. If she claimed a pension herself, she would have got £100. But now, after the judgment, they should have got £50 each. So he had £50 too little and she had £50 too much. Under the Government plans, he can claim his £50. But Saga Magazine understands that Benefits Agency will NOT be trying to recover the extra £50 she has had. Indeed, they probably have not power to do so. So some people could claim an extra £50 for 1999 and £10 for 1998 and for 1997.


WHO SHOULD CLAIM?

Anyone aged 60 or more on these dates who did NOT get a winter fuel payment.

Born on or before Year Amount
20 September 1939 1999 £100
9 November 1938 1998 £20
5 January 1998 1997 £20

If you live in a household with another person who qualifies, then you will get half the payment each. If you live in a hospital or a care home you may not get the payment.


Parity, which brought the case, can be contacted c/o David Yarwood, Constables, Windsor Road, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7LF

February 2000


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