Winter fuel payment is 'confusing' (From Malvern Gazette)

Winter fuel payment is 'confusing'

7:30am Thursday 9th February 2012 in News

HOW much elderly people are eligible to claim for winter fuel payments is confusing, according to Malvern’s MP.

Harriett Baldwin has written to the Government asking for clarification over how much people can qualify for as she does not believe information available to people is clear after several Malvern Gazette readers pointed out they had been quoted different amounts and questioned the clarity of the wording on the DirectGov website.

In a letter to Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, Mrs Baldwin said she believes the information on the website to be “confusingly presented and often conflicting” and added she wanted clarification on what couples can claim for.

When a member of her team called he was given information where a couple both aged 80 will receive a household payment of £300 but a couple where one householder is aged under 80 will receive £50 more.

In her letter Mrs Baldwin said: “My team member who rang the winter fuel payments helpline was told that this is causing confusion in their offices and I would be interested to find out if this is, indeed, a correct figure and what the reason is to reduce payments for such couples when one turns 80?”

A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said that is not the case at all – where couples are both aged over 80 and in couples where one is aged over 80 and their partner is under they both qualify for £300 winter fuel payments.

As a result he said all of the information on the website is correct and added he did not believe it to be confusing.

Mrs Baldwin said she does not believe that to be the case: “I am grateful members of the public have got in touch to raise this issue.”