Spanish expat winter fuel payments spark UK uproar

Drain in Spain? Are rich Brits abroad taking winter fuel payments that they don't need?

News that the UK government spent £8.8 million in winter fuel payments to pensioners living in Spain has caused an outcry in Britain.

The sum is part of a larger figure of £21.4 million paid to an estimated 115,000 expats of pensionable age who live away from the UK but were able to prove ‘sufficient links’ to Britain. The payments were made in the past 12 months, with more than five million pounds also going to pensioners living in France…

Secretary of State for work and pensions, Iain Duncan Smith, blamed a recent EU ruling for the energy payments, effectively saying that the UK government’s hands were tied in the matter.

The EU ruling settled last year states that any pensioner able to provide a ‘genuine and sufficient link to the UK’ (and/or other EU countries with similar schemes) would qualify for the benefit.

The winter fuel allowance was previously only paid to those pensioners living in the UK. If they emigrated, their entitlement (worth between £200- £300 depending on age) stopped. However, last year’s ruling meant that an estimated 440,000 extra expat pensioners have received the payment in the past 12 months.

Official figures show that there was a 60 per cent increase in expat claims for UK winter fuel allowance last year, with 119,587 individuals in receipt of financial assistance. In 2003, that figure stood at just 8,090.

“The winter fuel payment is designed to help British pensioners with heating costs,” said Mr Duncan Smith. “The huge increase in UK winter fuel payments to people living in the European Economic Area countries equates to near doubling in costs to the British taxpayer and follows a ridiculous ruling by the European Court of Justice.”

Duncan Smith’s strong words on the matter were echoed this week by a spokeswoman for the UK’s Department for Work and Pensions, who recalled Chancellor George Osborne’s proposal to halt winter fuel payments for pensioners living in countries where the average winter temperature exceeded that of the UK. Spain would, of course, fall under this ruling if introduced as planned in 2015.

“It’s ridiculous that people in Spain can qualify and that is why we are taking action to stamp it out,” said the spokeswoman.

It is a hot (no pun intended) topic for all concerned. British pensioners living in Spain cannot deny that there is no need for the winter fuel payment as such, but it is still government money that is being spent elsewhere on their peers – often government money that they themselves helped generate through many years paying their taxes.

Meanwhile, in the UK, households face the prospect of a winter season with the highest heating bills ever, with the National Audit Office warning that the country faces 17 years of above-average-inflation energy costs.