Money expert Martin Lewis has issued a stark warning to state pensioners with income lower than £15,000 this winter.
The money expert has returned after a lengthy hiatus with the first instalment of The Martin Lewis Podcast on Spotify and BBC Sounds for more than two months.
Martin took the time to sum up the dire state of this coming winter for pensioners as he urged people to ‘have a friendly word’ with any low income pensioner they know before this winter begins.
Martin Lewis said: “Two things are going on at the moment. On October 1, the energy price cap that dictates the price the vast majority of homes, over 80 percent of homes in England, Wales and Scotland pay is going up by 10 percent, just in time for winter.
“So that’s the first thing. The second of course is the big debate about the Winter Fuel Payment, which was universal to every pensioner now it’s only for pensioners on pension credit, that means 10 million people won’t get it.
“I have two main concerns on that, my first concern is I think the means testing is too narrow, effectively saying that people with less than £11,400 income… I think people on £13,000, £14,000 or £15,000 of income are going to really struggle without this payment.”
But Martin explained that this is not just due to the means testing of the Winter Fuel Allowance, but also the fact that other payments which were given to pensioners have also been culled this winter.
Martin continued: “It’s not just the Winter Fuel Payment that’s gone, last year they also got a Cost of Living payment pensioners of £300 on top, well that’s gone for everybody.
“The saving on energy costs this coming winter to last winter over the six months from October to March is about £100.
“So you’re £100 better off due to lower prices, you’ve lost the £300 Cost of Living payment, and many are now losing the up to £300 Winter Fuel Payment on top.
“So that’s a net loss of between £200 and £500 on energy alone for pensioner households.
“My biggest concern is the 880,000 homes in the UK eligible for Pension Credit but do not claim it either due to pride, lack of knowledge or lack of outreach, or onset dementia and they are the poorest in society.
“Those are the ones I’m most worried for. If you know a low income pensioner, have a nice friendly word. It’s so important right now.”
