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An analysis by BBC Verify suggests that tens of thousands of pensioners may not receive their Winter Fuel Payments before the end of the year as the UK Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) wrestles with a growing backlog of new claims for Pension Credit. Since Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in July that Winter Fuel Payments for this year would be mainly limited to those receiving Pension Credit, there has been a surge in applications for Pension Credit. According to the latest official figures, there was a backlog of 90,000 unprocessed claims as of mid-November, with around 9,000 being processed each week. With a likely similar amount of new applications each week since then, there is a risk that there will still be a backlog of tens of thousands by the end of the year.
Although the DWP has deployed 500 additional staff to speed up processing, the situation is causing hardship for some pensioners who are having to rely on their own savings. Gary Jameson in Oxford applied early in September, hoping to avoid losing out when his disability benefits stopped. However, his birthday has passed, and he still has not had a decision. He is having to transfer money from his own private savings, which are not very much, anyway.”
On 18 December, MPs will launch an inquiry into how changes to the Winter Fuel Payment are affecting pensioner poverty. According to DWP data, approximately 150,000 new applications for Pension Credit were received in the UK between 29 July and 17 November. However, not all applications, once processed, are successful and around 45% of applications processed since 29 July have been approved.
Although the government has set the deadline for eligible people to apply for Pension Credit to receive the 2024-25 Winter Fuel Payment as 21 December, there are still likely to be tens of thousands of applications in the pipeline. The government has stated that over a million pensioners will still receive the Winter Fuel Payment. “We have deployed additional staff to support processing applications, seeing a 51% increase in the number of cleared claims since the Chancellor’s announcement,” a government spokesperson said.
The Scottish government plans to ensure that from late 2025, every Scottish pensioner household will receive a Winter Fuel Payment. However, the numbers in the UK likely to suffer a delayed payment this year are uncertain as the DWP staff work through the backlog
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