Winter fuel bonanza for 64,000 expats in Europe Feb 2010

British taxpayers paid £14 million in fuel allowances last winter to expatriates living in Spain, Portugal, Greece and elsewhere in Europe.

Official figures obtained by The Times show that the number collecting the benefits rose by nearly 14 per cent last year to a record of 63,740 people.

As temperatures plunged last night, bringing sleet and ice to many parts of the country, Matthew Elliott, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said that it was a fresh sign that Britain’s benefits system was unaffordable in the current economic climate.

“To get the deficit under control,cuts in unnecessary benefits are going to be essential,” he said. “That pinch will be felt at home, but we should start with winter fuel payments to retirees in the Algarve.”

The scheme was launched shortly after Labour’s 1997 election victory as part of the party’s commitment to eradicate fuel poverty. It is not means-tested, and nearly 50,000 households with a net income of more than £100,000 per annum receive the benefit. To date, £100 million has gone to expatriates.

All British pensioners who were resident in the UK when they turned 60 qualify for the allowance of £250 a year, or £400 for those over 80.

The payment is reduced for pensioners who live in the same household. It is usually paid directly into bank accounts.

Last year the scheme cost about £2.7 billion, with payments to more than 12.3 million people. The Department for Work and Pensions does not have precise figures, but if each expatriate received the average payment, then the total rose from £9.5 million in 2007-08 to £14 million in 2008-09.

Under EU law, Britain cannot discriminate against people who live elsewhere in the European Union. The expansion of the EU to include countries such as Bulgaria and Romania led to increases in the number of expatriates qualifying for the allowance.

Maria Wardrobe, the director of the energy poverty campaign group National Energy Action, said: “It would be much better if that money stayed in this country and helped deserving people who don’t get any help here.”

The number of households living in fuel poverty in the UK — defined as having to spend more than 10 per cent of net income on energy — has more than doubled since 2003 from under two million to 5.1 million.

Angela Eagle, the Pensions Minister, said: “Less than 1 per cent of winter fuel payments are made to people outside the UK, who all qualified for these payments before they moved abroad.”

For more information

International Pension Centre,
Winter Fuel Payment Team,
Room TC201,
Tyne view Park,
Newcastle upon Tyne,
NE98, England .U.K

Telephone U.K 0191 2187777

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Angela Eagle, the Pensions Minister, said: “Less than 1 per cent of winter fuel payments are made to people outside the UK, who all qualified for these payments before they moved abroad.” "
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and you can bet your life that 75% of them get the allowance illegally....I.E. by keeping a uk address ,when they live abroad full time , just to recieve benefits ,
or giving a relatives address , etc

i know quite a few who openly brag that they recieve this now they get a pension ,and that they are not "
really entitled "
to it ,as they moved permanetly before they were pension age

I agree Varnagirl. If people get the allowance after moving permanently abroad they must be using a UK address or managing it illegally because of the inefficiency of the Benefits office. I applied for it living in the Balkan mountains and not on the Costa del sol and was told I could not claim because I had moved abroad before claiming it. Several people argued with me over this saying that I was still entitled. However, I also moved abroad prior to the allowance being payable to anyone. When folks openly admit that they get it illegally it is very galling to be more or less told that I am stupid for not receiving it. I prefer to be honest even if it is frustrating.

Here's a typical example of what you say varnagirl I got this from another forum

I will get £203 a week pension credit when with Yoli, but need to be home monthly to get it which means walk off plane and back on to it every month. My flat rent here in UK is paid for by council, and I pay no council tax. That is 2075 lv/1180 euros a month. I told her that I will give her 1075 Lv a month because I feel that I should keep standing orders for services running although if hardly there it may be pennies, and we will have some money spare. She says she is out of work, because I think she gave up her usual job to work in Chernomorets resort as a beauty therapist and it has not been so easy, and the season has ended. She thinks I don't work and so where do I get money? She is a worried lady. She says all in Bg is rising prices and euros. Am I able to reassure her correctly or should I panic? She said she was getting 400 lv a month working all hours before, so am I promising her A LOT WITH NO REASON?

Unbelievable! Not only to receive that amount of money in UK while living abroad but actually, seemingly proud to post about it! How come as a divorced lady who has always paid full NI I can only get 96GBP a week State pension which is all both of us live on in Bulgaria? Its the law given my circumstances and I chose my path in life. We are happy and in funds and I can sleep at night!