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It’s final – no winter fuel allowance for expats ■ MIREILLE TODDINGTON mireille@costablancapeople.com
M
ore than 95,000 expats have been affected by the abolition of the Winter Fuel payment, effective from last year, winter 2015/16. Payments worth up to £300 annually were scrapped for Brits living abroad in countries where the annual average temperature is higher than the UK’s warmest region – the South West – and includes countries such as Spain, Malta, Cyprus, France, Greece and Portugal. The cuts saved taxpayers almost £17 million but angered those affected who despite living abroad - know that heating is needed to get through some
winter months. Britain’s biggest population of expats is here in Spain with 49,443. The payments soared by 70 percent in 2012 after a ruling by the European Court of Justice declared that pensioners of any nationality can claim them if they had ‘sufficient’ links to Britain, causing the government to quickly change the rules. At the time many believed the abolition would be contrary to EU law, given the previous ruling or contravene social security regulations and many wrote to the European Commission to challenge the decision. One such person was Costa Blanca People reader Peter Lowe who contacted the editorial team this week to tell us he had received what appears to be a final decision – and it’s not a positive one. Peter received an official letter sent from Brussels dated 12 July 2016. The letter was sent from the European Commission, Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Unit. The letter goes through the specific regulations pertaining to questions regarding the
Winter Fuel Payment and highlights the reasons why they are either not applicable or have not been breached. The letter ends: “In view of the above, a similar reasoning has to be held as regards a condition imposed to claimants who establish their residence in another Member State. A Member State can therefore limit the granting of an allowance, the aim of which is to help beneficiaries to pay heating bills, to those who are faced with similar or worse average winter temperature than the average winter temperature in the United Kingdom. For the above reasons, although I regret your situation, the latest amendments to the UK’s Social Fund Winter Fuel Payment Regulations do not seem to be a breach of EU Law…..” However, there may still be hope. Peter is already corresponding with the newly formed cabinet in light of Mrs May’s comments regarding a ‘fairer
society’ to see if there is the possibility of a change of heart.