Up To £1.38 Million Extra Cash For British Pensioners

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Sat 21st Jun 2003

Pensioners originally denied their Winter Fuel Payments will now receive up to £1.38 million owed to them, thanks to a Government U-turn prompted by Liberal Democrat MP, David Rendel.

An investigation by the Parliamentary Ombudsman has ruled that a pensioner was misled into believing that there was no deadline for claims for the Winter Fuel Payment for 2000/01. The pensioner was awarded £50 compensation as well as the £100 Winter Fuel Payment.

In light of the investigation, up to 13,800 pensioners wrongly denied their 2000/2001 Winter Fuel Payment are now likely to receive the money they are owed in the near future.

David Rendel, Liberal Democrat MP for Newbury, has been leading the campaign to see justice for pensioners who missed out on the £100 they are entitled to receive. Mr Rendel said:

"Finally, thousands of vulnerable pensioners are getting the money they are entitled to receive. It is inexcusable that many elderly people have had to struggle on without the £100 they should have received up to two years ago.

"By failing to mention the deadline, the Government misled pensioners into thinking it did not matter when they sent their claim forms in.

"The Government must learn the lesson from this and ensure that pensioners are never unfairly denied their winter fuel payment again."

Notes:

1. Mr Rendel first raised this issue a year ago, after a Newbury resident fell foul of misleading Government information. 63-year old Gordon Ashby wrote to Mr Rendel concerning the decision of the Benefits Agency to deny him his Winter Fuel Payment for 2000/01. The reason given was that he had failed to meet the deadline for applications. But there was nothing in the guidance notes provided by the Department for Work and Pensions that mentioned any deadline. A letter sent to Mr Ashby merely said that it would be "helpful if you could return your completed form ... within 4 weeks".

2. Mr Rendel reported the case to the Parliamentary Ombudsman, who ruled that Mr Ashby had been misled into believing that there was no deadline for claims. As a result, Mr Ashby was awarded £50 compensation as well as his £100 Winter Fuel Payment for 2000/01.

3. Mr Rendel continued to press the case since the Ombudsman's ruling raised the possibility that many others might have been denied their Winter Fuel Payment in the same circumstances. He raised the issue in a House of Commons debate in July 2002, and, at a hearing of the Public Accounts Committee in November 2002, secured a commitment from the Government to look into the matter.

4. In a Parliamentary Answer (PQ/03/90855) to Mr Rendel dated 12 May 2003, the Government revealed that there were 13,800 late claims for the winter fuel allowance in respect of the 2000/01 winter.

5. In a letter to Mr Rendel dated 12 May 2003, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Malcolm Wicks MP, writes: "I can now advise that we intend to identify, where possible, those cases which were disallowed a winter fuel payment for the year 2000/01 because they were late. We will re-examine these cases and consider making special payments, equivalent to a 2000-01 winter fuel payment, to those who were disallowed in similar circumstances to Mr Ashby and were misled by the Department."

6. For the years prior to 2000-01 there was no time limit for claiming. In subsequent years, the information provided to potential claimants has been improved.