1,390 PENSIONERS RECEIVE EXTRA CASH THANKS TO MP's CAMPAIGN

7.34.41pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 4th Feb 2004

1,390 Pensioners who were originally denied their Winter Fuel Payments will now receive the money owed to them, after a successful campaign by Liberal Democrat MP, David Rendel.

The campaign began with the case of a Newbury pensioner who was misled into believing that there was no deadline for claims for the Winter Fuel Payment for 2000/01. Mr Rendel took up his case with the Parliamentary Ombudsman, and the pensioner was awarded £50 compensation as well as the £100 Winter Fuel Payment.

Mr Rendel continued to press the Government on the issue, arguing that many other pensioners may have been caught out in the same way. The Government was forced to investigate, and has now admitted to Mr Rendel that 1,390 pensioners were affected. As a result, they will receive compensation equivalent to the amount of Winter Fuel Payment they should have received.

Commenting, Mr Rendel said:

"I am delighted that hundreds of pensioners will now get the money they are entitled to. It is inexcusable that many elderly people have had to do without the £100 they should have received three years ago. The Government must learn lessons from this and ensure that pensioners are never unfairly denied their winter fuel payment again."

ENDS

Notes to Editors to follow…

Notes to Editors

1. Mr Rendel first raised this issue in 2002, 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 letter to Mr Rendel dated 12 May 2003, the Minister of State for Work and Pensions, Malcolm Wicks MP, wrote: "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."

5. Mr Wicks has now written to Mr Rendel (26 January) to confirm that "a total of 1,390 affected customers were identified. Arrangements have been put in place to pay compensation to those affected equivalent to the amounts of Winter Fuel Payment that they would have received." The letter continues: "To date, 1,312 customers have been compensated. Of the remainder, four further payments will be made before the end of the month, and attempts are being made to contact individuals, or their next of kin, to allow the balance of payments to be made."

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.