State pensioners will miss out on £300 Winter Fuel Payment by just £3
A state pensioner has warned they will miss out on the £300 Winter Fuel Payment by just £3. Dawn Matthews will miss out on the winter fuel tax payment after the new Labour Party government opted to means-test the £300 sums.
Dawn Matthews, 68, from Hampshire, works from home for 18 hours a week in an administrative job for the NHS. But she misses out on being eligible for the Government's pensioner's winter fuel tax payment by less than £3, she has told the BBC.
"I had cancer and my immunity isn’t the same," she said. "Doctors have said what were mild illnesses before could kill me. I am almost 69 and I have to continue to work literally just to live. I really wish I could retire - but I think I will be working until I die."
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"My local library is open a couple of days a week, so I'll go there. I don't have a lot to complain about, because I don't go hungry - but I'm sure some do," she said. "I pay tax already and have nothing left each month before the next state pension payment, which is my main source of income, " she said.
"£215 every month goes towards council tax and energy bills. I don't drive, eat out, go on holiday or buy new clothes - I can't do anything extra." A second said: "I receive a state and private pension, which I've been really privileged to have, but I haven't ever needed the winter fuel payment."
"There must be tens of thousands of people who would have better use of this payment," he said to the Beeb this week. "I've had no financial problems since I've retired. I've never needed it. It just goes to show this hasn't properly been means tested."