Today there will be a vote on withdrawing the pensioner's winter fuel allowance.
One side effect of this is that applications for pension credits poverty benefits has gone up dramatically. It's said that a very large proportion of those eligible for these benefits don't claim them. Now why isn't it simply automatic? Why do you actually need to claim anything?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/10/first-edition-labour-winter-fuel-payment
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Would that not require the DWP and HMRC to work more closely together.
@zleap Yes. Another fundamental restructuring that would be difficult.
HMRC and DWP are intertwined already. When my pension came round, I paid a voluntary contribution for a couple of missing years. The extra NI goes to HMRC. They then had to inform DWP which took ages, before DWP could then increase the pension payments. Which then gets fed back to HMRC for tax self-assessment.
As a result of probate, I'm now discovering that DWP -> HMRC pension data doesn't always make it. In 25% of cases.