Number of expat pensioners claiming winter fuel cash surges by 70% thanks to 'ridiculous' EU ruling

By Rachel Rickard Straus

PUBLISHED: 13:05 EST, 13 November 2013 | UPDATED: 05:57 EST, 14 November 2013

The number of pensioners around Europe claiming the winter fuel allowance has surged by 70 per cent, new figures reveal.

Over 115,000 expats and pensioners claimed £21.4million in payouts, after new rules kicked in entitling anyone who can prove ‘sufficient links’ to Britain to claim - even if they were not entitled to it when they lived in Britain.

Pensioners living in Spain claimed £8.8million, while those living in France were granted £5.1million.
The amount claimed by people living in Luxembourg almost tripled from £5,000 to £14,000 and those in Cyprus from £926,000 to £1,441,000 alone.

The claims in Spain: As much as £8.8million was claimed by expat pensioners living in Spain

The overall total of payments to people living in the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland has jumped from £12.8 million in 2011/12.

The payments are designed to help the elderly with winter fuel bills.

But an EU judgement last year meant that anyone who is able to prove a ‘genuine and sufficient link to the UK’ could qualify for it, even non-Britons who had worked or lived in the UK for most of their live.

It means the allowance can be claimed by thousands of pensioners who moved abroad while still of working age – many of whom left the UK for Spain, Greece or Malta decades ago.

Until last year it was only paid out to pensioners who were claiming the benefit before they left Britain.

Iain Duncan Smith, secretary of state for work and pensions said the ruling was 'ridiculous.

'The huge increase in UK winter fuel payments to people living in the European Economic Area countries equates to near doubling in costs to the British taxpayer and follows a ridiculous ruling by the European Court of Justice.

'The winter fuel payment is designed to help British pensioners with heating costs.'

Pensioners in warm countries will be banned from claiming the allowance from 2015, saving £30million a year.

Anyone living in European countries that are warmer than anywhere in Britain will be prevented from claiming the payments, which are worth between £100 and £300.

The temperature test is being introduced in response to increase in expat pensioners claiming the payment, following the EU ruling.

This means that pensioners who live in France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Malta, Gibraltar and Cyprus, will no longer get the money.

The figures were released in the midst of mounting anger over fuel bill hikes taking place within the UK after a string of energy companies announced price rises.

Spending watchdog the National Audit Office (NAO) has warned that consumers face another 17 years of above-inflation increases in energy and water bills as households are forced to stump up the cost of renewing Britain's ageing infrastructure.

The (NAO) said the Government had little idea of the impact the continued price hikes would have on households or whether they would even be affordable, particularly for those on the lowest incomes.