D we spend es saving?
To vital benefits, pensioners ask . . .
ings Credit by making it harder qualify for — in effect, taking ney from the pockets of marginally ter- off pensioners who saved their retirement to give to the poorest. e new rules mean that from April sioners must have an income of .80 a week (£178.35 for couples) ualify for Savings Credit. nd the Treasury has reduced the ximum payout from this April to 54 for a single pensioner and 73 for a couple. bout 1.7 million receive Savings dit. The Government admits it is ly’ all will be affected. a result, instead of benefiting from the full rise of £5.30 a week in the basic state pension, many pensioners are getting just a few pence extra a week.
It is essentially depriving them of up to £276 a year in income.
Pressure group The National Pensioners Convention estimates 300,000 people will be disqualified from claiming Savings Credit altogether.
Many of these pensioners are likely to be deprived of other benefits that are largely only available to those on Pension Credit.
Money Mail has received many letters from pensioners hit by the changes. Neville Perry, 78, says his Pension Credit has been slashed by 97 pc to just 15p a week. From 2013-14, he will receive no Pension Credit at all, and consequently lose the right to claim additional benefits worth hundreds of pounds a year.
Mr Perry says: ‘ Yet again this Government has no interest in the welfare of pensioners.’
A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions says: ‘Given the increase to the state pension, these pensioners are not cash losers — they should still be getting more in benefits compared to last year.
‘ We think it is right to target Pension Credit expenditure on the poorest pensioners.’