UK revamps winter fuel allowance

ROME - After new figures revealed that the number of UK expatriates claiming a winter fuel allowance has soared, officials have devised a plan to ban pensioners in warmer countries from receiving the allowance.
 
In the last year, over 115,000 expatriates and pensioners living in the European Economic Area and Switzerland claimed £21.4 million in fuel allowance payouts, nearly doubling the £12.8 million claimed in the 2011-2012 period.
 
An EU judgment recently expanded the UK winter fuel allowance requirements, expanding the funds to be given to anyone with a "genuine and sufficient link to the UK."
 
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Iain Duncan Smith, has called the EU ruling "ridiculous". The allowance was meant to assist elderly pensioners with winter fuel bills and was not meant for those who live in countries with warmer climates than the EU. 
 
Officials have now devised a plan to fix the flaw in the program. Beginning in 2015, pensioners living in a country with a warmer climate than Britain will be prevented from claiming the fuel allowance. Officials believe that the plan will help save UK taxpayers money.
 
 
For more information on this subject, to arrange for a full financial review of your circumstances, or to discuss financial queries, please contact Lisa Howard at the Black Tower Financial Management Group and she will arrange to put you in contact with a qualified consultant in Italy. She can be reached by email at: Lisa.Howard@blacktowerfm.com or by phone at: +39 06 42272227