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COLD WEATHER PAYMENTS
Spinal Injuries Scotland launches its campaign for people living with Spinal Cord Injury to receive the £200 annual Cold Weather Payment.
We were approached by member Joe Stewart some time ago about the inequity in the current system of Cold Weather Payments. This is the annual payment and not the weekly allowance when the weather gets cold over an extended period.
This is what the Department of Work and Pensions defines eligibility for this allowance:
“What is a Winter Fuel Payment?
A Winter Fuel Payment is an annual payment to help people aged 60 and over with the costs of keeping warm this winter.
If you are aged 60 to 79 and you are entitled to receive a Winter Fuel Payment, you will get either £100 or £200, depending on your circumstances in the qualifying week (17-23 September 2007).
If you are aged 80 or over and you are entitled to a Winter Fuel Payment, you will get an extra £50 or £100, so you could get up to £300, depending on your circumstances in the qualifying week.
You do not pay tax on Winter Fuel Payments.
If you need to make a claim for a payment for winter 2007/08, you should return your claim form by 30 March 2008.
As a result of pensions reform the minimum age at which both men and women will be able to receive a Winter Fuel Payment will rise incrementally to 65 between 2010 and 2020. There is a working assumption that it will rise again to 68 with the increase in State Pension age. Precise details of how the Winter Fuel Payment qualifying age will increase are yet to be finalised.” © DWP
It has occurred to SIS that the arbitrary award of a benefit to someone, purely based on age is inherently unfair, especially when many of us living with SCI have no ability to regulate our body temperature. It is an acknowledged fact that many of us require to heat our homes to a higher temperature than most of the rest of the population, with the obvious cost implications that go with turning up the thermostat, or piling the coal on the fire. The Spinal Injuries Unit in Glasgow is heated 5° warmer than the rest of the hospital, in recognition of the fact that people with SCI need the additional warmth to retain good health.
We are working in conjunction with the Spinal Injuries Association to lobby for a change in the law in this regard. We have included two letters for you to fill in the blanks and return to us here at the SIS office; we have included an SAE for just this purpose. We will collate numbers and then send the letters en masse to both Westminster and Holyrood. We are delighted that this problem was brought to our attention by one of our members and remember, SIS is your charity and if there is something out there that you think SIS should be campaigning for, on your behalf, then please contact the office and we will look into the matter.
Please, take a couple of minutes of your time to fill in the letters below and return them to the SIS office; it is of benefit for everybody living with SCI and the more people who support our campaign, the greater the possibility of success.
CLICK HERE to download the document for Holyrood
CLICK HERE to download the document for Westminster
You require Adobe Reader to open these documents. You probably already have it, but if not click on the logo below to go to the website where you can download it.
If you are not sure who your MP or MSP is CLICK HERE and you will be re-directed to a website that allows you to type in your postcode in and it will give you those details.