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THE U-TURN ON THE WINTER FUEL PAYMENT CUTS WILL HAVE TO OVERCOME TWO MAJOR ISSUES, MARTIN LEWIS HAS WARNED 02:31, 22 May 2025 Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced on Wednesday that the

much-criticised removal of the Winter Fuel Payment from millions of pensioners would be partially rolled back. However, personal finance expert Martin Lewis has pointed out that there are

"two main problems" that Labour will need to address if they want to fix their policy. Chancellor Rachel Reeves revealed in July of last year that the either £200 or £300 payment

to help with heating bills for pensioners would be limited to just those receiving Pension Credit. This meant more than 10 million pension-age Brits missed out on their usual winter payment.

On Wednesday, the Prime Minister stood up in the House of Commons and committed to helping more pensioners this winter, telling MPs that they would "ensure as we go forward more

pensioners are eligible for Winter Fuel Payments." This has followed wide public anger about the change, as well as a brewing backbench rebellion. While remaining cautious, the Money

Saving Expert Founder welcomed the government's shift in stance on pension-age benefits, telling his X followers: "I am very pleased to hear the Prime Minister has just said he

wants more state pensioners to get Winter Fuel Payments (WFP), and they will work out what they're doing in time for the budget." READ MORE: Martin Lewis says 'read between

the lines' on Rachel Reeves' ISA shake-upREAD MORE: Inflation soars after huge set of 'Awful April' bill hikes Currently, to qualify for the benefit, Brits must be

receiving the means-tested Pension Credit benefit, which requires claimants to have an income under £11,500. While nothing has changed yet, Sir Keir Starmer said the eligibility requirements

would be reviewed at the next "fiscal event." Article continues below This will likely be the Autumn Statement. He added: "I recognise people are still feeling the pressure

of the cost of living crisis including pensioners, and as the economy improves we want to make sure people feel those improvements as their lives go forward." While the Prime Minister

did not elaborate on how the benefit's eligibility criteria will be adjusted, Martin Lewis was quick to point out the flaws that need to be addressed. The Money Saving Expert explained:

"As I've said since day one, there are two main problems with the way the means testing of WFP was done "One, the threshold is too low. Most need earn under £11,800/yr to get

it. That's an extremely low income when typical energy bills are £1,800/yr. "Two, using Pension Credit, a benefit that has been known to be critically underclaimed for years, as

the mechanism to prove eligibility is flawed. It leads to, on [the government's] own figures, 700,000 of the poorest and most vulnerable pensioners, people who have total income below

£11,800/yr missing out." The personal finance guru then pointed out a fundamental flaw in the way Labour decided to means-test the benefit, which will make reforming the cuts more

difficult. However, Martin Lewis has made sure to point this out to the Chancellor, slamming the policy as an "unpopular mess." Article continues below He said: "The issue

that complicates WFP means testing is it's a household not individual payment. I have suggested to the Chancellor in the past that an imperfect but speedily workable solution would be

to give WFP to all pensioners who are on pension credit or in homes that are council tax bands A to C. "Hopefully they now have time to fix this frankly unpopular mess, that came from a

rush job, and come up with something that works effectively for more people for the coming winter."