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The over 50s Forum and Online Community
This is a Seniors website consisting of a diversity of interests for over 50s and people in the retirement community. In our pensioners blogs and over 50s forum you can write about anything provided it is not illegal or offensive.
We believe that Senior Citizen organisation is something that can be improved and we can all contribute through this website. This is your over 50s forum where the over 50s and Senior citizens can exchange views, interests, ideas and issues in our online community
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Below is an email I received to-day, II think it is worth reading
may I please ask your members for a moment of their time, my
name is Geraldine Gaskell I am 61 my husband Paul is 62 but crippled with
Psoriatic Arthritis and a heart condition, me I have said that if I was a car I
would fail my MOT.
we live in a lovely Devon Village
in a cottage it is wonderful and quiet but we are being forced to think about
moving and why? we rent this house, but we rent it through a private landlord
and here is the problem, like many pensioners I need to get benefits to boost
my low income, I have pension credit and because of this they pay my Council
Tax that is wonderful but unfortunately the Government decided to cut down on
benefits for unemployed people and they felt that there wouldn't be many
pensioners within the private rented sector, even one is too many, I am talking
about the Government reform on HOusing Benefit, although they still talk about
the private sector getting housing benefit it isn't it is something called
LOCAL HOUSING ALLOWANCE and as it says it is an allowance, I will explain.
LHA is based on household number 2 people a couple they are then allocated
bedroom numbers a couple need just one bedroom then comes the Allowance this is
worked out by The Rent Service who take a set area known as a BRMA Broad Rental
Market Area, they collect rental information over a 12 month period and then
take the middle rental figure as the allowance, if your rent is more than the
allowance you have to find the shortfall or move to somewhere cheaper. between
November 2003 and April 2008 18 Councils were pathfinders for this scheme and
all their tenants in the private sector were put on LHA, but when it went
nationwide in April 2008 only new claimants in the private sector or if
you moved were put on LHA but then they moved the goal posts again and anyone
claiming housing benefit before April 2008 could stay on that but then they
changed it to until your 12 month review.
it is the most unfair and discriminatory scheme ever thought up and it is
unfair to everybody but mostly to pensioners and the long termed disabled who
cannot increase their income or work and find themselves stuck between a rock
and a hard place and all their local Councils will say is tough you'll have to
find somewhere cheaper in my case that would be a bedsit if I was lucky.
I am intersted to know just how many people have been hit by this reform,
thank you for your time
Geraldine Gaskell
You might want to read the followup email
Can I thank you for allowing me space to air my views, just
one or three little points over 50 and you've had it I know, oh you can stack
shelves at B&Q or Tescos do they think we have lost our brain cells as well
as the fact that gravity is pulling our chins closer to the floor, but a lot of
us haven't lost our pride, well sometimes that is a bad thing because believe
me, until we stand up and shout that we matter as much as a young family we
will be over looked, it is like this LHA, the Rent Service use information on
rents that is up to 12 months old and on the majority of places that aren't
even available for rent and then say here is the middle rate that is what the
allowance will be. now I have copied a piece off the deptment of Works and
Pensions it actually sys it all, once again thank you
THIS IS FROM THE DWP WEBSITE RESOURCE CENTRE AN BASICALLY IS SELF EXPLANATORY
. Resource centre
. Information for local authorities
. FAQs
. Local authority questions and answers
. Operating Local Housing Allowance - impact of LHA on Jobcentre Plus,
etc
Local authority questions and answers
Operating Local Housing Allowance - impact of LHA on Jobcentre Plus, etc
68. How will this change impact on Jobcentre Plus and The Pension Service?
Colleagues in The Pension Service have indicated they do not envisage a
significant impact on their business, as the numbers of pensioners living in
the deregulated private rented sector is small. Colleagues in Jobcentre Plus
have been given guidance on how the scheme will operate, as they are likely to
receive queries from their customers on HB. Jobcentre Plus is also aware that
under the new scheme, some customers may get a rate of HB higher than their
rent. While the extra money will be ignored when calculating entitlement to
other benefits, it could have some effect on the 'better-off-in-work'
calculations that Jobcentre Plus offers to customers. Jobcentre Plus will take
account of the introduction of LHA in any future development of the Customer
Management System (CMS).
. Find your way around this site
. Freedom of Information
. Crown copyright
. Privacy policy
. Statistics & Research
we must fight these reforms and demand the proper benefits and pensions for
those in retirement now not in ten years time.
Geraldine Gaskell
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SENIORS PETITION
This is important to anybody who hopes, one day to become a senior citizen.
Millions of UK senior citizens & over 50s are living in poverty, because their pensions are not enough to house them, heat them, feed them and clothe them, let alone provide a little leisure spending.
This is a problem we will all face sooner or later if we are lucky. Help us now to put pressure on the government to provide a pension for senior citizens that will allow them to live in the comfort that their years of hard work and payment of taxes gives them the right to expect.
You can help this and future generations of senior citizens by signing the petition to the Prime Minister asking for a just pension for senior citizens.
To sign the petition follow the lin
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/TheUKinEurope/
Your petition reads:
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Increase
state pensions to £250 a week for all UK single pensioners.
Increase State Pensions to £250 a week for all UK single
pensioners, with a relevant increase for couples, this is
easily affordable by abolishing the excessivelly costly means
test system this is demeaning and intrusive to the elderly.
Plus the government are sitting on an NI "surplus" of 40
billion, which is expected to increase to 74.1 billion by 2012.
We also request that the Prime Minister abolishes Council Tax,
because all British pensioners have spent their entire working
lives paying income tax, and N.I. contributions into the
system.
Thanks for submitting your petition
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We are sure that the subjects such as the UK old age pension will be a topic of interest to our contributors and our readers along with other issues that are important to the over 50s and those of us in the retirement community. Retirement can have benefits but, as you will be well aware, it comes with its own set of problems. On this over 50s forum we will be discussing these along with all aspects of retirement and seniors lifestyle. Our aim is to provide a vehicle for enjoyment and mental stimulation. Enjoy!
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