DWP slammed over £300 insult to people who've lost loved ones

The Department for Work and Pensions has been slammed over letters sent to dead loved ones as grieving families are hit by the documents. The DWP has sent thousands of grieving families letters over losing the £300 Winter Fuel Allowance.

Dead pensioners have been sent winter fuel payment letters, despite the DWP being informed of their deaths. The DWP is writing to 13.5million pensioners to alert them to the changes and also to let them know if they might be eligible for pension credit.

But some letters are being sent to pensioners who have died - despite grieving families having told the DWP about their deaths already. Frances Coppola, a writer and economist, received a letter from DWP intended for her partner.

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But she had already informed the government that he had died on September 19. Writing on X she said: "My partner's state pension has already been stopped. I did not understand why they were writing to him about WFP, since clearly they knew he was dead."

"So thousands of bereaved spouses, partners and relatives are receiving these letters," she added. She added: "DWP is ignoring official notifications of death and literally spamming the relatives of deceased WFP claimants. I am horrified."

A DWP spokesperson said: "We are looking into what happened in this case and apologise for any distress caused. More broadly we are committed to ensuring pensioners are aware of the changes to the winter fuel payment and the wider support that is available to them.

"We are issuing letters to around 13.5 million pensioners and our drive to boost take up of Pension Credit has seen a 152% increase in claims, with other pensioners are also benefiting from the Warm Homes Discount and our extension of the Household Support Fund to help with their energy bills."