State pensioners will wake up to £459 less in bank account from Tuesday

Pensioners who have lost out on the Winter Fuel Payment and Winter Fuel Allowance, which is worth £300 from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), will also have to contend with a £149 rise in energy bills thanks to the Ofgem price cap.

State pensioners face being £459 worse off from Tuesday. Pensioners who have lost out on the Winter Fuel Payment and Winter Fuel Allowance, which is worth £300 from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), will also have to contend with a £149 rise in energy bills thanks to the Ofgem price cap.

Ofgem announced that the average home energy bill will increase from £1,568 to £1,717 on 1 October. It means a typical household’s annual energy bill will rise by £149. The regulator sets the price limit for each unit of energy used based on several factors including wholesale energy prices – the amount energy providers pay for gas and electricity before supplying it to households.

The limit changes every three months – in January, April, July and October. Energy prices have fallen twice this year – in April and July – but are set to move back up. Those on standard variable tariffs paying by direct debit will pay on average 24.5p per kilowatt hour (kWh) for electricity and a daily standing charge of 60.99p, and 6.24p for gas with a standing charge of 31.66.

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With regards to the Winter Fuel Payment, Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, has slammed Sir Keir Starmer for removing the allowance while “leaving the super-rich untouched”. At the Labour Party Conference, speaking to loud applause, she told delegates: “Our public services and British industry need investment now.

“It’s no good having sympathy for workers at Grangemouth losing their jobs: they don’t need pity, they need Labour to step up to the plate and not allow a billionaire, who buys a football club as a hobby, to throw these workers on the scrapheap.”

She added: “We are the sixth richest economy in the world; we have the money. Britain needs investment, not austerity mark II. We won’t get any gold badge for shaving peanuts off our debt. It’s the wrong decision, and it needs to be reversed.”