Lynn R

Price hikes in utilities are happening here in Spain as well (I've just read this morning - headline news in our local Spanish paper - that our water bills will be going up by 55% from January 2009). However that still won't make them as expensive as the nearly 12 pounds per month I was paying before leaving the UK 18 months ago, and the IBI certainly has a long way to go before it gets anything like as high as UK Council Tax.

jdr

Why shouldn`t they claim it ?
It is part of the pension payments that everyone is entitled to, I suppose you think that pensioners here shouldn`t be able to claim their Brit pension either ?
I am annoyed I can`t claim it because I left the UK before I was 60, after all, I paid into the system for 44 years since I was fifteen.

lcortez

Saw a similar article in CBNews,stating price hikes are on the way,however the fig qouted was 25%,so looks like some ambiquity there, re the exact fig,but a hike is def on the way

Re the Winter Fuel Allowance, dont wish to be inflammatory,but IMHO,pensioners should claim everything their entitled to!
In my job,I see pensioners,living on a pittance,using small electric heaters to keep warm and wrapping themselves in blankets etc in the winter mths,eating banana's for dinner,and buying discounted food in the supermarket!
As a result,I simply cant bring myself to charge them full rate's.
Then I get a sponger down the road,who clearly has no interest in working,calling me out at 2am,then tries to talk me into letting him of the whole charge!

Could rant for ever on the subject but wont waste your 's or my time!
Land fit for heroes,eh,land fit for spongers more like!

Fred James

Water bills are not nationally controlled and depend entirely on where the local supply comes from.

Some areas have increasing charges based on consumption - I know someone who uses a lot of water to irrigate his garden and the top rate he pays is 7 euros/m3.

We have an agricultural supply of good clean water and pay 20€ for 130 m3 - irrespective of how much we use - he would pay over 900€ for the same amount.

In fact our cost is likely to go down by 50% in a years time when the new dam south of Granada come into operation.

As I said, it just depends on where you live.

Electricity is going up by about 6% next month but that is a lot less than the UK increases and also a lot less than the electricity companies wanted.

billgates

The winter fuel allowance was not brought in with expats in the South of Spain in mind.
With fuel bills rising sharply in the UK there are going to be a lot of pensioners that will rather go cold than put the heating on.
You try convincing them that living in Spain justifies an extra fuel allowance.

That's just my personal opinion of course. And I'm sure that were I a pensioner then I would be claiming it as well. I know, I'm a hypocrite.

It's just that for me it leaves a rather sour aftertaste.
Some of my neighbours are pensioners, and of course they claim it as well, but look at it from the point of view of that pensioner going cold in the UK if they could see my neighbours swimming in their pool in 20 degree sunshine in February.

It's a controversial topic I suppose, but I agree with Icortez that pensioners should claim everything they're entitled to.

Rosemary

We moved to Spain in July 2006 so the winter of 2006 -2007 was my first experience of wintering in Spain. I grew up in a house with little or no heating and I can assure you that I have never been so cold in my life as I was that first winter here. We have an ordinary townhouse and no pool, we only have electric radiators which we had on as much as we thought we could afford right up until May so I do not know where you get the idea that all pensioners are able to swim in February. We have both paid into the UK system all of our lives so faced with the largest electric bill that we have ever had we were extremely glad that the winter fuel payment had begun for us prior to leaving the UK.

Rosemary

billgates

I didn't say or even suggest that all pensioners are able to swim in February.
I was trying to make the point that in Spain, certainly the area where I live, the sun shines most of the year round.
When the sun shines in the winter it is generally very pleasant outside.

A few years ago my family and I spent our New Year's Day relaxing under a gazebo swinging in hammocks. Try doing that in Yorkshire.

I agree that it gets cold at night but that is probably more down to lack of insulation in Spanish houses.
In the south of Spain where most (not all) Brits live the temperature is unlikely to drop anywhere near to freezing.
Not so in the UK where some days the temperature rarely gets above freezing.

And as for having "both paid into the UK system all of our lives", that's irrelevent to this discusion and nothing to do with winter fuel payments.

lcortez

Re the "Winter Fuel Allowance",again would reiterate that I believe Pensioners should be allowed to claim it in Spain,as A; It DOES get cold in Spain even in the South,(This is in in large measure to topographical features,a very boring discussion,not worth getting into!),and B;The argument of having paid in all of ones life DOES hold water,as after having paid into the system for a working life of at least 40 yrs,then to be offered a pension of £65 a week (lowest in Europe),is frankly offensive,not to mention unlivable,even in Spain!

IMHO.welfare should be restricted to Pensioners,and the very ill/disabled.Any one else of working age and fit shouldnt need it!

PS;I'm not actually a pensioner,far from it!

billgates

Well I did say it was a controversial topic

jdr

Too right, I saw the old geezer on the UK news saying they don`t need it cos it doesn`t get cold, yeah right.
We live in one of the warmest parts of Spain and boy it does get cold in the winter, I wear more clothes here as I did in the UK.
As I say we moved before I was 60, and can not claim, now I find that is controversial, as the money would certainly help out.

Rotor

I read a cpuple of years ago that the average income in Malaga province was €8k !!!

lcortez

Eur 8k per annum ,where do you people get your information!!, in in 2005 male wage in Spain averaged Eur17.959, female Eur 12,565.!
I would imagine given the growth in the the Spanish economy they have increased a little since then
The reasons for continous Brit expat failure become more clearer by the day!

Still at least its good for a young person to see how NOT to do it!rofl:

Mitzyboy

Yes lets just ignore all the successes shall we, that would just be too terrible to contemplate!

According to various financial sites I checked the average wage in Spain is around €14 - €15k a year, and I assume that tales into consideration male & female wages.

lcortez

Well thats amusing!
Whenever some one comes on here asking if they have a chance of making a living in Spain,the answer is always no!
Ooh dont do that,it'll fail!
This site seem's to thrive on doom and gloom,and predictions of failure!
Whenever I've suggested something might work,(and I seem to be the only one),theres always a lot of people weighting in to shoot both myself,and the OP down.
So I'm not ignoring the succes's,dont spin my words to suit your own agenda!

bil

Well we get our water out the ground, so it's just the power for the pump.

Council tax £9 a month instead of £240.

As for allowances, my attitude is simple. If I am entitled to something that I have paid for, then I am damn well going to have it.

As for the doom and gloom, well, having seen so many people with unrealistic expectations, a dose of cold reality is probably a good thing, even if it does sound a bit doom and gloom-y