THE amount elderly people are eligible to claim for winter fuel payments is confusing, according to a Worcestershire MP.

Harriett Baldwin has written to the Government seeking clarification over how much people can qualify for as she does not believe information currently available is clear.

Several Worcester News readers have pointed out that they have been quoted different amounts and questioned the clarity of the wording on the DirectGov website.

In a letter to Work and Pension Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, Mrs Baldwin, West Worcestershire MP, said she believes the information on the website to be “confusingly presented and often conflicting”.

She said she wanted clarification on what couples can claim after a member of her team was given information that a couple both aged 80 would receive a household payment of £300, but a couple where one householder is aged under 80 would receive £50 more.

In her letter, Mrs Baldwin said: “My team member who rang the winter fuel payments helpline was told that this is causing confusion in their offices and I would be interested to find out if this is, indeed, a correct figure.”

A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said that where couples were both aged over 80 and in couples where one is aged over 80 and their partner is younger, they both qualify for £300 winter fuel payments.

As a result, he said all of the information on the website is correct and he did not believe it to be confusing.

However, Mrs Baldwin and her team do not believe that to be the case. She said: “I am grateful that members of the public have got in touch to raise this issue.”