Winter fuel payments in summer could save pensioners £170 Baroness Verma, an energy minister, said she would consider calls by Lord Wigley, a Plaid Cymru peer, to pay the winter fuel allowance early "so that recipients can not only better plan their fuel expenditure but can also buy earlier in the year when prices are cheaper." The minister's suggestion comes amid criticism of rising profits at Centrica, the owner of British Gas. The British Gas residential energy supply arm, which raised prices for household energy customers by six per cent in October, on Wednesday announced that profits for 2012 had risen 11 per cent to £606 million. Caroline Flint, the shadow energy secretary, said it was time for a "complete overhaul of our energy market." "People will not understand why, just a few months ago, British Gas claimed they had no option but to put up their prices when now it looks like they're making huge profits on the back of spiralling bills for hard-pressed consumers," she said. The winter fuel payment is worth £200 to those aged over 60, rising to £300 for those over 80. More than 95 per cent of the 13 million payments are made during November and December. Speaking in the House of Lords this week, Baroness Verma described Lord Wigley's suggestion as an "interesting option" and said she would take it "back to the department." About 15 per cent of households are not on the gas grid. Figures from the Oil Firing Technical Association suggest that a typical rural household could have saved £170 if heating oil was bought in June 2010 compared with January 2011. "There are two basic reasons for [early fuel allowance payment]," Lord Wigley said. The first is that you can of course have cold snaps in the year before the winter fuel payment becomes available. But more generally the pattern of prices seems to go up in winter when people are buying in more. Paul Green, of the over-50s group Saga, said that more "flexibility" in the winter fuel allowance scheme would benefit elderly people. "This idea would be warmly welcomed given the huge seasonal variations in oil and gas costs," Mr Green said. Rural pensioners need a fair deal. Ministers have previously rejected calls to pay the allowance earlier in the year over concerns that it would add complexity and expense to the system.