State pensioners are set for a small income boost from this week as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) starts distributing its annual Chirstmas Bonus payment.
The £10 payment, introduced in 1972, has stayed nearly the same ever since, prompting criticism from benefit claimants and charities.
The bonus is given to individuals receiving specific benefits, such as the state pension, during a designated qualifying week, usually the first full week of December.
This year, that week starts on December 2, and payments will be made during the same period.
Eligible recipients do not need to apply for the bonus, as it will be automatically deposited into their bank accounts.
Who is eligible for a DWP Christmas bonus?
To get a Christmas Bonus people must be present or “ordinarily resident” in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man or Gibraltar during the qualifying week.
People must also get at least one of the following benefits in the qualifying week:
- Adult Disability Payment
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- Attendance Allowance
- Carer’s Allowance
- Child Disability Payment
- Constant Attendance Allowance (paid under Industrial Injuries or War Pensions schemes)
- Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance (once the main phase of the benefit is entered after the first 13 weeks of claim)
- Disability Living Allowance
- Incapacity Benefit at the long-term rate
- Industrial Death Benefit (for widows or widowers)
- Mobility Supplement
- Pension Credit – the guarantee element
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- State Pension (including Graduated Retirement Benefit)
- Severe Disablement Allowance (transitionally protected)
- Unemployability Supplement or Allowance (paid under Industrial Injuries or War Pensions schemes)
- War Disablement Pension at State Pension age
- War Widow’s Pension
- Widowed Mother’s Allowance
- Widowed Parent’s Allowance
- Widow’s Pension.
Those who have not claimed their state pension yet and are not entitled to one of the other qualifying benefits will not get a Christmas Bonus.
People who are either married, in a civil partnership, or cohabiting, and who receive one of the qualifying benefits, are entitled to receive a Christmas Bonus payment each.
If a person’s partner or civil partner does not get one of the qualifying benefits, they may still get the Christmas Bonus if both of the following apply:
- The couple are both over state pension age (66) by the end of the qualifying week
- The couple are also present (or ‘ordinarily resident’) in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Gibraltar, European Economic Area (EEA) country or Switzerland during the qualifying week
and either:
- One person is entitled to an increase of a qualifying benefit for their partner or civil partner
- The only qualifying benefit a person is getting is Pension Credit.
To check for the payment, people should look for the DWP XB reference on their bank statement.
People who think they should be eligible but have not received a payment by January 1 are advised to contact the Jobcentre Plus office that deals with their benefit payments or the Pension Service.
Online petitions have called on the Government to permanently increase the payment in line with inflation, which would bring the rate up to £115.08 today, according to the Bank of England’s calculator.
A DWP spokesperson has since responded, stating: “We are taking immediate action to turn around the dire inheritance we face – with more people living in poverty now than 14 years ago.
“This includes extending the Household Support Fund for the most vulnerable, kickstarting work to develop a strategy to reduce child poverty and taking the first steps towards delivering a genuine living wage for working people.”
