State pensioners who have lost their £200 to £300 Winter Fuel Payment will be handed up to a paltry £10 in December to help with their bills.
This winter marks the first winter that millions of state pensioners will not get a £200 to £300 Winter Fuel Payment automatically, after Labour changed the system so that only those on Pension Credit or other low income qualifying benefits would still get the money.
It’s also the first time in three years that a £300 Cost of Living payment isn’t being sent to pensioners (or anyone on benefits), after the scheme was not renewed for 2024.
And despite widespread pressure on the DWP, the government has announced that the Christmas bonus sent to pensioners this year will remain at just £10, the same as it’s been since the 1970s.
There are other benefits available, such as the £150 Warm Homes Discount, and the £25 a week Cold Weather Payment, paid to those living in areas where the temperature hits 0C for seven days running.
But both of these benefits are also paid only to those on Pension Credit, or an equivalent qualifying benefit, so if you are eligible to receive them, you’ll be able to get a Winter Fuel Payment anyway.
The only additional benefit coming for state pensioners in December specifically, other than existing and ongoing benefits like bus passes, free prescriptions and free eye care, is the DWP’s Christmas Bonus.
The bonus is £10, and is paid out each December.
Every year since 1972, the Department for Work and Pensions has sent £10 to people on various benefits at Christmas, including Universal Credit, state pensioners and various other benefits include PIP.
A petition has been set up over the £10 Christmas bonus, calling for the money to be increased to at least £130.
But the DWP bonus will remain at £10, at least this year.
The DWP says: “To get a Christmas Bonus you must be present or ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man or Gibraltar during the qualifying week.
“You must also get at least one of the following benefits in the ‘qualifying week’ – this is normally the first full week of December:”
The full list of qualifying benefits includes the state pension, Disability Living Allowance, Pension Credit, PIP, Carer’s Allowance, Attendance Allowance and Adult Disability Payment.
But the DWP adds: “If you have not claimed your State Pension and are not entitled to one of the other qualifying benefits you will not get a Christmas Bonus.”
