State pensioners wake up to DWP Christmas bonus from Monday, but it’s ‘ | Personal Finance | Finance

Millions of pensioners across the UK will wake up to the payment of a Christmas bonus from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on Monday.

The bonus is a one-off payment of £10 given to people claiming certain benefits and paid by the DWP during the first week of December.

Thousands of people have backed a petition urging the Government to increase the amount of the Christmas bonus to match inflation, similar to recent changes to the winter fuel payment.

The campaign, launched in October this year and which has gathered more than 22,000 signatures, calls for an increase in the Christmas bonus, based on inflation, which has remained at £10 since its inception ago fifty years.

Campaign host Shona McMahon said: “Christmas is THE most expensive time of the year! Pensioners, vulnerable people and disabled people like me, could benefit from an extra boost at this time of year, especially as energy support has been removed. It was shocking to learn that the ‘£10 Christmas bonus’ has been the same for over five decades! »

In response, a DWP representative said: “We know that Christmas is a time when people stretch their budgets, which is why we are paying many people their benefits earlier than usual, helping them to prepare for the holiday season.

“We are working to support people throughout the year with a new system that offers better personalized support to those out of work as well as those working on low income.” They added: “We are taking immediate action to address the terrible legacy we face – with more people living in poverty today than 14 years ago.

“This includes extending the Household Support Fund for the most vulnerable, starting work to develop a strategy to reduce child poverty and taking the first steps towards providing a real living wage for workers. “

To qualify for the £10 Christmas bonus, you must live or be ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man or Gibraltar, during the qualifying week, which is this year from December 2 to 8.

You must claim the state pension during this weekly period, or at least one of the following benefits:

• Adult Disability Payment

• Armed Forces Independence Payment

• Care allowance

• Carer’s Allowance

• Disability payment for children

• Constant care allowance (paid under work injury or war pension schemes)

• Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance (once the main phase of the benefit is entered after the first 13 weeks of claiming)

• Living allowance for disabled people

• 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)

• Severe disability allowance (temporarily protected)

• Unemployability supplement or allowance (paid under work accident or war pension schemes)

• War Disability Pension at State Retirement Age

• War widow’s pension

• Widowed mother’s allowance

• Allowance for widowed parents

• Widow’s pension

You don’t need to submit a claim to get it as it will be paid automatically if you’re eligible and will be sent directly to your bank account during the first week of December. It should appear on your bank statement with the reference “DWP XB”.

You will not receive the Christmas bonus if you have not claimed your State Pension and are not entitled to any of the other eligible benefits.

If you think you are eligible for the £10 Christmas bonus but do not receive it during the first week of December, you should contact Jobcentre Plus Office which deals with your payments or Pensions service.