Tag Archives: state pension

Some Frozen UK State Pensioners Get Weather Pay-Outs

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The BBC tells us that Millions to get weather pay-outs

Millions of pensioners and vulnerable people around the UK have become eligible for cold weather payments. The £25-a-week assistance is triggered when an area’s average temperature falls or is forecast to fall to 0C or below for seven consecutive days.  Forecasts for the London area mean 600,000 people are eligible for fuel help for the first time in a decade.

The increased cold weather payments are one part of a package of measures announced by the UK Government this winter.  This year’s Christmas bonus for pensioners and disabled people, which will be paid between January and March, has increased from £10 to £70.  An extra £575m has been spent on winter fuel payments, with £250 for those in households with someone aged 60 or over, and £400 for those with someone aged 80 plus.

These winter fuel payments are also paid to UK State pensioners who have emigrated to those countries where state pensions are indexed with inflation..  Those who have emigrated to places such as Australia or Canada do not receive these extra payments, nor of course are their pensions indexed with inflation. 

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UK State Pensions Lowest In Europe

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UK State Pensioners resident in Canada do not fare as well as their fellow Pensioners, who are resident in the UK.  However that does not mean that UK pensioners who reside in the UK are having an easy time of it.

 Michael Thompson, who is the founder of Link-Age/Countrywide and is a member of The Devon Pensioners Action Forum took the time to respond to another blog post on 10 Downing Street Twitterings While UK Pensioners Freeze.

He also sent me some information on how UK State pensions compare with those in the rest of Europe as a percentage of the average wage.  As this chart shows, Britain is at the bottom of this State Pension league table.

Britain At The Bottom for UK State Pensions

His information made me aware of another useful website, Seniors Network,
which claims to be the Top  Web Site For the Over 50′s in the UK.  If you wander around that website, I think you will find the claim to be well justified.  Thank you, Michael Thompson, for introducing me to that Seniors Network website.  If you wish to contact Michael Thompson then you can do that by email or by telephone at 01803 857020 after 7pm GMT. If others know of useful sites for seniors, then perhaps they could mention them in the comments.  The best will be featured in the Money Resources page.

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Frozen UK State Pensions – Spousal Advice

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Frozen UK State Pensions are never far from my mind, given the severe hardship it creates for many of its recipients.  Naturally when I visited Black Pudding, that incredible cornucopia of UK goodies here in Langley, British Columbia, UK State Pensions did come up in the conversation. 

One surprise to some was the revelation that the spouse of a UK pensioner is entitled to a UK pension on reaching the retirement age.  This is true even if the spouse has never lived in the UK nor paid State Pension contributions.  Given the unfairness of other features of UK State Pensions paid to Canadian residents, it is important not to overlook this useful contribution.  If you are a UK State Pensioner resident in Canada, then I would encourage you to look into this.

Of course there is rarely good news without associated bad news.  The bad news is that the retirement ages are rising as you can see from the following extract from The Pension Service A to Z listing.

State Pension age: The State Pension age is 65 years old for men and 60 years old for women. However, the State Pension age for women is changing – it will rise gradually from age 60 to 65 from 2010 to 2020. The state pension age for both men and women is to increase from 65 to 68 between 2024 and 2046, with each change phased in over two consecutive years in each decade. The first increase, from 65 to 66, will be phased in between April 2024 and April 2026; the second, from 66 to 67, will be phased in between April 2034 and April 2036; and the third, from 67 to 68, between April 2044 and April 2046.

If your spouse is not yet at the UK State Pension retirement age, there is a retirement age calculator provided to determine the age at which the pension will be available.  I guess the bottom line on that is Better Late Than Never.

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