Pension boon

[ardcarp]

I have just read a booklet that arrived with information about my state retirement pension (oops, they call it a 'benefit' now) and under a heading Age Addition it says:

If you are 80 or over, you may be entitled to 25 pence a week Age Addition

I love the word 'may'. It conjures up armies of civil servants pondering about which octogenarians qualify.

[MrGongGong]

How many years would it take to save up enough to sit in the expensive seats? (only to have your evening totally ruined by some oik slipping into the empty one next to you after the interval)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I have just read a booklet that arrived with information about my state retirement pension (oops, they call it a 'benefit' now) and under a heading Age Addition it says:

If you are 80 or over, you may be entitled to 25 pence a week Age Addition

I love the word 'may'. It conjures up armies of civil servants pondering about which octogenarians qualify.

Perhaps they use the word "benefit" to give the option of cutting state pensions, when it suits...

[Flosshilde]

Yes - it's part of the new war on older people. It's all the fault of the 'baby boomers' getting free bus travel, pensions etc that the young can't buy houses, or get jobs, etc etc.

[Beef Oven!]

How many years would it take to save up enough to sit in the expensive seats? (only to have your evening totally ruined by some oik slipping into the empty one next to you after the interval)

Yes, that happened to me just over a year ago at a Ligeti/Takemitsu gig. Ruined. Ruddy oiks!

[ahinton]

Perhaps they use the word "benefit" to give the option of cutting state pensions, when it suits...

It's called a state benefit because it is one. It's been termed state retirement benefit for at least nine years, to my knowledge and possibly quite a lot more than that. Even calling it that is potentially misleading, since by no means all recipients of it are retired and I did read somewhere not so long ago (can't find the source / reference right now) that the proportion of state retirement benefit recipients who are still either employed or self-enpliyed or both has increased in recent times. There seems to be no move to cut state retirement benefit any time soon, although it's increasingly difficult to see how it can continue to be funded at current and increasing levels by the source from which it is funded now, unless the general economic climate improves substantially and sustainably with the result that there are more people in work paying taxes that help to fund these and other benefit payments.

[ahinton]

I have just read a booklet that arrived with information about my state retirement pension (oops, they call it a 'benefit' now) and under a heading Age Addition it says:

If you are 80 or over, you may be entitled to 25 pence a week Age Addition

I love the word 'may'. It conjures up armies of civil servants pondering about which octogenarians qualify.

It does indeed sound ridiculous, especially for those on one of the higher rates of income tax, since each additional £0.25 payment will raise an income tax liability of up to 45%; one cannot help but wonder how much it costs DWP to administer and pay out each recipient's extra £13 p.a. and then have HMRC claw up to £5.85 p.a. of it back.

But what actually does the word "may" mean in this context? What are the qualifying / disqualifying parameters?

[P. G. Tipps]

Yes - it's part of the new war on older people. It's all the fault of the 'baby boomers' getting free bus travel, pensions etc that the young can't buy houses, or get jobs, etc etc.

Indeed, though 'war' is a bit strong!. How quickly pensioners seem to have moved from the Great Underprivileged to becoming one of the most sneered at sections of society, second only to top bankers.

The free bus-pass issue is a total red-herring. If pensioners are as well-off as claimed they will run their own cars or hire taxis and won't go anywhere near a bus. So the bus-pass automatically will be used by poorer old folk, and it's existence is therefore wholly justified, imv.

However, the £200 annual fuel allowance (and that truly absurd £10 'bonus') for all pensioners is a different matter altogether and should only be awarded to the very poorest. This could easily be done through the tax system, but an eye on votes and consequent lack of political will often trump good government.

[mangerton]

It does indeed sound ridiculous, especially for those on one of the higher rates of income tax, since each additional £0.25 payment will raise an income tax liability of up to 45%; one cannot help but wonder how much it costs DWP to administer and pay out each recipient's extra £13 p.a. and then have HMRC claw up to £5.85 p.a. of it back.

But what actually does the word "may" mean in this context? What are the qualifying / disqualifying parameters?

The answer is here. If you've got it, you'll keep it. If you don't have it already, you won't get it. As laid down by Parliament. There are no "armies of civil servants pondering....." Civil servants carry out legislation passed by our democratically elected MPs.

[ahinton]

The free bus-pass issue is a total red-herring. If pensioners are as well-off as claimed they will run their own cars or hire taxis and won't go anywhere near a bus. So the bus-pass automatically will be used by poorer old folk, and it's existence is therefore wholly justified, imv.

I don't think that we can be so certain that few if any of the over-60s who can afford to travel by their own cars or in taxis and minicabs never use a bus pass (and, of course, bus passes, like winter fuel payments, prescription charge exemptions and the like - as well as such facilities as the paid-for quaintly named Senior Citizens' Railcard - are open not only to state retirement benefit recipients but also to anyone aged 60 and above)

However, the £200 annual fuel allowance (and that truly absurd £10 'bonus') for all pensioners is a different matter altogether and should only be awarded to the very poorest. This could easily be done through the tax system, but an eye on votes and consequent lack of political will often trump good government.

It wouldn't be that easy to make such payments on a means-tested basis alone; this has been widely debated and the conclusion appears to be that the cost of means-testing these would likely outweigh the value of the benefits themselves; I do, however, agree that the £10 "bonus" is absurd, as paying it separately to state retirement benefit recipients must be very much more expensive than it would be to include in in those benefit payments.

[ahinton]

The answer is here. If you've got it, you'll keep it. If you don't have it already, you won't get it. As laid down by Parliament. There are no "armies of civil servants pondering....." Civil servants carry out legislation passed by our democratically elected MPs.

For some reason I am unable to open the link that you provide. It was not I who claimed that armies of civil servants are involved in this, but would you not in any case agree that a £0.25 p.w. additional payment is absurd? - and why in any case should one go to certain people just because they've attained the age of 80?

[mangerton]

For some reason I am unable to open the link that you provide. It was not I who claimed that armies of civil servants are involved in this, but would you not in any case agree that a £0.25 p.w. additional payment is absurd? - and why in any case should one go to certain people just because they've attained the age of 80?

It's actually (I now discover) a six page PDF from the House of Commons Library. Here is page 1, which I think answers your questions.

"Pensioners aged 80 and over receive an addition of 25 pence to their state pension. The age addition was introduced in 1971, in recognition of “the special claims of very elderly people who on the whole need help rather more than others”. It has never been uprated, with successive Governments either arguing that greater priority should be given to protecting the level of the basic benefits, or choosing to target additional resources at older pensioners by other means, for example, through means-tested benefits or lump sum payments, such as the Winter Fuel Payment.

The Government has announced its intention to reform the state pension, introducing a single-tier state pension for future pensioners from April 2016. The single-tier pension will not include an age addition. However, people already over State Pension age when the reforms are introduced will continue to receive their state pension in line with existing rules.

Information about these reforms is in Library Standard Note SN 6525 Single-tier State Pension. Other pensioner benefits are covered in SN 6354 – Pensioner benefits."

I know you didn't make the claim. Sorry, my quoting was unclear.

[richardfinegold]

Here we have significant variability in the economies between the States. My State has an unfounded Public Sector liability of 100 billion dollars that is predicted to cause fiscal Armegeddon when the bill comes due. Other states such as Florida are in such good shape that they don't have s State Income Tax. These are significant concerns for people on fixed incomes and in retirement planning

[ahinton]

It's actually (I now discover) a six page PDF from the House of Commons Library. Here is page 1, which I think answers your questions.

"Pensioners aged 80 and over receive an addition of 25 pence to their state pension. The age addition was introduced in 1971, in recognition of “the special claims of very elderly people who on the whole need help rather more than others”. It has never been uprated, with successive Governments either arguing that greater priority should be given to protecting the level of the basic benefits, or choosing to target additional resources at older pensioners by other means, for example, through means-tested benefits or lump sum payments, such as the Winter Fuel Payment.

The Government has announced its intention to reform the state pension, introducing a single-tier state pension for future pensioners from April 2016. The single-tier pension will not include an age addition. However, people already over State Pension age when the reforms are introduced will continue to receive their state pension in line with existing rules.

Information about these reforms is in Library Standard Note SN 6525 Single-tier State Pension. Other pensioner benefits are covered in SN 6354 – Pensioner benefits."

I know you didn't make the claim. Sorry, my quoting was unclear.

That's OK - and thanks for quoting this, from which it seems clear that the new single-tier state retirement benefit arrangements due to come into force in just over a year's time will at last absorb (and thus dispense with) this £0.25 over-80s payment which offers no material "help" even to the poorest of the over-80s beyond the price of a few cups of coffee.

[Bryn]

... (and, of course, bus passes ... are open not only to state retirement benefit recipients but also to anyone aged 60 and above) ...

Tut, tut Mr. H. You really must bring yourself up to date. In England at least, the entitlement age for the National Bus Pass currently stands at around 62 years and 5 months. Basically it follows the advancing state retirement age for women. I think you will find the same applies to the Welsh and Scottish National Bus Passes.