DLA/ESA Christmas £10.

ani_26

motherbored21 wrote: »

A whole £10!! I hope you all spent it wisely...

I would have spent mine on a small joint of turkey, had i received it.

motherbored21 wrote: »

I am sure it used to be more? What happened whilst I was living overseas?

CHRISTMAS BONUS

In 1972, then prime minister Ted Heath introduced a £10 Christmas bonus for pensioners. It was worth £98 in today's money and was considerably more than the £6.75 a week basic state pension that pensioners of the time received.




Bizarrely, given the government's austerity drive this bonus still exists, and there are no plans to get rid of this Christmas present from the Treasury. But the money is still just £10, so it's nowhere near as generous as it was in Heath's day.



When it was launched by Ted Heath's Tory government in 1972, the bonus payment was worth £98 in today's money.

The £10 Christmas boost was then worth more than the £6.75 basic state pension.


The bonus has declined in real terms ever since it was introduced, apart from two years in the mid-1970s when it was suspended altogether by Labour PM Harold Wilson.

By the time Tony Blair and Gordon Brown came to power in 1997, it was worth £14 in today's money.

Quote: ''The measly Christmas bonus is a slap in the face for today's pensioners. What was once a valuable additional benefit is now nothing more than a joke.

''When it was brought in, a pensioner could buy Christmas dinner and still have money left over. Today it wouldn't even buy you the turkey.''




Ironically, buying turkey, was, exactly how i was going to spend my £10.



Maybe the government needs to decide whether they will abolish the payment completely, or bring it back in line with the economy of today. I'm sure they will abolish this, too. I may be poor, but even i, find it insulting # a joke.


After all, i've managed without it.


You just have to cut your cloth accordingly...............



To be honest, i'm more irked by the attitude of the member of staff at the jc+ than i am by the non payment. After all, it's normally paid the first week of december. I'll let you know when i receive it.

garfield413

I got mine first week in December and also received the usual letter from DLA telling me it was going to be credited. It's always been £10 as far as I know.

James - I think you're right in that you should've only received one bonus :-)

nannytone_2

richard9991 wrote: »

IT Has always been £10 not £19 and was introduced in the 70s not 80s

i am blind and once i get it wrong it continues to go wrong!

what you said is what i thought id said!

HGLTsuperstar

After much repeated chasing I gotmineyesterday, how much it fist in phone calls god only knows! What I do know I'd, if I audio them a month late, all he'll would break loose and they'd demand immediate correction plus interest.

Breast_Cancer_Survivor

I didn't get mine this year & did phone them up but they maintain they have given it me even though it didn't actually get paid into my bank & I haven't had it :cool:

ani_26

Breaking news....................



I finally received my £10 xmas bonus in a separate payment. :xmassign:


Why can't they get the simplest of payments correct? :think::doh:

philnicandevan

Hmm never did get mine either....

ani_26

philnicandevan wrote: »

Hmm never did get mine either....


Not quite a newbie as you think ;)

Hi philnicandamy, how are you? :hello:



Well, i trust?

tinkledom

philnicandevan wrote: »

Hmm never did get mine either....

Didn't get mine either as well as my half of the Winter Fuel Allowance. My wife received both of hers late November.


Don't fancy spending hours listening to taped music for an hour only to be transferred again. Will see what happens this year.

beanielou

Glad you got it at last ani