Pensioners cost of living payment

Spoonie_Turtle

casjen said:

When the extra payment was announce it said that it would be another extra WFA so if you get £300 then it would be another £300. However on receiving letter this week it gives a total of £500 which is an extra £200 not £300. The gov web site indicated you have to be over 80 to get the £ 300. This was not how it was originally announced as far as i remember

The £300 is per household, sort of.  It's 'per household' in that it's calculated based on one or two pensioners in the household, so the single amount is £300 more than it would have been, and the non-single amounts are £150 extra than they would have been. 
So for a 2-pensioner household that is an extra £300, but if there are more than two then the household will receive more than £300 extra.

The base single amount for under-80s is £200, and 80+ is £300.  So add the £300 CoL to those amounts and you get this year's amounts.

[Deleted User] said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

[Deleted User] said:

The Government may be poor at a lot of things but it has a very good and informative website.

I consider myself reasonably well-versed in the matters of benefits and how the government phrases things, but still had to read the table a few times when I first visited the WFP page as I was not understanding it.  Similarly the OP evidently didn't fully understand the table at first either.  I don't know how it could have been made clearer, to be fair, but the way they've chosen can take a bit of processing.

I don’t want to prolong this exchange but the OP’s spouse has received the annual DWP letter. The DWP letter is addressed to an individual and it explains the breakdown of the money.

The letter also states:

You qualify for the £250 because you:

. were born on or before 25 September 1956

. were living with someone else who qualifies

The OP’s concern was therefore addressed in the letter. 

Fair enough, I was not aware of that.

I also agree about not contacting DWP, but for an additional reason - the staff handling calls are rarely properly trained to have a full understanding of the benefit/payment in question.  It's particularly bad with Universal Credit but we hear reports of wrong advice they give out for all different benefits too.  Even if someone does get through to DWP, aside from cost/wasting the staff's time it's also reasonably likely to be a waste of the caller's time at best, and at worst the advice could cause them to take a detrimental course of action.

[Deleted User]

friendam said:

I thought as a newbie this was supposed to be a kind informative site if someone was seeking clarity rather than getting a lecture! 

Hi,

it is, and hopefully the advice and help given today has helped you understand your query, chill. 

lisyloo

casjen said:

When the extra payment was announce it said that it would be another extra WFA so if you get £300 then it would be another £300. However on receiving letter this week it gives a total of £500 which is an extra £200 not £300. The gov web site indicated you have to be over 80 to get the £ 300. This was not how it was originally announced as far as i remember

Are you sure?
From what I can see the cost of living payment IS an extra £300 but some people only receive £200 winter fuel allowance.

casjen

lisyloo said:

casjen said:

When the extra payment was announce it said that it would be another extra WFA so if you get £300 then it would be another £300. However on receiving letter this week it gives a total of £500 which is an extra £200 not £300. The gov web site indicated you have to be over 80 to get the £ 300. This was not how it was originally announced as far as i remember

Are you sure?
From what I can see the cost of living payment IS an extra £300 but some people only receive £200 winter fuel allowance.

I always receive the £300 WFA and the letter is headed "Your Winter Fuel Payment will be £500"

The paragraph then says

Your £500 also includes extra money from the govt to help with the cost of living. This extra money is known as a "Pensioner Cost of Living Payment"

LindsayT

Under 80 has always been £200 and over 80 £300. This year is £300 on top of those figures.

ericthesanddune

Turned 66 a few days before the 25th September so just scraped in for the 500 quid,   and the letter states that the payment will be made by November or December..and st the latest January 13th 2023…what I want to know is who decides who gets paid in which month? Why not all on the same date? What is the meaning of life? 

molerat

ericthesanddune said:

Turned 66 a few days before the 25th September so just scraped in for the 500 quid,   and the letter states that the payment will be made by November or December..and st the latest January 13th 2023…what I want to know is who decides who gets paid in which month? Why not all on the same date? What is the meaning of life? 

The last one is easy ........ 42.

ariarnia

ericthesanddune said:

Turned 66 a few days before the 25th September so just scraped in for the 500 quid,   and the letter states that the payment will be made by November or December..and st the latest January 13th 2023…what I want to know is who decides who gets paid in which month? Why not all on the same date? What is the meaning of life? 

i might be wrong but i think pension and job seekers is paid on different days/weeks depending on your NI letter and DOB so i guess they pay in the same kind of batches?

Spoonie_Turtle

ericthesanddune said:

Turned 66 a few days before the 25th September so just scraped in for the 500 quid,   and the letter states that the payment will be made by November or December..and st the latest January 13th 2023…what I want to know is who decides who gets paid in which month? Why not all on the same date? What is the meaning of life? 

Probably for the same reason all the other cost of living payments have been spread over a period of time too - the system just can't cope with 12.5million+ payments all on the same day. 
[I say 12.5m+ because DWP says 12.5m claim state pension, plus however many people have deferred it will also qualify for the WFP.]

friendam

I note all your comments. My comment regarding contacting the DWP was because I also have an outstanding different matter they are dealing with and I was going to add my question at the same time as phoning on that matter.
This post has run its' course. I now have clarity, thank you to those who have replied without negative judgement on how I had interpreted my husband's letter.