state pension payment cycle

EdInvestor

It's true you only become eligible for the SP on the Monday after your birthday, but from then on, it's paid on the Monday to cover the week going forward.

Some people of course have their relevant birthday on the Monday and are paid in advance from the start.;)

[Deleted User]

:T I am getting two weeks tomorrow and weekly starting from monday. That was so easy to arrange. I would not have thought of weekly if I hadn`t read it here

jennifernil

EdInvestor wrote: »

It's true you only become eligible for the SP on the Monday after your birthday, but from then on, it's paid on the Monday to cover the week going forward.

Some people of course have their relevant birthday on the Monday and are paid in advance from the start.;)

OH's birthday fell on a Tuesday, so he lost 6 days pension due to that.

It seems unfair. We were alright, but what about people on low earnings with no savings? What are they supposed to survive on for those days?

cmoikila

kittie wrote: »

I am entitled to a state pension from 21st january and have opted to be paid 4 wekly. I can`t see anything in my bank account yet and it is over 4 weeks now. It does say that `the first payment may be more or less than four weeks. This is to bring you onto a regular payment cycle`

Can anyone explain this a bit more please

Could it be the DWP is starting a trial of the forthcoming "6th of odd numbered month" payment cycle where "Payment cycle" dates would start on the 6th of January, March, May, July, September, and November? NB The Government would thereby not pay the pension for the days leading to these dates. In the case of kittie, 45 days of pension entitlement would be lost.

That's because (if that's indeed what's happening) your pension date of 21st January missed the previous cycle date of 6th of January, and because you opted for 4-weekly payments, your first payment would be on 3 April; i.e., 4 weeks from the first payment cycle date of 6th of March.

Thus, under "6th of odd numbered month" rule, your pension date would start on the 6th of March (instead of 21st January) it would be worth checking that your first payment will be correct. The current "Monday to Sunday" cycle should apply.

I personally think that via this so-called 'payment cycle' the Government is in effect robbing pensioners of millions of pounds (currently) and this will go up to £100 million when the new cycle starts.

Petition the Government to do away with the rule - anyone?

Be_Happy

Something to watch out for here, that I've just realized, there will be unpaid tax to be collected next year depending on how much of an overlap of pension you have had and how much the amount is.

Eg my husband got his 4-weekly pension on a Friday and started weekly pension the following Monday, so he actually got 3 weeks' more pension this tax year than his Tax Code had allowed for. This means he will have unpaid tax to be collected on the amount of these 3 weeks' pension. Tax office will realize sometime and change his Tax Code to recover the amount.

chesky369

The four-weekly pension is paid in arrears, so I don't seen how this can happen - your husband will still only pay tax on a 52 week year, although I suppose it's theoretically possible to overpay by one week (the last week being the first Monday in advance week).

Barter

EdInvestor wrote: »

It's true you only become eligible for the SP on the Monday after your birthday, but from then on, it's paid on the Monday to cover the week going forward.

Some people of course have their relevant birthday on the Monday and are paid in advance from the start.;)

Pardon me if I've got this wrong, or seem overly-pedantic, but, if your relevant birthday were on a Monday, surely the Monday after your birthday would be a week later.

Wouldn't it be he/she whose birthday was on a Sunday who'd gain the most?

Be_Happy

You're right Chesky 369. I've done a calculation and it works out that he will have been paid only one week more than the Tax Office had calculated, so the underpayment of tax isn't as bad as I thought.

Thanks for info.

EdInvestor

Barter wrote: »

Pardon me if I've got this wrong, or seem overly-pedantic, but, if your relevant birthday were on a Monday, surely the Monday after your birthday would be a week later.

Wouldn't it be he/she whose birthday was on a Sunday who'd gain the most?

I can't remember the precise wording but the effect is that if your birthday is on a Monday the pension is paid immediately, not the following week.

lijaloo

In the days when certain benefits were paid by order book at the post office, each benefit was paid on a different day. Child Benefit on Monday, Widows Benefit on Tuesday, Retirement Pensions were paid on Monday or Thursday depending on when the person had reached pension age The day changed every so many years to avoid everyone getting their pension on the same day. There was also the option to be paid 4 weekly or quarterly and people with small pensions (graduated pension only) would have to wait a whole year for payment. I'm not sure if there are any pensioners still alive who received their pension on Thursday but if there are, do they still get the money paid into their account on Thursday?