DWP slammed over 'insulting' £10 payment to people on PIP and Pension Credit

The petition to increase the Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP ) Christmas Bonus from £10 to a higher amount has racked up 1,000 signatures in a day - as it begins to gain traction again. Usually paid in the first week of December, the bonus is a tax-free £10 payment to people claiming certain benefits.

An online petition to increase the payment has attracted more than 15,000 signatures. Eligibility includes carer’s allowance, personal independence payment (PIP), and pension credit. “This isn’t asking for ‘just another handout’,” Shona McMahon - who set up the petition - writes. “This is for those of us that don’t have an option to earn anything extra.”

Another said: "I see that in Ireland the Christmas bonus is a whole extra week's payment. That shows just how far the UK payment has become devalued. Actually I'm not sure that's the best way to pay as those receiving most in Ireland will get the biggest bonus and perhaps they're in less need than some of those on lower payments. But whichever way you look at it, £10 is an insult."

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"A separate question is, if they can pay a new pensioner this £10 as long as they were receiving their pension in the first week of December, why was the qualifying date for the Winter Fuel Payment way back in September? There will plenty of people who turned 66 since then and will be OAPs for the whole of winter 2023/24 who will miss out on this much more valuable payment completely."

A second fumed: "As a pensioner £10 is not the same value as it was when it was introduced. Show some humanity and increase it to today's value." Another wrote: "It is desperately needed by so many especially now that the WFA has been taken away."

"£10 doesnt buy anything nutritious anymore. it needs to rise to at least the cost of a good meal, one that MPs would buy," another agreed. Another said: "As a carer I find the £10 bonus insulting. 51 years ago the bonus would have brought a good Christmas meal or a nice present for ourselves..nowadays it buys nothing more than a few treats."