State pensioners who lost Winter Fuel Payment being handed free £470 from DWP
State pensioners are set to be handed a free £470 from the Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP ) within weeks. Under the Triple Lock, the state pension looks set to rise by more than £470 in a major boost for state pensioners.
Those who lost out on the Winter Fuel Payment - which is worth £300 - are being told their payments will rise in line with the Triple Lock pledge. It guarantees the state pension rises each April by the highest out of inflation (using the previous September inflation figure), wages (average growth between May and July) or 2.5% - whichever is highest.
Former pensions minister Sir Steve Webb, now partner at LCP, said: “A slightly higher rate of increase is welcome for pensioners, though will be an unwelcome £100million extra cost for the Chancellor as she prepares her Budget.
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"The rate of the new state pension will now be close to £12,000 per year, very near to the £12,570 tax-free personal allowance. This is likely to put extra pressure on the Chancellor to take action on tax allowances in the coming years.”
There are two different types of state pension and which one you claim depends on when you were born. You'll claim the new state pension if you're a man born on or after April 6, 1951, or if you're a woman born on or after April 6, 1953.
The full new state pension is worth £221.20 a week, or £11,502 a year, but this would rise to £230.30 a week, or £11,975 a year, under a 4.1% increase. You claim the older basic state pension if you’re a man born before April 6, 1951, or a woman born before April 6, 1953.
The full basic state pension is worth £169.50 a week, or £8,814 a year, but this would rise to £176.45 a week, or £9,175 a year, under a 4.1% increase. However, many pensioners face paying more tax next year as the full new state pension edges closer to the current £12,570 tax-free personal allowance.
The exact amount you get for your state pension depends on your National Insurance record. For the new state pension, most people need 35 qualifying years on their National Insurance record to get the full amount. You normally ten years to get anything at all.