Millions of grandparents to get state pension bonus direct into bank accounts from Friday

MILLIONS of pensioners will have free cash paid straight into their bank accounts just in time for the holiday season.

The one-off Christmas Bonus will be made to eligible households this Friday, according to the Department for Work and Pensions.

To qualify for the tax-free £10 Christmas Bonus, you will need to receive one of 22 benefits during the first full week of December.

You will also need to be present or ordinarily a resident in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, or Gibraltar.

The bonus won’t affect any other benefits you get, like pension credit, and will be paid to you automatically.

It may show up as DWP XB on your bank statement for whichever account ordinarily receives your pension payments.

Keep an eye on your account closer to Christmas to check you have received it.

If you think you qualify but have not received the payment by January 1, or if you receive more than one Christmas Bonus, contact your pension centre.

You will not receive the bonus if you are of state pension age but are not currently claiming it – for instance if you deferred it.

Who is eligible for the Christmas Bonus?

To get the bonus, you will need to receive one of the following benefits in the first week of December:

• Adult Disability Payment
• Armed Forces Independence Payment
• Attendance Allowance
• Carer’s Allowance
• Carer Support Payment
• Child Disability Payment
• Constant Attendance Allowance (paid under Industrial Injuries or War Pensions schemes)
• Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance (once the main phase of the benefit is entered after the first 13 weeks of claim)
• Disability Living Allowance
• Incapacity Benefit at the long-term rate
• Industrial Death Benefit (for widows or widowers)
• Mobility Supplement
• Pension Credit – the guarantee element
• Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
• State Pension (including Graduated Retirement Benefit)
• Severe Disablement Allowance (transitionally protected)
• Unemployability Supplement or Allowance (paid under Industrial Injuries or War Pensions schemes)
• War Disablement Pension at State Pension age
• War Widow’s Pension
• Widowed Mother’s Allowance
• Widowed Parent’s Allowance
• Widow’s Pension

If you are part of a married couple, are in a civil partnership, or live together, and are both in receipt of the qualifying benefits, you will each get the cash bonus.

If you or your partner do not get one of the above qualifying benefits, you or they could still get the bonus if you are both over the state pension age.

But you or they will also need to be entitled to an increase of a qualifying benefit, or only receive the pension credit.

What other money can I get this Christmas?

Thousands of pensioners have just weeks left to claim an extra £201 a week and a one-off £300 direct payment.

An estimated 1.4million pensioners are receiving pension credit which makes them eligible for a cost of living payment.

But there are 850,000 more pensioners eligible for the benefit who aren’t claiming it.

This means hard-up households may be missing out on an extra £201.05 a week.

Plus, pension credit standard minimum will rise by 8.5 per cent in April next year, confirmed in the Autumn Statement.

This means payments will go increase to £218.15.

But not only this, they also risk missing out on the next two cost of living payments worth £300 and £299.

Households started to receive the second instalment of the cost of living payment worth £300 directly into their bank accounts from October 31.

Payments were made up up until November 19.