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Pensioners born before certain date 1959 could claim payment worth £5,740

Pensioners born before certain date 1959 could claim payment worth £5,740

Daily Mirror7 hours ago
The DWP Attendance Allowance is worth up to £110.40 a week - this is what you need to know about the benefit and whether you are eligible to claim
Over a million pensioners are failing to claim thousands of pounds annually from the Government. Attendance Allowance, one of the most underclaimed benefits, is designed to financially support individuals who have reached pension age and suffer from long-term physical or mental health conditions or disabilities.
The benefit can provide up to £110.40 per week, equating to an annual sum of £5,740. Eligibility typically requires individuals to have a condition 'severe enough' to necessitate care or supervision from another person, having received such assistance for 'at least six months'.

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Over a million Brits could potentially claim this additional income but currently do not. Claimants could receive £73.90 weekly for assistance during the day or night, or £110.40 if they require help both day and night, or if they are terminally ill.

The benefit is disbursed every four weeks, resulting in either £295.60 or £441.60 being deposited into accounts each time.
Beneficiaries have the freedom to spend the money as they see fit, which could assist them in maintaining their independence at home for a longer duration.
Attendance Allowance is not means-tested, meaning an individual's income or savings do not impact eligibility, reports Birmingham Live.
Pension Credit, another benefit that supplements income for low-earning pensioners, is also significantly underclaimed. Approximately 800,000 pensioners fail to receive the 'bonus' payments despite being eligible.
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  • Daily Mirror

'You should always have cash in a world of IT meltdowns and bank glitches'

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One year of Starmer: Nine charts that tell us whether Labour's first year has been a success or failure
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One year of Starmer: Nine charts that tell us whether Labour's first year has been a success or failure

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Since Labour have been in power, the economy has grown faster than European rivals Italy, France and Germany, as well as Japan, but has lagged behind the US and Canada. The UK did grow fastest in the most recent quarter we have data for, however, from the start of the year to the end of March. VERDICT: Good to be ahead of other similar European economies, but still a way to go to overtake the North Americans No tax rises Without economic growth, it will be difficult to keep to one of Chancellor Rachel Reeves' biggest promises - that there will be no more tax rises or borrowing for the duration of her government's term. Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said last month that she is a 'gnat's whisker' away from being forced to do that at the autumn budget, looking at the state of the economy at the moment. That whisker will have been shaved even closer by the cost implications of the government's failure to get its full welfare reform bill through parliament earlier this week. And income tax thresholds are currently frozen until April 2028, meaning there is already a "stealth" hike scheduled for all of us every year. 5:03 But the news from the last financial year was slightly better than expected. Total tax receipts for the year ending March 2025 were 35% of GDP. That's lower than the previous four years, and what was projected after Jeremy Hunt's final Conservative budget, but higher than any of the 50 years before that. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) still projects it to rise in future years though, to a higher level than the post-WWII peak of 37.2%. The OBR - a non-departmental public body that provides independent analysis of the public finances - has also said in the past few days that it is re-examining its methodology, because it has been too optimistic with its forecasts in the past. If the OBR's review leads to a more negative view of where the economy is going, Rachel Reeves could be forced to break her promise to keep the budget deficit from spiralling out of control. OVERALL VERDICT: Investment and attention towards things like violent crime, the NHS and clean energy are yet to start bearing fruit, with only minuscule shifts in the right direction for each, but the government is confident that what's happened so far is part of its plans. Labour always said that the house-building target would be achieved with a big surge towards the back end of their term, but they won't be encouraged by the numbers actually dropping in their first few months. Where they are failing most dramatically, however, appears to be in reducing the number of migrants making the dangerous Channel crossing on small boats. The economic news, particularly that rise in disposable income, looks more healthy at the moment. But with inflation still high and growth lagging behind some of our G7 rivals, that could soon start to turn. The Data and Forensics

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