The upcoming Easter bank holidays in April could result in changes to some benefits payment dates for people who are expecting money from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
The forthcoming Easter bank holidays in April could lead to alterations in some benefits payment dates.
The two bank holidays, Good Friday and Easter Monday, might influence when individuals receive payments from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) or HMRC.
Those whose payment date coincides with either Good Friday, April 18, or Easter Monday, April 21, are likely to receive their money earlier than usual, with funds anticipated to be deposited into bank accounts on Thursday, April 17. The HMRC payments that are expected to be affected include Child Benefit and Guardian’s Allowance.
The DWP benefits predicted to be impacted are:
- Attendance Allowance
- Carer’s Allowance
- Employment Support Allowance (ESA)
- Income Support
- Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
- Pension Credit
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- State Pension
- Universal Credit.
This comes as the Carer’s Allowance earnings threshold is being revised, which will result in an extra 60,000 people becoming eligible to claim the benefit. Furthermore, claimants will be able to earn more before their entitlement is affected, as stated by the DWP.
The State Pension rose by 4.1% earlier this week, which means an increase of £472 for some older Brits. The payment received every four weeks is annually hiked in April under the triple lock promise.
The pledge guarantees the state pension increases by whichever is higher out of inflation, wages or 2.5%. This year, wage growth was the highest of the three, which was confirmed to be 4.1%.
The increase comes into effect today (April 7) as this is the first Monday after the start of new tax year. But exactly how much extra you will receive depends on the type of state pension you are claiming, as well as your National Insurance record.
There is the new state pension, which is claimed by men who were born on or after April 6, 1951, and women born on or after April 6, 1953. The full new state pension is is rising from £221.20 a week, or £11,502 a year, to £230.30 a week, or £11,975 a year.
Then there is the older basic state pension, which is claimed by men born before April 6, 1951, and women born before April 6, 1953. The full basic state pension is rising from £169.50 a week, or £8,814 a year, to £176.45 a week, or £9,175 a year.
These are the maximum amounts you can possibly get from a state pension – you may get less if you don’t have enough qualifying National Insurance years. For the new state pension, most people need 35 qualifying years on their National Insurance record to get the full amount, and normally ten years to get anything at all.
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