Budget: The pensioner (From Bicester Advertiser)

Budget: The pensioner

10:00am Thursday 21st March 2013 in News

PLANS for a new flat-rate pension will leave Minster Lovell residents Dorothy and David Holloway better-off, but the pair say they aren’t coming soon enough.

Mrs Holloway, 64, currently receives a reduced pension payment of £64 a week because she didn’t pay National Insurance (NI) for long enough to qualify for the basic rate of £107.45, which her husband gets.

Mr Holloway also receives a modest private pension from BT, which he pays tax on, and they have savings, which they are forced to spend on living costs. Under the new proposals, which have been brought forward to start in 2016, Mr Holloway will get £144-a-week, although it is not known if Mrs Holloway’s payments will increase due to her NI underpayments.

Mrs Holloway, a former nurse, said the changes, which will benefit her husband but not some people who currently claim more than £144 per week, were coming too late and would not have a big impact.

She said: “It’s impossible for people to live off the state pension on its own.

“We are lucky because we own our house and we have savings, but it’s my 92-year-old neighbour I feel sorry for.

“I get her shopping in for her every week and I feel guilty every time the bill goes over £20.”