I retire in September 2012, when can I apply for my bus pass?

Annika I think you may be right there,its a shame though it should be the same Country wide as no matter where we live we all pay or have paid into the system.

Perhaps it depends where you live. In the west midlands it used to be once a man or woman got to the age of 60 you had a bus pass, but now the age creeps up with state pension age

annika I better not tell the powers that be that I was born in September 1950,I may end up owing for a lot of bus journeys You can share mine though ?

Welcome Lorraine 1951 hope you enjoy being on Gransnet.
You will find that most of the time that topics on threads have a habbit of veering of the subject and then back again

Women born after 5 April 1950, become eligible for an older person's bus pass when they reach pensionable age. I won't get mine till I am 66

Welcome to Gransnet Lorraine1951. I must warn you that it is addictive but most entertaining and supportive. Enjoy your retirement!

I, too, am 60 and can claim state pension in July, when I'll be 61 and a bit! Presumably that's when I can get a bus pass, and if you reach state retirement age in September, Lorraine, I'm pretty sure it's the same for you.

I got mine the day I was 60 in 2010 but I didn't receive my pention for a further 6 mths,I think the system has changed now and you don't get it until you receive pension.Check with your authority as they have different rules from one authority to another.

I dont think you will be getting your state pension for another couple of years, which is when you can apply for your bus pass.

When you say retire do you mean just finishing work.

Or are you under the impression you are going to get your state pension when you retire later this year.

I'm just claiming mine - 10 years late! Gives two options on the form. One for Eligible Age under 64. The other for over 65.

My niece was 60 in December, but she can't have hers until she is 62, which I think is ridiculous. Regarding bus passes; DH had his confiscated yesterday! He keeps it in a card holder in his wallet and just opens the wallet and shows the whole thing to the driver when we get on the bus, but yesterday, we got on a bus with a pass scanner installed, and he had to take the card out. It wouldn't scan because there was a crack in it (he puts the b****y wallet in his back pocket and sits on it!). The driver told him to get it changed as soon as possible but let it go. On the way back, the same thing happened but the different driver refused to let him have it back. DH was very cross and felt humiliated, and has had to make a special trip into town to get a new one (which he would have done anyway), but the driver was probably only doing his job. An inspector would have done the same thing, I think.
I hope you get your bus pass soon, Lorraine; try ringing your local transport executive rather than looking on their website - you might get a bit more info.

Ask at the Town Hall – that's where they are issued.

Well its just changed it used to be 60 but now it coincides with receipt of your state pension so you may be waiting a while. I get mine at 63 (birth year 1953).