Travel passes, TV licences etc - is this fair?

Currently in Wales you can get a bus pass when you are sixty. However, it was announced a couple of weeks ago that they are being scrapped from April 2022. If you have one at the the time they cease you will keep it but new applications will not be accepted.

Charleygirl5 I can't currently drive, I'm completely reliant on my Sons to get me around. I do still have my own car but it's no longer driven by me. One son has a similar vehicle which is much newer and the other son drives me about in my car and in return gets to use my car whenever he needs it. All three of us are currently on the insurance. Without them I'd be stuffed tbh as I couldn't get on a bus no matter what and the palaver of getting me and a wheelchair on one defeats me.

Please consider those of us less well off who are grateful for the 60+ oyster card and free eye tests and prescriptions. If you don't need it then don't claim it. For many it's a lifeline while in a minimum wage zero hours job waiting for our pensions.

FlexibleFriend have you given some thought to how you will get around when you can no longer drive for whatever reason?

I also have a blue badge, live in London but it will be my failing eyesight which stops me from driving and that will be sooner rather than later.

Ah well I stand corrected ?. In my area, and in the areas of any friends who live elsewhere, eligibility is in line with pension age. I’d only ever heard of it being different in London!

What am I wrong about exactly 1) Never knowing of the 60+ card. 2) Not being eligible for the freedom pas until 2020?
Those were my facts and they're correct.

Sorry Flexiblefriend but you're wrong!

I'm 65 and got my free 60+ card when I was 60 as have others on this thread; will get the full Freedom Pass when I'm 66 at government pension age.

The 60+ is for use on all public transport in Greater London, not outside; the Freedom Pass can be used around the country.

I know you say you don't want one but I'm just stating the facts for anyone in London who doesn't realise their entitlement.

Hetty58 I'd never heard of a 60+ card but tbf I wouldn't apply for one anyway. I'm in too much pain to face travelling on London Transport and I have a blue badge and exemption from the Congestion charge and the Dartford crossing so I do get help but that's due to disability rather than age and obviously I still have to pay all the costs related to car ownership.

Riverwalk I just googled it because I didn't think I was eligible and I was right I'm not, I can apply in June 2020 so that would tie in with when I can claim my pension.
I think I could claim a disability freedom pass but I can't in all honesty face travelling on public transport.
So I will not be applying even when I can. I have a blue badge and get exemption from the Congestion charge and the Dartford crossing toll.

Lots of places other than London offer free transport passes at 60.

greenerjourneys.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/6.pdf

There are plenty of places where people still get bus passes at 60, Bathsheba. The whole of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for starters. And some areas of England, a few of which are mentioned on this thread.

As bus passes have been proved to be cost effective, what would be the point of getting rid of them?

I think it should definitely be tied to pension eligibility. Everywhere else, it seems, bus passes are not available until you reach state pension age, and I can see no reason why Londoners should qualify earlier. I’ve always been a bit miffed puzzled by this.

I agree with you MOnica, although I suspect it wouldn't be politically popular. Governments will carry on tinkering around the edges, offering sweeteners here and there and taking a little bit away, if they think they can get away with it.

You're right about pensions. When they were first introduced, people didn't even think they would automatically live beyond retirement. Quite literally, it was an insurance against living into old age.

We bought this house for a few different reasons one being that the buses run every 15 minutes (it used to be every 10 minutes). At 61 1/2 I got a free travel pass that covers buses, trains and the tram (though it’s rarely working) through out the Midlands. Very helpful as I don’t drive. DD’s in laws live a couple of miles away but in a different county and get a travel vouchers that can be used for taxis or the bus. There is only one small bus that runs once a week so very limiting.

We met another couple on holiday who lived in Essex and we were in Kent. We both had our first baby at almost the same time, They got free baby milk, cereal, fruit juice, risks, marmite and we got zero help.

When the state pension was first introduced people were expected to only live 5 -10 years beyond retirement. Now we are living 20 or 30 years longer. Someone has to pay for our 'freebies' and the cost for providing them for so long is getting too much.

We have no choice but increase retirement age and increase the age we qualify for any incidental extras.

We still pay for our tv licence, even though we are both over 75. I do not have a bus pass because, as discussed on another thread, I get travel sick on buses, so avoid them.

The best and most efficient way to deal with all the government sourced bells and whistles is to abolish every one, including free prescriptions and then raise the Pension credit Basic level by a substantial amount. That will bring a lot of lower income pensioners currently just above that limit, within it. It will also help those just above the Pension Credit Savings level as well.

Then all the better off pensioners like us will effectively be taxed more because we will lose our winter fuel payment, start paying for our prescriptions and tv licences etc. and still be paying income tax as well.

A very simple wayof dealing with the whole problem and not one extra civil servant will be required to manage it.

If commercial companies still want to offer incentives, as many may still want to, that is fine. It will be a straight forward commercial decision.

I agree prestbury. When I receive my state pension in 16 months, I will have to pay tax on a small portion of the total. I don't object to that because my income will, after all, be above the threshold. I must admit I'm miffed that I will never be able to claim pension credit, which means that some people with a lower income than mine will be able to claim additional benefits.

FlexibleFriend, as a Londoner, why have you not applied for the 60+ card?

The subject of benefits for pensioners will always be debatable.

I possibly am one of the lucky ones who received both bus pass and winter fuel allowance at the age of 60. At the time I felt that it was a waste of national finances as I worked until 65 with a decent salary and felt it should have been means tested.

My views have changed little since then but what I do object to are the outright lies from DWP, that the state pension is tax free. It is not. The devious HMRC **** deduct the pension from your tax allowance therefore if you have additional income (i.e. a small pension) your tax allowance is reduced by over 50% and a small company pension can quickly take you into a taxable bracket.

Fresh air? You can get a Senior Railcard and prescriptions. If you have a chronic illness and make frequent rail journeys, you'll be quids in!

I’m 60 in January any suggestions of any freebies I might get ha ha still working still juggling home and childcare duties but I’m ok as ling as I’m fit and healthy will never be wealthy!,,

I'd actually like some buses! That's why I'd like to see cheaper fares - so that more people (not just the elderly) are encouraged to use them. If bus travel were actually viable in semi-rural areas such as mine, the routes wouldn't keep closing, it would be better for the environment and, in the long run, there would be more buses for everybody to use.

Lavenderzen, me too and as I don't drive, worked very hard until I was lucky enough to retire but am still not eligeable for my state pension for another 6 months and am living off my meagre savings I would be b*****y furious if my bus pass was taken off me.

I have paid into the system since I was 16 years old and feel quite entitled to my winter fuel payment and free bus pass.

Dee1012 That sounds like an excellent idea!