Scrabster pensioner Peter Bodek 'livid' at 15p pension increase
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A Scrabster pensioner was left fuming after receiving a letter informing him that he would see a 15 pence increase on the benefit he receives.
"I couldn't believe it – 15p is an insult," Peter Bodek said. "Fifteen pence, you have got to be joking, I could not even get a cake or anything for that. What with all the other price increases you cannot afford it."
Mr Bodek, who will be 70 next week, was shocked to open the Pension Service letter and find out about the change to his benefit – instead of getting £185.15 as his weekly award he will now be in receipt of £185.30 as from April 13, it stated.
"I got very angry," he said. Mr Bodek explained that he phoned up the Pension Service where he was told 'unofficially' that it might have been a mistake and he should receive another letter within a week to 10 days.
Pointing out that the letter came from Ireland, he told them: "That won't even cover the cost of a stamp."
The pensioner, who lives in Wolfburn Road, Scrabster, does not drink tea or coffee but prefers instead to buy a supermarket own-brand cola which he pointed out had gone up from 50p in the last couple of weeks to 60p. He questioned how such a small increase in his benefit would go towards the rising cost of living.
Mr Bodek, who suffers from a number of health conditions and requires oxygen 24/7, said: "At the end of the day, how can someone live on that? I was livid."
Last November, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) announced that the state pension for 2022 to 2023 was to increase by 3.1 per cent in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
The basic state pension was set to increase from £137.60 to £141.85 and the full new state pension was to rise from £179.60 to £185.15.
Commenting on the increase, Mr Bodek said: "It is nowhere like what the MPs are getting – they are a law unto themselves. I would like to see them survive on what a pensioner gets. That makes me mad – I have got to laugh or I will cry."
The pensioner, who has mobility problems and relies on a Zimmer frame, often has to attend hospital appointments in both Caithness General and Raigmore in Inverness.
He feels that receiving a similar letter might pose a real shock to some elderly people, particularly at this point in time.
"I am thinking of others who might be petrified getting a letter like this," he said.
Mr Bodek is an author who has had a couple of Christian books published.
