Changes to Older Person’s Freedom Pass eligibility
Transport for All
If you turn 60 after 6th April 2010, you are...
If you turn 60 after 6th April 2010, you are not eligible for your Freedom Pass when you turn 60.
As part of the pre-budget report in December 2009, it was announced that concessionary travel eligibility would be aligned with changes in the state pension age. This means that as the state pension age for women gradually increases to 65 over the next five years, so will eligibility to apply for an older person’s Freedom Pass.
From 6 April 2010, the age of eligibility for concessionary travel for women will be pension age and for men it will be the pensionable age of a woman born on the same day.
The state pension age for women is rising by five years over a period of ten years. The age of eligibility will rise incrementally between 2010 and 2020. The earliest age for men and women to get concessionary travel passes will therefore rise gradually, from 60 on 6 April 2010 to 65 on 5 April 2020. The Government decided that this would be the fairest method, rather than introduce a one-off rise which would leave those currently close to retirement age facing a full five-year delay.
The age of eligibility for the state pension is scheduled to rise by two months every one month. This means the earliest date on which you can get your concessionary travel pass will depend on which month you were born in and will not fall on your birthday.
Current Freedom Pass holders and holders of the disabled person’s Freedom Pass are not affected by this change.
To find out when you can apply for your Freedom Pass use London Council’s online calculator:
http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/services/freedompass/eligibility/default.htm
