Several thousand seniors are entitled to an additional PLN 6,000 to their pension. How to get it?

The benefit for centenarians is not new, it has been around for some time. However, from 1 January 2025 it will operate on new, more favourable terms for those entitled.

Honorary benefit. Who can receive it?

The only condition for receiving the honorary benefit is to reach the age of 100. The number of years worked is irrelevant, and there are no income thresholds. The honorary benefit is an addition to the “regular” pension.

People who receive a pension or disability pension from ZUS do not need to submit any application, because ZUS itself carries out all formalities related to granting the supplement.

The application must be submitted by people who, for some reason, do not receive monthly benefits from ZUS.

– The benefit is also received by those who have not worked a single day and do not receive a pension or disability pension. In the case of people who do not receive a retirement or disability pension, the honorary benefit is granted only upon application by the interested person or their proxy, submitted to the nearest ZUS branch with an attached document confirming the date of birth – explained Beata Kopczyńska, regional spokeswoman for ZUS in the Silesian province.

The amount of the honorary benefit for centenarians

Today, the amount of the honorary benefit is equal to the base amount applicable on the senior’s 100th birthday. This amount is set annually and is valid from March 1 of each calendar year until the end of February of the following year. It is not subject to indexation. Therefore, anyone who is awarded a benefit of PLN 5,540.25 gross in 2023 will receive it for the rest of their life. People who turn 100 a year later receive almost PLN 700 gross more. This will change after January 1, 2025.

The regulations that assume annual indexation of benefits will then come into effect. In the first months, centenarians will receive PLN 6,246.13 gross per month, and in March this amount will be increased – and this will happen in March every year.

The increase will cover all centenarians, including those already receiving benefits.

The rules for granting benefits are not changing: seniors who receive pensions and retirement benefits do not have to submit an application. Others will still have to submit such applications.

– And this should make us happy, because as a society we live longer, we enjoy life longer. All those centenarians, of whom there will be more in the future, will receive this honorary benefit – emphasized Sebastian Gajewski, deputy head of the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy.