Pensioners are losing money due to the lack of a statement: what to pay attention to

Many Russian pensioners annually receive tens of thousands of rubles less due to the need to personally apply for their payments, since the automatic assignment system does not cover all benefits. All the details are in the Izvestia article.

What payments do the applications require?

The additional payment for dependents, which can reach 2,969 rubles for each disabled family member, is assigned only after contacting the Social Fund of Russia. So, according to lawyer Lyubava Trofimova, the same rule applies to subsidies for housing and communal services — compensation is provided if expenses exceed the regional standard, but you need to apply for it yourself to the social protection authorities.

Compensation for caring for a disabled citizen is 1,200 rubles per month, and when caring for people with disabilities from childhood, group I reaches 10,000 rubles. In addition, the northern seniority entitles to early retirement only upon confirmation by documents, and compensation for travel to a place of rest for retired Northerners also requires a separate application.

A set of social services can also be monetized by submitting an application before October 1, otherwise the changes will take effect only a year later. In addition, changing the disability group does not automatically recalculate the pension — a separate application is required for this.

It's hard: the gap between the pensions of the employed and the unemployed has reached a minimum since 2021.

When will the payments be equal and what does this mean for the economy?

What other support measures are available to pensioners

Many pensioners will receive their January payments on the last working day of December 2025, the 30th, as reported by MP Svetlana Bessarab. According to Alexei Govyrin, a member of the State Duma committee, this is a standard practice associated with the long New Year's weekend, when banks and post offices do not conduct operations. Early payments for January will begin in the last decade of December, from the 22nd to the 29th.

Valery Tumin, a member of the Expert Council of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy, recommends regularly checking your personal account on the portal of public services and the SFR website. He noted that the regions set their own benefits — for example, in St. Petersburg there is a 50% discount on utilities for residents with long experience, and single pensioners in Moscow are exempt from fees for garbage collection. In the Moscow region, there is compensation of up to 80 thousand rubles for the installation of gas equipment.

What is known about pension indexation

The insurance pensions of 38 million Russians will be indexed by 7.6% from January 1, 2026, according to Svetlana Bessarab, a member of the State Duma Committee on Labor and Social Policy. By 2026, the average old-age insurance pension for non-working pensioners will exceed 27 thousand rubles. According to her, the next increase awaits recipients of social pensions from April 1, 2026 by 6.8%, and military pensions will be increased on October 1. Funds for the indexation of insurance pensions have already been included in the budget in the first reading.

Starting in December, certain categories of pensioners will be able to count on an increase in the insurance pension due to an increase in the fixed payment. According to Professor Yulia Finogenova, the increase will affect citizens who have reached the age of 80, as well as people with disabilities of group I and those who have dependents. At the same time, if the insurance pension was awarded for disability before the age of 80, no additional increase is provided.

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