YV Commission covers news about US Social Security and UK Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) benefits. Many of our readers are retirees, disabled people, carers and families on tight budgets, so we take what we publish seriously.
This page sets out the standards our team follows. Three ideas sit behind all of them: be accurate, be clear and be useful. If an article doesn’t help a reader understand what’s changing and what it means for them, it isn’t ready to publish.
What We Cover and How We Pick Stories
We focus on two areas: Social Security in the US (payments, COLA, SSI, SSDI and retirement) and the DWP in the UK (State Pension, Universal Credit, and disability and carer benefits).
When we decide what to write about, we ask a few simple questions:
- Does this change how much people get, when they get it, or whether they qualify?
- Is it confirmed, or at least officially proposed?
- Is there confusion or a false claim going around that readers need cleared up?
- Will a reader know what to do next after reading it?
We don’t chase stories just because they might get clicks. If there’s no real news in a rumor, we either skip it or explain why it isn’t true.
Our Independence
YV Commission is independent. We’re not part of any government agency, political party, campaign group or financial company.
- Advertising is kept separate. The site is funded by ads, but advertisers have no say over what we write, and we don’t change stories to suit them.
- No paid articles in disguise. We don’t accept money to publish or change news stories. If we ever publish sponsored content, it will be clearly labeled as sponsored.
- No political sides. Benefit policy is often political. We report what governments and parties propose and what experts say about it, without telling readers who to support.
- Conflicts of interest. If a writer has a personal or financial link to a story, they don’t cover it.
Accuracy, Fairness and Tone
Accuracy. Every article is based on official sources wherever possible, and key facts are checked before publishing. Our Fact-Checking Policy explains the full process.
Honest headlines. Our headlines reflect what the article actually says. We don’t promise payments, bonuses or deadlines that aren’t real, and we say “expected” or “proposed” when something isn’t final.
Plain language. We explain terms like COLA, triple lock or managed migration instead of assuming readers already know them. Where it helps, we show what a change could mean in real dollars or pounds.
Fair and calm. We don’t use scare tactics. Benefit changes can be stressful, so we stick to the facts, explain who is and isn’t affected, and point readers to official help when they need it.
How Articles Are Written and Reviewed
Articles are published under the YV Commission Desk byline. Every story is written, checked and approved by our team before it goes live.
Like many newsrooms, we use digital tools to help with our work, such as research tools, spelling and grammar checkers, and sometimes AI tools to help sort through information or draft parts of an article. These tools never decide what we publish. A person on our team checks every fact, number and date against the original source and takes responsibility for the final article.
We don’t publish anything just to fill space or to rank in search results. Every article has to give readers real, accurate information they can use.
Updates and Corrections
Benefit news moves fast. When an estimate becomes an official figure, or a rule changes after we’ve published, we update the article and show the date of the update.
If we get something wrong, we correct it openly and add a note explaining what changed. We never quietly edit a mistake away.
Talk to Us
We welcome feedback, questions and story ideas. If you think we’ve got something wrong, or you’d like to know more about how we work, please get in touch through our Contact Us page.
You can also read our About Us, Fact-Checking Policy and Disclaimer pages for more about who we are.