ESA SDP and possible move?

Rose82

Hey i'm just looking for some advice if possible please, 

so i currently live on my own in a one bedroom property, i'm in receipt of Income Based ESA in the support group i also receive the SDP as part of my allowance as i'm in receipt of enhanced PIP, and i'm also in receipt of housing benefit, 


My mum currently lives in a 3 bedroom property with her soon to be ex partner, and my brother who is also due to move out soon, leaving her living alone in a 3 bedroom house, she is of pension age to receive her state pension however that is currently deferred as her soon to be ex is under state pension age so my mum is currently in receipt of UC on the limited capability for work and work related activity and receives the UC equivalent of Housing Benefit, she is also on PIP but at both of the standard rates, 

what i'm wondering is, when my mum goes to downsize we've been contemplating the idea of applying for a joint tenanacy of a 2 bedroom house, if we were to do this my mum would be claiming her state pension and applying for the pension credit to help cover 1 bedroom of the rent and i'd be claiming housing benefit as well to cover my 1 bedroom, is this something that would be possible to do? , and how would this effect my ESA and the severe disability premium i currently receive, would i still be entitled to get the SDP if my mum and i were to rent a property under a joint tenancy?

thank you in advanced for all the help and advice i really appreciate it,

kind regards

poppy123456

Regarding your mum and her State pension being deferred. Are UC aware of this? When you defer a state pension then it will be classed as notional income and reduce their UC £1 for £1 as if she were still receiving that pension. Also when she does receive that pension it will not be increase because she's claiming UC with her current partner. See link (part 6.2) https://www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/large-print-factsheets/fs19-lp-state-pension.pdf

If you move house and it's to a different local Authority then you will need to claim UC for help with any rent. If you're moving to the same local Authority then your housing benefit can continue and it will just be a change of address.

If you don't claim UC then your ESA will continue, along with the SDP because your mum also claims daily living PIP herself.

Rose82

Hey thank you for the response and the information, having spoken with my mum this morning, when she received her letter about becoming pension age it said if her partner wasn't of pension age she could just leave everything alone and claim it when she was ready e.g when her current partner reached state pension age for example, so that's pretty much all she did so to be honest, she didn't inform UC as she wasn't even aware that she had to, and her UC didn't change, despite her age now being of pension age, and wasn't aware of such thing as notional income, so I'm just wondering where does that leave things now, and what is best to be done? As she didn't want to claim her pension as she thought it would then leave her current partner with no money with her claiming her pension with him being under pension age, 

Kind regards

poppy123456

The letter is correct with the information it gave, if you don't claim a state pension it will automatically be deferred. Sometimes UC doesn't detect that a claimant has reached state pension age. As her partner isn't state pension age this means they are known as a "mixed aged couple."

UC is a means tested benefit so entitlement will be based on their joint circumstances. She will need to report the changes to UC and tell them that she's now state pension age and when exactly she reached that age. Any overpayment will need to be repaid back, even if it's an offical error.

She should claim her state pension because she won't benefit from deferring it. When did she reach state pension age?

Rose82

Oh I've just been relaying that information to my mum she is now in bits and worrying how she'll manage especially with a over looming over payment that she wasn't even aware of, it's been 5 months now, roughly speaking do you have any rough idea what sort of over payment she would be looking at? Also given her ex partner and her are still currently live together until accommodation is found for him if she claims her pension then what'll happen for his income from being on UC and the limited capability for work and work related activity and regards to getting the equivalent of housing benefit to pay for the property each week how would all of that work now? Until he leaves etc and income for him to live on

Kind regards

poppy123456

The state pension will reduce their UC £1 for £1 so it will depend on how much her state pension would have been each week. She can check that here. https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

He maybe able to claim UC as a single person but he'll need to prove they they are not living together as a couple. They may ask questions about who pays the bills, do they eat together or alone, who buys the shopping. (food) For this they both need to report a change of circumstances on his journal and tell them they are not living as a couple and he's looking for some where else to live. It will be down to a decision maker to make the final decision.

Any overpayment for UC will still need to be repaid back.

On their UC claim which person was found to have LCWRA? Was it your mum? If so does her partner have a health condition and has he been through the work capability assesment himself?

Whether it's possible for your mum to claim pension credit (if there's any entitlement) and housing benefit while still living together, i'm unsure.

I'll tag one of the scope team to ask for them to confirm this for you. @Adrian_Scope Can you please help here? can the mother claim Pension Credit (if there's any entitlement) and housing benefit while still living with their Ex partner?

Rose82

Thank you for the advice just to clarify once she now informs UC and they request a overpayment payback will she be able to request through her pension for a back pay from when she reached pension age to try and recover the money to pay back the over payment otherwise if it's pound for pound based on her and her partners entire award I can see it being a fairly high amount, which if she has to  pay that with no savings she will struggle to survive, and this is a purely innocent unbeknowing mistake 

poppy123456

You need to have deferred your SP for at least 12 months in a row to receive a lump sum. Full details here. https://www.gov.uk/deferring-state-pension/what-you-get Also because she's been claiming UC there will not be a weekly increase to her state pension once she does claim it.