State Pension, change of benefits

TinaClarke

(not sure I am in the right category)

Hi

I get my state pension on 24th nov 2025. I am 1yr and 3 months older than my husband. My pension is going to be £202.24.

My husband will get his pension on 28th January 2028 his pension will be £221.20.

He currently gets:

Lwcra £416.19Full enhanced pip for care and mobility for ten yrsPolice pension with an injury component which is treated like pip and not means tested.£962.62 of which £384.40 is Injury pension is not counted. (so £578.22, which is deducted from uc)

UC is standard rate at £617.60Housing £387.68I get carers Element which is £198.31 per monthbecause of this (I think) we get full rent paid and full council tax paid.

I have read that one cannot build up extra State Pension during any period you get: UC amongst other benefits. So I cannot defer my pension for 12 months (all I would be allowed to do if i were)

So I would like to know what happens when I claim my pension. I have read that because I only get carers element (I also get carers credit and can see it was applied last year to my contributions in part (because I did'nt claim carers before this)

I have read that because I get carers element (not allowance) I MAY be able to get pension credit. Is this correct?

Have I got all this correct?

I plan on talking to the gov pension service. But I like to get multiple confirmations and ask questions to make sure of things.

Am I missing anything? What do pension credit consider "low income"?.

Second question. What happens when my husband gets his pension? This is further down the line, but best prepared.

many thanks for your time and any help

Tina

poppy123456

You will not be able to claim Pension Credit because your husband is younger than you and you live together so you're treated as a mixed aged couple. Mixed aged couples rules changed in May 2019 which means you can't claim Pension Credit as your partner is under state pension age. See link for confirmation.

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/siteassets/documents/reports-and-publications/reports-and-briefings/money-matters/age_uk_-briefing_on_benefit_changes_for_mixed_age_couples_february2019.pdf

LCWRA is part of UC so this would be included with the standard allowance, housing and carers element.

You will continue to claim UC as a mixed aged couple and your state pension will be deducted in full. With a state pension amount of £202.24/week the amount deducted from your UC will be as follows.. £202.24x52 then divide by 12 = £876.37 pension deducted from your UC. It seems more than what you receive but that's because state pension is weekly and UC is monthly and there's 4.3 weeks in a month, not 4 weeks.

Your UC includes the following..

Standard allowance £617.60

Housing £387.68

LCWRA element £416.19

carers element £198.31 Total amount before deductions = £1,619.78

Deductions £578.22 his pension and £876.37 your pension = £1,454.59 Total Uc payable would be £165.19/month.

If you defer your state pension then it will still be deducted in full from your UC because it will be treated as notional Income and you will still be treated as if you had that income from it.

Please note that I have used the current benefit rates for the calculations. The UC rates will increase slightly from April this year so you need to take that into consideration but it's only a small amount extra .. 1.7% I think.

It means you won't be worse off or better off and your total monthly income will remain the same.

TinaClarke

Dear Poppy

I saw you posting on other questions and you are very knowledgable. I forgot about the no pension credit till hubbie gets his. So much information to juggle. I am happy that there will be no less at the present time.

However, further down the line, my husband is on dialysis has AF and when the time comes, would I be better off then deferring my pension at least nine weeks which I belive will increase my pension a little about £12 a week I think which will help me further down the line.

TinaClarke

Sorry I posted that before I meant to.

so my state pension just replaces part of uc.

I understand about the rate changes, hubbies pension will go up too

So I will keep the carers element and that means the housing and c.tax being paid too?

so basically monies just come from different places instead of where they were coming from before.

I guess I need to understand if long term its worth me deffering my state pension for at a minimum 9 weeks. i understand i would lose 2200 ish at least in the short term. is it worth bothering?

I also need to find out if hubby (is this done before he passes) or after? If he can transfer me some of his pension….when he gets it…not sure how this happens. Or if i got that right, I just read about it. I think he has 41 yrs and I have 17 less than I should. I'm confused on this one.

It might seem morbid but planning ahead is sensible and my husband is fully on board with me finding all this out.

Its a pita there are so many rules and regs…not straight forward at all.

Thank you for taking the time to work this out. If I need to go to another goverment agency to find this stuff out just let me know…

thank you again

Tina

poppy123456

If you defer your state pension then it will affect your UC entitlement and it will still be reduced by the amount it would have been if you were claiming state pension. For this reason it wouldn't be worth deferring it.

Your council tax reduction would be recalculated based on your UC and state pension income. Can't advise any further about that because all local Authorities have their own rules.

Sorry but I can't advise about inheriting a state pension from your partner. I did find this though, which suggests you won't be able to do that now. I'd advise you to get some expert advice from an agency near you for this.

https://www.gov.uk/new-state-pension/inheriting-or-increasing-state-pension-from-a-spouse-or-civil-partner

Inheriting Additional State Pension

You might inherit part of your deceased partner’s Additional State Pension if your marriage or civil partnership with them began before 6 April 2016 and one of the following applies:

• your partner reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016
• they died before 6 April 2016 but would have reached State Pension age on or after that date

It will be paid with your State Pension.