Changes to ESA

Annmargaret

Hi,I'm  65 Oct 26 officially on state pension from July 6 2018,my first payment for tstate pension is on 18th july,l was on essay support group,l had a letter stating my council tax will now be full rate of£106 per month previously it was £21 a month,council tax say they count my pension as income,l have just rangd about pension credits I'm told l do have criteria and it's now being processed,l allso am just being accessed for guardians payment for our grandson,l received an e mail from guardian finance to say dwp still have me as being on essay support group,is this a mistake ,as l would have thought you don't have essay as well as state pension,allso was told my grandsons DLA is classed as income but surely it's for his needs,any advise welcome thankyou

thespiceman

Hello @Annmargaret   Pleased to meet you welcome.

Thank you for your story and sharing, I just wanted to welcome. you.

Do not know the answer to your question. Have a look under our benefit advice that may help.

Understand that a member of our team will either know. Also our community.

That will be in touch, hopefully.

I would also add speak to welfare rights or CAB if that is useful to you as well.

Please take care

@thespiceman

Chloe_Scope

Hi @Annmargaret and a warm welcome to the community- I hope you get the advice you're looking for! If you need anything then please let me know

Annmargaret

goodmorning,l have this morning been informed by DWP that l had to end essay claim myself so l have,hopefully my state pension will be in our bank this Wednesday fingers crossed,l have tho l dident know l could claimed pension credits,.it's a mind field ,mad as l was told l did not have to stop essa claim ,tho pensions dept informed council tax that l was to go on state pension,pension credits for allso said not to ring eesa just ring council tax office very mixed messages

Chloe_Scope

Hi @Annmargaret and thank you for keeping us updated! Fingers crossed you can now get things sorted! Like you said, it can be a minefield! For future reference, here is the benefits calculator which is on the Scope website

[Deleted User]

Hi Annmargaret

Glad you have got in touch.

State pension is a retirement benefit, and ESA is a working age benefit. You do stop getting ESA when you claim your state pension. Your state pension is taken into account as an income resource when you claim pension credit. 

Beyond that, I think you need to do a new benefits check online, as everything changes when you reach pension age. 

I'm not completely clear what the guardian payment  that you mention actually is. Is it guardians allowance? If so, this is ignored in any prospective claim for means-tested benefits. But do declare it, as you'd expect.

Please contact the Helpline if in doubt, we will try to help you.

Gill_Scope
Benefits and Finance Information Specialist
Scope Helpline
Tel: 0808 800 3333