pension credit

Seanchai

hi guys ....last year I had my DLA changed to PIP and then my wife had her state pension on 6th January this year ....I know it was a time when many things were changing for benefits..We ( my wife and myself)  were told after I received my PIP award that my wife can claim ( the DWP said this on the phone to my wife ) Polly advised us that the new rules meant to be the couple have to be on state pension before we could get pension credit ....Now, my wife has been dealing with my pension ( due on 9th January 2021) ...we were told at the beginning of this year that we can claim pension credits when I go on the pension . My wife asked if they could send out pension credit forms so we could claim for pension credit , the lady from the DWP said that she could do that over the phone just now.....so my wife went through everything and the lady from the DWP  said we are not entitled to pension credit ..... I will Lose my ESA of course and our last payment of UC will be on 24th of this month( December ) so from 9th January  we will both be on the state pension . ...but the DWP told us we are not entitled to anything else . I know pension credits is not a lot of money but it opens doors like housing benefit . I also get PIP ( awarded with the help of Poppy 123456....can't thank you enough poppy . Poppy kept us right when the DWP got is wrong . One department would tell us one thing , put us through to another department who told us something different....thanks for all the  help from Poppy and other members who,x names escape me .....thank you all so much ??
We are just wondering what our next step should be ...... ??? xx
My wife lost her carers allowance and income support and was advised to apply for pension credits ....then we were told it was not possible as I do not reach pension age to January 9th 21
This month I get a last payment of ESA ...so basically we are on state pension with very little savings and....of course I have my PIP . I just wondered if there is something we could claim to get housing benefit. ?  ....can we go straight to the council for housing benefit ? ....Thanks to all  for your help in the past ??

poppy123456

HI @Seanchai

I remember you from the last time i helped you. Thank you again for those kind words!

Pension credit can be claimed if your income from state pension is less than £265.20 per week (both added together) If it's more than this then you won't be entitled to any pension credit. See link.

https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit

You may still be entitled to some housing benefit but not the full amount because as you clearly said, you would only be entitled to the full amount if you were claiming pension credit. 

A benefits calculator will tell you how much you're entitled to so my advice will be to use that and see what it says.

https://www.entitledto.co.uk/benefits-calculator/Intro/Home?cid=993520c8-503c-4a8c-9520-0609c72f40db

Put your details into it as if you're both claiming state pension, it also asks about a disability benefit so make sure you add that too and also put that your partner is currently caring for you for at least 35 hours per week.

There's also a calculator here that will tell you whether you're entitled to pension credit. https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator

If you have any further questions please do ask.

Seanchai

Once again , I thank you Poppy , your time and expertise have been invaluable .
I will go on to see if we can get housing benefit of some sort ....I will use the calculator that Poppy put a link to . 
Thanks again Poppy , it's been a turbulent last year and a half as far as benefits are concerned ( not to even mention the Covid-19 virus ) at least there is a light at the end of the tunnel .
 Please ...everyone take care over the next few months. Ask yourself if its worth letting your guard drop to have Christmas with the rest of your family . My family are not coming to our house this year , we all agreed that that would be best for all concerned . ( I know they mean myself and my wife , as I doubt if I would survive getting the virus with me having COPD .) There will be other Christmas's ( God willing) .
I hope you all have a nice Christmas and a Happy new year ...especially the people who help others on this great site ...thank you all .?

poppy123456

You are always very welcome! I actually used the benefit calculator and put in details of state pension for both of you based on no savings/capital and if you're both claiming full state pension there will be no entitlement to pension credit and a small entitlment to housing benefit per week. Of course i don't know all of your details and i used my own postcode for the housing benefit.

Wise decision regarding Christmas, especially with you having COPD. For me i'll be with my 2 daughters, grandson and daughters partner. They are the only ones i've continued to have contact with for the past 4 months or so.

Merry Christmas to you and your wife.

Tori_Scope

I'm glad you were able to get some advice from Poppy again @Seanchai

I hope you and your wife have a wonderful Christmas! 

woodbine

I assume as you both started receiving SRP after 2016 that you are on the new unified pension which is currently £175.20 (or will be soon) plus PIP, So an income over £400 per week? The new unified SRP was to some extent introduced to give people a better pension without the need for pension credits.
Hopefully you will both enjoy a long and happy retirement with a reasonable income.

Seanchai

At the moment I am on universal credit that does not even cover half our rent and council tax...my wife is on state pension since January...but it's nothing near £175 .20  a week , my UC stops this month before I get my pension at the start of next year... If your calculation are correct woodbine ,( over £400 a week )  then we will live quite comfortably...although taking off over £500 for rent and council tax is a huge chunk off any amount . 
That's why I asked Polly how we stand concerning when both us go on the pension, Polly has been so helpful when my wife and I were getting conflicting information from DWP last year ....the local jobcentre plus told us we can claim pension credit ....When my wife phoned the DWP they said we must both be on pension to get pension credit so we will have to claim pension credit when we are both on pension . Then we were told we cannot get pension credits but we can claim Universal credit ....which we did but it never covered rent , then a few months ago they sent a letter saying they had overpaid us , so they were taking it back . Which is fine but it still does not tell us what we will get in the new year .
Maybe if the government and the DWP got things correct then people like myself and my wife would not be worried about how much we will get next year.??

Seanchai

I hope everyone on Scope ...and their families and friends , have a happy and holy Christmas ....and may your God go with you ??

leeCal

I hope you and yours have a lovely Christmas too @Seanchai ??

poppy123456

You can check how much your state pension will be here. https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension If both of you together will be claiming more than £265.20 per week then you won't qualify for pension credit.

Yes when both claiming state pension you can claim pension credit, DWP are correct with this but if your pension is over a certain amount per week then you won't qualify. The person you spoke to from DWP wouldn't have known your weekly figures and usually the advice they give is because they are just reading from a screen. A lot of them have no experience and are not really the people to ask for such advice, even though they work for DWP. They just work from a call centre with a computer screen in front of them.

Just because you may not be entitled to pension credit, it doesn't mean you won't be entitled to any housing benefit and council tax reduction. It's possible there maybe a small amount awarded.

Although with a pension credit claim this will have entitled you to full housing benefit. Have you used the benefit calculator like i advised in my previous comment? If you can't use it i'll happily do it for you but i would need some information from you before i can do this. Are you privately renting or from social housing? and is it just the 2 of you living at home? You can PM the details, if you want and i'll be more than happy to help you further.

The reason why your UC housing element doesn't cover all your rent is because your wifes state pension is deducted in full from your total UC entitlement.

Seanchai

Hi Poppy ...I will give the calculator another go today , I got half way through it last time and it cut out for some reason or other . I will go give it another go and see how I get on ....if I can,t get it working correctly then  I will quite happily tell you my information ...thank you for offering to do that Poppy  .
We rent from the council . I will see if it works out my pension ....the DWP said they would be in contact before January to get us know what we will get in pension . Although they did tell me a couple of months ago that I would be entitled to full pension ? If I am entitled to full pension and its £175.20  a week .  and my wife continues to get her pension then we will be over £275  a week ....which , with my PIP would be just great . 
I will go and give that link a try that you added Poppy ....once again thanks for your help ....its so much appreciated . If the DWP had not given us conflicting information then we would be quite happy . It's just a pity we do not get someone with your experience when we phone the DWP . ??
I will let you know how my attempt at the link goes Poppy ??

poppy123456

Aww thanks again, such lovely words! I really have no problems helping anyone, if i can.

Your UC monthly payment may not end this month, i'm not entirely sure how it works when you reach state pension age but i do know that UC is paid in arrears. I think it may depend when exactly you reach state pension age.

The good news is with all of this, you won't ever need another work capability assessment again and that's definitely something to celebrate

Please just PM if you need some help

Seanchai

I cannot ever remember getting a work capability assessment to be honest Poppy ( my memory is pretty poor) but my wife is sure I never got a work capability assessment.  ....although , about 9 years ago I got a form in to fill out from the DWP ( I was on DLA at that time and thought it was something to do with that ) ...I never had any visits from anyone until last year (August 2019) . That was the PIP assessor. I was very apprehensive after reading some of the stories about assessors ....but it turned out my assessor was friendly but very professional and my wife and I agreed , after she left , that even if i did not get awarded PIP , we could not fault her at all in any way. 
Thank you for the option to PM you Poppy. Tomorrow I will have a go at that link you sent me ... and I will let you know how it goes ?? Thank you ?

Seanchai

My wife paid our rent on the phone, and asked if we were eligible for rent benefit at all as our circumstances change at the start of the new year  ......she said it would be a new claim and she will send us an application form for housing benefit  ....Once again Poppy , I thank you for your help ??

Ross_Scope

Good luck with the application @Seanchai, if you need any advice or help filling it in, don't hesitate to ask.

Seanchai

Thanks Ross ....everyone has been so so helpful on Scope . I hope you all have a happy and holy Christmas .??