Hi, they have stopped my dad's ESA

Cecilia0923

Hi,

My dad was on ESA but they have stopped his ESA because he has reached to SP age. We have not been informed by DWP at all about ESA being stopped at certain time or that he should apply for State pension. He’s also on House and benefit. 

He has lived in Turkey before and worked there but now we don’t know how to apply or what to do with this as if he needs to provide any documents from Turkey. 

Thanks 

janer1967

Hi there 

Esa automatically ends at sp age as it is a working age benefit 

I don't know much about pensions and applying but sure others will help or maybe if you go on age UK website I think it has info or the gov website 

Cecilia0923

Thank you  @janer1967

calcotti

He should have had a letter from ESA advising him it would stop.

He should also have had a letter inviting him to apply for State Pension. He needs to contact the Pension service https://www.gov.uk/get-state-pension

Does he life alone or with a partner?

Cecilia0923

@calcotti thanks for responding. 

They have not sent any letter which is very weird we would’ve acted earlier if we knew it before hand. Yes my dad and my mum lives together. She has no income either. 

calcotti

If Housing Benefit is in his name and mum is not pension age they are now a 'mixed age couple'. Housing benefit will also stop and if they want help with rent they will need to claim Universal Credit. Council Tax Reduction will continue but local authority will probe;y suspend it until they have information about what income they will now have.
Does dad receive PIP or DLA?

Cecilia0923

It is on his name both my parents at the Pension age actually,
 And my dad receives PIP. 

calcotti

Cecilia0923 said:

It is on his name both my parents at the Pension age actually,

Are you saying your mum is pension age already - but doesn't get any pension?

If they are both pension age then Housing benefit will continue but will now be calculated under pension age rules and when he applies for State Pension he can also apply for Pension Credit.

Cecilia0923

Yes they are both at pension age but neither of them gets Pension yet, house and benefits has sent us a letter to confirm any changes in his circumstances i.e started receiving pension. We will respond to that next Monday with the current bank statements showing the latest benefits he has received and obviously no pension yet so no changes.  Would you advise anything else ? 

calcotti

How much older than him is mum and why has she not claimed a State Pension? Is she eligible, or has she never worked in UK?
He needs to get his State Pension/Pension Credit claim made as soon as possible. It is possible Housing Benefit and Council tax Reduction will be suspended until his pension entitlement is known.

Assuming your mum has no restrictions preventing her claiming benefits she could have been claiming Carer's Allowance for looking after dad if he gets Daily Living PIP. She could still do this and it will increase their overall benefit entitlement.

Cecilia0923

My mum was born in 1953 and my dad was 1955 so she is actually 2 years older than my dad. we never applied for my mum’s pension as my dad was on ESA and we didn’t think it was necessary for my mum to apply for pension. Yes she has never worked in UK. She is on Carer Allowance but I’m not sure if this will be suspended too. 

calcotti

Cecilia0923 said:

She is on Carer Allowance but I’m not sure if this will be suspended too. 

I assumed she wasn’t claiming that because you said she has no income.

Cecilia0923 said:..Yes my dad and my mum lives together. She has no income either. 

They both need to claim State Pension and find out what they are entitled to (plus possibly Pension Credit). If she has a State Pension entitlement and it is more than the Carer’s Allowance then the CA will stop but she will retain ‘underlying entitlement’ to it, this increases Pension Credit entitlement (if applicable). 

If mum is entitled to State Pension then dad may have been overpaid ESA because mum’s pension entitlement should have been taken into account even if she didn’t claim it.

Cecilia0923

Sorry I thought I’d mention about my mum CA. So they should both apply for State pension, in the mean time possibly house and benefit will be suspended I believe.