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My dad doesn’t qualify for new state pension

Cecilia0923

Hi ya,

My dad recently received a letter from DWP re state pension and it says he does not have enough qualifying years to get pension. He lives with my mum which we know that she won’t qualify for pension too as she won’t have enough NI contributions too. Is there any other benefit/help we can apply for ? Because, now my parent do not have income and they will struggle.

Thanks I’m advance

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janer1967

Hi and welcome to the community

Sorry I don't know anything about pensions but other members will be able to help

Cecilia0923

Thank you @janer1967

calcotti

If your dad does not qualify for NSP he must have less than 10 years of NI contributions which means he has not been working, been in very low paid employment or has not been in UK for 10 years.
What current income do they have?
I infer that your mother is not yet pension age. They are therefore what is known as a Mixed Age Couple.
They may qualify for Universal Credit and Council tax Reduction depending on their joint finances.
When mum reaches pension age they may be eligible for Pension Credit and Housing Benefit (if renting) and Council Tax Reduction.
Depending on health conditions there may also be relevant disability benefits (PIP if below pension age, Attendance Allowance if over).
Try a benefits calculator Benefits calculators - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Cecilia0923

Hi @calcotti thanks for your response. My mum is over pension age already however she doesn’t have enough qualifying years in UK too. She’s been only working as my dad’s carer for several years. My mum get carer allowance and my dad has PIP, they have recently gave back their housing benefit based on their current income which is very low. But it’s not enough to pay the rent and live with it.

calcotti

I read "my mum which we know that she won’t qualify for pension too as she won’t have enough NI contributions too" as being a future event which is why I assumed mum was under pension age (66).

If she is already pension age and your dad has now reached pension age they need to apply for Pension Credit
Pension Credit - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
As a couple with your mum claiming Carer's Allowance they should be entitled to the standard couple allowance of £270.30/week plus the carer addition £37.70/week = £308/week. The CA of £67.60 will be deducted from this leaving £240.40/week payable assuming there is no other income (the PIP is ignored).
They can ask for Pension Credit to be backdated to the day your dad reached pension age.

Not entirely clear about Housing Benefit - do you mean they are getting it?

Are they also claiming Council Tax Reduction to hep with council Tax?

Cecilia0923

Hi sorry I think I didn’t made it clear on my first post about my mum’s situation. But yeah she’s 68 however doesn’t qualify because of lack of NIC.

Their housing Benefit and council tax reduction was suspended due to him reaching pension age and they said they will only remove the suspension once my dad get his pension so they can make the calculations for housing benefits however while we were waiting for DWP to respond to my Dad’s state pension application we have contacted council regarding their financial difficulties during the waiting period and they have recalculated housing benefit allowance based on their current income ( PIP+ Carer allowance) and removed the suspension. So yes their housing benefit started again about a week ago along with the council tax reduction.

calcotti

woodbine said:

Just a thought OP mum should have received N.I credits whilst claiming CA.

...but will not have got any since becoming pension age so will probably not have reached 10 years if she didn't previously have any.

calcotti

Cecilia0923 said:

Their housing Benefit and council tax reduction was suspended due to him reaching pension age and they said they will only remove the suspension once my dad get his pension so they can make the calculations for housing benefits

That makes sense and was the correct them for them to do to reduce the risk of overpayment.

Cecilia0923 said:..they have recalculated housing benefit allowance based on their current income ( PIP+ Carer allowance) and removed the suspension. So yes their housing benefit started again about a week ago along with the council tax reduction.

Good.
Claim Pension Credit, backdated to when dad reached pension age. They will still get full HB entitlement and CTR with the PC so will have an extra £240.40/week (based on the available information).

Cecilia0923

Thanks @calcotti this is really helpful. With your recommendations we will now apply for pension credit.

Have a great weekend!

calcotti

I should have said backdate to when dad reached pension age (up to a maximum of three months).

Cecilia0923

He has reach the age on the 10th of June 2021 so I think he’s good to backdate it to that date.

calcotti

Cecilia0923 said:

He has reach the age on the 10th of June 2021 so I think he’s good to backdate it to that date.

Yes, that will be fine. As you'll see from the link i posted earlier they cannot claim online but can claim by phone. Only one of them will be the PC claimant but the other is taken into account as a partner.

calcotti

Incidentally, I hovered elsewhere that Pension Credit are currently saying it takes about six weeks to process claims - but i can't verify that.

calcotti

I don’t know how autocorrect got ‘hovered’ in my previous post!

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