advice on what will happen to my disability and benefits when i reach 66,pension?after ESA.

mrpip2002uk

hi,i'm a bit confused and worried about what will happen when i reach 66, pension age next year?
both myself and my wife are disabled,my wife mentally and myself physically!
we are  both on PIP full rates for mobility and care components,i have been on ESA and make the claim for both of us in my name and my wifes on my award,she's only 59.
i am worried about what will happen when i'm 66 and pension age,my ESA and wifes ESA will stop.
will i get the full state pension and how much might i get,  because ive been on ESA for 10 years + but have 30 years N.I.C,but i dont know if ESA contributions count as the same as working contributions? so maybe it will affect the amount of pension i  will get?
My wife will then have no income,so i pressume she will have to make a  new claim for U.C. and not ESA what she was origininally claiming for on my claim?
Also,on ESA we got £24.10 disability income guaratee and £38.55 for being in the support group,will we lose these benefits each week,or will my wife then claim them on U.C.?
I'm so confused and stressed over how we'll end up finacially.
What pension amount i will get because ive been on ESA for so long,will it cause my state pension to be lower?
i would be grateful if anyone could offer advice,i know its a bit confusing.
i hate I.D.S the problems hes created for people with no money?
mrpip

 

calcotti

PIP is unaffected, you will both each continue to get what you get now.

You will get whatever State Pension you are entitled to. ESA gives you Class 1 NI credits which could towards your qualifying years. The amount of State Pension will be the same as if you had been working. You can get a forecast
https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

I interpret your post to mean that you are the ESA claimant, not your wife. The following advice is based on that interpretation.

Your ESA will stop.

You may be able to claim UC. If so you must both claim. How much you get will depend on your joint circumstances. You should claim before you reach pension age. That way your ESA Support Group will transfer across and you will get extra money in the UC. Your wife should declare that she cares for you and will then get extra money as a carer.

Do you claim Housing Benefit? If so that will end when you reach pension age and any help with rent would have to be through UC.

Council Tax Reduction will continue but may need to be recalculated.

One extra point to note is that currently your wife is not getting any NI credits. If you both claim UC she will get a Class 3 credits towards her own State Pension.

mrpip2002uk

thanks calcotti,weve got a small mortgage,i dont think i will be able to claim uc when i get my pension,or do you mean swap over to it before im 66? we have both got carers,but thanks for the pension link

calcotti

mrpip2002uk said:..i dont think i will be able to claim uc when i get my pension,..

As explained it would be a joint claim and whether or not there is entitlement depends on your joint finances. Your wife cannot claim UC on her own. However even though you have no rent to pay you may well have a little UC entitlement.

Assuming that nobody else lives with you and you have no other income and no savings over £6000 a UC calculation would include the standard allowance and the LCWRA element giving a maximum monthly amount of £853.54/month. Your State Pension will be deducted in full so if it is more than £196.97/week there would be no entitlement. If you get the full State Pension it is set at £179.60/week and this would leave a monthly UC entitlement of £75.28/month.

You should start by getting a State Pension forecast. 

Figures are at today's rates, next year’s figures will be different.

mrpip2002uk

thaks calcotti,
yeh my pension forcast is £179 pw,so i think your saying the government  are expecting me to keep my wife with my pension,so even though i'll be a pensioner i'll still be skint,and my wife probably wont be able to claim much UC if any,so if i was a pratt of an husband,she'd starve?
so now i understand that more now.
but what would happen to the £24 pw disability income guaratee? and the £38 for being in the support group that we currently get, is that where the suggestion of moving on to UC before i hit 66 would come in,or would we lose those 2 benefits even though were still disabled.
basically when your disabled and you hit pension age,your still no better off than when on ESA?

poppy123456

The £24 and £38 per week would be lost because these are both part of ESA. As you will be treated as having LCWRA from the start of your claim, providing you claim UC before you reach state pension age, then the LCWRA pays more than ESA Support Group.

If you don't claim UC before reaching state pension age then the LCWRA will not be paid from the start of your claim.

UC is a means tested benefit so yes, you need to claim as a couple.

mrpip2002uk

would we be allowed to just ask to be moved over UC?

poppy123456

You can't just be "moved over" you will need to claim it yourself but you need to do this before reaching state pension age, as advised.

mrpip2002uk

sorry for being thick,would i have to cancel my esa claim then,an hour later put in a claim for uc?

poppy123456

No, you don't cancel your ESA, you just claim UC.

poppy123456

I note you're both claiming PIP, if these include the dailing living part for each of you, does your ESA include the Severe Disability Premium?

Or do you live with other adults that don't claim a disability benefit like PIP/DLA or AA or are not registered blind?

mrpip2002uk

thaks for the help,maybe i would be better off legally devorcing my wife,but still live together,because weve got a mortgage,maybe they would have to help my wife financially,but i suppose theyed still take my pension off me someway?just joking.thanks for your help again.

mrpip2002uk

sorry poppy,i'm getting mixed up,thanks for your advice,no we dont get,no we dont get sdp,our 2 children inthere 20s are our carers and they get carers allowance.
what is LCWRA

poppy123456

LCWRA is the equivalent of ESA Support Group. Please refer back to calcotti's post with all the calculations..

calcotti said:

mrpip2002uk said:..i dont think i will be able to claim uc when i get my pension,..

Assuming that nobody else lives with you and you have no other income and no savings over £6000 a UC calculation would include the standard allowance and the LCWRA element giving a maximum monthly amount of £853.54/month. Your State Pension will be deducted in full so if it is more than £196.97/week there would be no entitlement. If you get the full State Pension it is set at £179.60/week and this would leave a monthly UC entitlement of £75.28/month.



Figures are at today's rates, next year’s figures will be different.

calcotti

mrpip2002uk said:.. my wife probably wont be able to claim much UC if any,

As advised, you both have to claim.

mrpip2002uk said:..the government  are expecting me to keep my wife with my pension,

The government expect all couples to support each other

mrpip2002uk said:..what would happen to the £24 pw disability income guaratee? and the £38 for being in the support group that we currently get, 

Those are part of your ESA, they stop when ESA stops. UC is calculated differently.

mrpip2002uk said: basically when your disabled and you hit pension age,your still no better off than when on ESA?

Generally nobody, disabled or otherwise, on means tested benefits is better off when the first member of a mixed age couple reaches pension age. Since the government changed the rules not 2019 you are treated as ifyou are still both working age.

mrpip2002uk said:

sorry for being thick,would i have to cancel my esa claim then,an hour later put in a claim for uc?

If you apply for UC that will automatically end your ESA claim from two weeks after you claim UC.

mrpip2002uk said:..maybe i would be better off legally devorcing my wife,but still live together,because weve got a mortgage,maybe they would have to help my wife financially,

It would make no difference. if you live together you are a couple regardless of whether or not you are married.

poppy123456

Based on calcotti's calculation you will be £75 per month better off.

calcotti said:

mrpip2002uk said:..i dont think i will be able to claim uc when i get my pension,..

If you get the full State Pension it is set at £179.60/week and this would leave a monthly UC entitlement of £75.28/month.

mrpip2002uk

thanks for making it all clearer.
basically put in a joint claim for uc before i turn 66 and then i will be put on uc and took off esa.

thanks again

mrpip2002uk

so thank you all on the link,
when i get my pension we will be more or less on the same income as what we are now on ESA,but we must make a claim for UC for the both of us before i reach  my pension age?
its took me an hour  to get it right in my head, but its become pretty clear now,we wont be better off,but at least we wont be worse off which is good news.
thanks again for your patience with me Poppy and Colcotti.

poppy123456

mrpip2002uk said:

so thank you all on the link,
when i get my pension we will be more or less on the same income as what we are now on ESA,but we must make a claim for UC for the both of us before i reach  my pension age?

I'm assuming you didn't look at calcotti's calculation above, which was quoted by me previously. You will receive your pension of £179 per week plus the UC of £75 per month, so you will be £75 per month better off.

Yes, you need to claim UC before you reach state pension age.

mrpip2002uk

thanks again,i will make sure of that,.
 and put in a claim for us for uc 6-7 weeks before my 66th birthday .great

calcotti

poppy123456 said: You will receive your pension of £179 per week plus the UC of £75 per month, so you will be £75 per month better off. 

That's £75/week better off than if OP doesn't claim UC, not £75 better off compared to now. If they don't claim UC they will, if getting standard SP, be worse off than now.

This may help clarify the change:

Your current ESA is £181.40/week (you can check whether this is correct)
If you claim UC you will get £853.54/month which is equivalent to £196.97/week - a gain of £15.57.

When you reach pension age your pension will be deducted from the UC. The combined total of UC and pension will remain as £853.54/month (£196.67/week) albeit you will receive that as two payments, State Pension paid every 4 weeks and UC top up paid every 4 weeks.

When you apply for UC your wife should both report your health conditions. Your wife must support this with a Fit Note from her GP and, although you shouldn't have to, you may find the claim is processed more smoothly if you provide one too. Your wife will be sent a health form to complete so that UC can assess her capability for work.

The key point is that claiming UC makes you £15.57/week better off than you are now.

All of the above assumes you have no other income and no savings over £6,000.

If you claim UC that will then continue until your wife reached pension age at which time UC will stop.