EESA, HB and retirement

Steve_in_The_City

I am in The Support Group. I receive EESA (have no idea what the extra E stands for), extra money because I am disabled, PIP and Housing Benefit. I retire in September  and have been told I will lose all EESA benefits including Housing Benefit and would have to reapply for HB. I spoke with HB today and they told me I need do nothing and that when I retire I do not have to put in a fresh claim. Does anyone know if this is correct? HB has made mistakes with me before, and it takes a long time and many phone calls to get matters sorted.

calcotti

I infer you live alone.
ESA is a working age benefits and will stop.
Have you received a letter about your State Pension and have you made a claim for it?
Does your ESA include a Severe Disability Premium?
You may also be entitled to some Pension Credit.
Your Housing Benefit will continue, as will any Council tax Reduction you receive however both will become subject to pension age rules rather than working age rules. Does your HB cover all of your rent?

Steve_in_The_City said:

... have been told I will lose .. Housing Benefit and would have to reapply for HB. 

Who has told you that?

Steve_in_The_City

@calcotti Thank you for your reply. I will stop worrying about reapplying for HB when I retire. But to answer your points:  I live alone and HB covers my rent in full. I don't get severe disability premium. On my benefits letter it says I get extra money because I am severely disabled and extra money because of the Disability Income Guarantee.

I received a letter about my pension in May this year; I do not retire until Sept. I cannot remember who told me that I would need to reapply for HB. I speak to a lot of council officials and I am often given incorrect and conflicting advice. I moved to a new address in April, HB said they would credit my new rent a/c with a back payment, it all seemed ok but several weeks later the credit fell short of what they said by approx £305 and my rent a/c is showing £285 in arrears (I was incorrectly told by a council official that I had to pay £20 for heating, this is what brings my debt down to £285). I have spoken with HB numerous times over this. They seem to think I was living in two flats (and claiming HB benefit for both) for about 2 weeks. This is why I wanted to know if I needed to put in for a fresh claim when I retire. I cannot trust the info they give me, and it is a real hassle to get things sorted.  Once again, thank you for your reply.

poppy123456

Steve_in_The_City said:

I don't get severe disability premium. On my benefits letter it says I get extra money because I am severely disabled

That is the Severe Disability Premium (SDP)
To claim this when you reach state pension age you will need to apply for pension credit. This will then entitle you to full HB and full council tax reduction.

Steve_in_The_City

@poppy123456 Thank you for your reply. I have been Googling over this matter and found out that they are supposed to send some sort of code for me to claim my pension, and that I should receive this 3 months before my pension is due. I requested a code online this evening (Sunday 24th Aug). When you posted your message to me I Googled how to apply for pension credits and completed a form on-line. My pension will be a few quid over the limit. (From what I could gather pension credits are paid to bring a pension up to a certain level). There was also a financial question about benefits that I did not understand so I left it blank. However, this may have been about my SDP, but worded differently on the form. The upshot was that a message displayed saying I was not entitled to pension credits. I intend to phone the pension helpline over this matter. I am confused! If you can shed any further light on this matter I would appreciate it, as the lose of my SDP (and possibly PIP) will negatively affect me. Once again, thank you for your input on this matter.

calcotti

Steve_in_The_City said:

My pension will be a few quid over the limit. (From what I could gather pension credits are paid to bring a pension up to a certain level). There was also a financial question about benefits that I did not understand so I left it blank. However, this may have been about my SDP, but worded differently on the form. The upshot was that a message displayed saying I was not entitled to pension credits. I intend to phone the pension helpline over this matter. I am confused! If you can shed any further light on this matter I would appreciate it, as the lose of my SDP (and possibly PIP) will negatively affect me. Once again, thank you for your input on this matter.

I assume there was a question about whether you receive other benefits such as PIP. If you live alone and no one cares for you that means the SDP would be included in the calculation which increases the threshold to qualify for PC. They will not ask you about DDP, DDP is the outcome if you meet the qualifying conditions.

For a single person the PC threshold is £182.60. If you get a pension over this there is no PC entitlement. If you qualify for SDP you gets an extra £69.40 in the calculation which increases the PC threshold to £252/week.

If you don't give the information asked for they cannot correctly calculate whether or not you are entitled.

Note - you cannot apply for PC online unless you have already applied for State Pension

You will not lose your PIP. It’s completely separate.

poppy123456

Steve_in_The_City said:

 I requested a code online this evening (Sunday 24th Aug).

It's July, not August.

Steve_in_The_City

@calcotti and @poppy123456 First, thank you for your input. Second, I get a bit confused mentally. So I don't always understand everything  that is said to me. Please bear this in mind.
I have now retired, 26/09, and I have asked for Pension Credits. I believe if I am entitled to Pension Credits I will get almost £60 or £70 pounds to cover my disability benefits? I just don't know. PIP are still paying me. I had a payment from them a few days ago. It is for the minimum daily living benefit. Any  advice from you would be welcome. Steve.

ShirleyW

I'm not sure what question you are asking.  Do you want to know how much Pension Credit you will receive?

In order to work it out we will need the following information:

How much State Pension you receive. 

The amount of any other pensions, if any, that you receive. 

We already know that you receive Pip and that you live alone.

Presumably your ESA has stopped now that you have reached State Pension Age?

Do you receive any other benefits?  

poppy123456

As advised here..

calcotti said:

For a single person the PC threshold is £182.60. If you get a pension over this there is no PC entitlement. If you qualify for SDP you gets an extra £69.40 in the calculation which increases the PC threshold to £252/week.

As Shirely said, how much is your State Pension? Do you have any other pension income?

A Pension Credit claim can potentially take 6 months at least because there are huge backlogs.

Have you told your local Authority that you've now reached State Pension age? If not then you'll need to do that.

Steve_in_The_City

Sorry everyone I am not getting notifications of replies. Pension is a few pennies short of £180 per week. I have already had my first weeks pension; it is due again, for a full 4 weeks, October 31st. I made a claim for PC and phoned the Helpline twice to see if I will get PC, which I believe I need in order to obtain SDP. (I could of course be wrong over this point). The Helpline could not answer any of my questions I guess I will have to wait and see. My full list of benefits is my pension (as discussed), Housing Benefit (it covers my full rent), Council Tax benefit (they tell me I only have to pay £101 and some pennies for the year), and PiP. Sorry to be a nuisance over this, but I like to plan well ahead for my finances. What is really baffling me is that I read on a government page that if I get PiP I should entitled to SDP, but on the on-line form it did not ask about PiP. I don't think it asked for details my bank account either, which I believe they will want to look at. I asked the Helpline about these issues and they could not answer. Thanks, Steve.

poppy123456

The Pension Credit should include the calculation for SDP. Howver, Pension Credit backlogs are huge and some are waiting at least 6 months for a decision on their claim so if you only applied in August then you could be waiting a while yet.

Once your Pension Credit is awarded then you'll need to report the changes to your Local Authority and you'll be entitled to full Council Tax reduction.

The form says " do not tell us about any DWP benefits" so from this i would think they check. You could have also added it into the box for "other information."  It also asks you for your bank details at the end of the form.

Steve_in_The_City

@poppy123456 I found a pdf of the form I completed on another account, plus an email telling me I should hear from them by Nov 11th. The form asked for my bank name only, not account details, but did ask how much money I had. I expect they will obtain my a/c details when they check my NI number. There isn't a box for "other information" on the on-line form that I completed. Apart from my state benefits I have no other income, so maybe they did not need my bank a/c details.

Under Benefits they ask if I get carer's allowance and on the on-line form itself it says I do not have to mention PiP. (The .pdf they sent only includes questions that I answered).

I went on-line again tonight and filled in the same form. Again, they did not ask for bank a/c details and there was a box for "other information". I went right through the form but did not re-send it.

Thanks, Steve

ShirleyW

@Steve_in_The_City

I receive Pension Credit and I'm fairly sure they will know exactly what other benefits you receive including PIP.

They always send me an automated recalculation when my Industrial Injuries Retirement Allowance changes and again a week later when my State Pension changes.

They will also need to know that you live alone for the SDP to apply.  Or that your partner also receives a qualifying disability benefit or is registered blind.  And that no one is receiving Carer's Allowance or Carer's Premium for caring for you.

Did the form ask if anyone lives with you?

calcotti

As poppy says, there are huge delays at Pension Credit at the moment. It is clearly a bit under three weeks until they told you they will reply by but it maybe later than that.

They know your bank account details because they are paying you your State Pension.

Steve_in_The_City

@ShirleyW @calcotti I made a mistake in my previous post. At the bottom of the post I say there was a box for other information. There wasn't. They asked if I lived alone. I replied Yes. No partner. No one is receiving Carer's Allowance or Carer's Premium for caring for me.

Thanks to all your help. I now think (hope!) that everything is progressing as it should, no matter how slowly. Thanks again, Steve

ShirleyW

Thanks @Steve_in_The_City.

Do come back to us and let us know the outcome of your claim. 

Steve_in_The_City

Will do, @ShirleyW, and thanks everyone for your advice.

Steve_in_The_City

@ShirleyW @calcotti @poppy123456 I have bad memory and am easily confused, plus I don't know a lot about benefits. But I would like to thank you all enormously for you input, which has made me more aware of my situation, and has made me feel more positive for a successful resolution.

Yesterday I received pension credits backdated to my retirement in Sept '22. About £70 a week. So it has worked out for me. But once again, thank you for taking the time to advise me. Happy Xmas to you all.

ShirleyW

@Steve_in_The_City
I am so pleased to hear this.  Thanks for letting us know. 

L_Volunteer

Thank you for being supportive @ShirleyW. It is people like you who make this community the supportive and friendly space it is