How will inheritance affect my pension credit, housing, and council tax benefit?

destinymoon
destinymoon Community Member Posts: 139 Empowering
edited September 22 in Benefits and income

I am trying to find out if my housing benefit and council tax benefit will stop after inheritance. I understand for every £1000 over £10,000 pension credit calculates you as £2 a week income deducting this from your weekly pension credit. I am currently in receipt of pension credit guarantee allowing income of £325. If my inheritance takes me over this amount will I get any housing or council tax benefit. I am in receipt of high rate daily living component of pip and live alone. I am totally confused by it all and keep getting different results from online calculators and websites etc. Any advice most welcome. Thank you

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Comments

  • Rachel_Scope
    Rachel_Scope Posts: 4,853 Online Community Team

    Hi @destinymoon. Sorry you have felt so confused by it all. Hopefully we can help! We have some information here https://www.scope.org.uk/advice-and-support/inheritance-lump-sum that could be useful.

    You can have up to £16,000 in savings before it affects your Council Tax benefit. As you receive Pension Credit guarantee, the same applies for your Housing Benefit entitlement.

    It could be a good idea to speak to a trained benefits adviser who can look more into your particular situation. You can find one here https://advicefinder.turn2us.org.uk/

    I hope that's somewhat helpful!

  • prestencollin
    prestencollin Community Member Posts: 25 Connected

    It’s understandable @destinymoon that you’re confused, as there are a few different rules involved here and the online calculators don’t always make it clear. Inheritance can affect means-tested benefits once your capital goes above certain limits, but PIP is different and isn’t means-tested.

    I wouldn’t rely on the calculators alone in this situation. You should contact your local council and Pension Service and give them the actual amount you expect to inherit. They should be able to confirm how it would affect your Pension Credit, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support before you make any decisions. Make sure you tell them you receive PIP as well, as that can be relevant to the calculation.

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