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State pension

Seanchai
Seanchai Community member Posts: 411 Pioneering
Just when we thought everything was starting to fall into place ....my wife,s pension coming through next month, my PIP sorted out and after hours talking face to face with CAB , Carers office, Dhss office ....and hours and hours on the phone ...trying to explain that filling in a " journal"would be hopeless for us as I am on PIP for the next ten years and my wife has now retired on 6th January ( 5 years 7 months late but that's another story . They fixed it all out , we get our first payment of Universal credit tomorrow ( friday) ...but after all that time being told one thing by one office and another thing by another office we thought we could see the light at the end of the tunnel .....only for the phone to go yesterday ....another DWP office saying my wife she is not entitled to her pension as I am not pension age until next January 2021...that's after being told she will receive her pension on 14th February. ..can anyone shine a light on this latest phone call .... this means that my wife will get nothing for a year (until I,m 66) ....apart from our rent paid ( well the UC giving us money to pay our rent ....our heads are pickled ??

Comments

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,359 Disability Gamechanger
    edited January 2020
    Hi,

    That doesn't sound right. Your state pension won't affect your wife's. Did you apply for pension credit and the phone call you received was about that?

    I see from a previous thread of yours that you were confused about the pension credit claim. You can't claim for pension credit until you both reach state pension age, as advised in another thread of yours. This is because of the changes made last year to mixed aged couples.

    She should still receive her state pension but this will be deducted from your UC payments. She shouldn't be made to look for work because she is state pension age.

    May i also ask if you were previously claiming ESA yourself or were you both claiming a different benefit before your wife reached state pension age?

    Ok i seen in another thread that you were claiming ESA and your wife used to claim Income support. This must mean that you were claiming Contributions based ESA, which isn't part of UC so you should still be receiving that. As you already have limited capability for work then your ESA award will be honoured in UC and you'll receive the extra LVWRA element of £336 per month BUT your ESA will be deducted £1 for £1 from your UC payments.

    For UC you should receive the couples standard allowance, rent element, carers element and LCWRA element BUT then you'll have the deductions for your wife's pension and your ESA.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • Seanchai
    Seanchai Community member Posts: 411 Pioneering
    edited January 2020
    hi Poppy123456 ..... Thank you very much for explaining everything in a straightforward manner , I wish we had had someone like you dealing with out claim from the start . 
    I get ESA fortnightly of £224 , I cannot find any paperwork that says if its contribution based....just ESA. 
    Yep, ESA has been deducted from our UC ....and my wife,s carers allowance is also deducted ...and £19.95 has also been deducted for income support, so I take it that was the overlap payment...total deductions is £792.15 pence this month and it leaves us with £511 ...we of course have to pay our rent of £266. 
    My wife used to claim income support and carers allowance ...we were told this would stop ...but....she is still getting carers allowance this month even though we were told it will stop when we claim UC. her income support has stopped .
    I cannot find any paperwork that says I am getting LCWRA .

    Thank you once again for explaining everything so clearly ...
    ....also We Thank you for looking back and checking my last posts. ...Our heads are pickled with this over the past few months .

    On top of this we were meant to get a wet room fitted ...but the guys turned up to do the work on the 7th January ( which will take five to seven days ) they ripped the boxing of the front of the bath and sink only to stop in their tracks as they found asbestos ..their boss ( council contractos) pulled them off the job and the council told us they would get someone out urgently to deal with the asbestos ....my wife has been phoning the council regularly only to be told that is is an urgent job. ....but of course the 'urgent job' for the council means it will get dealt with eventually ...and they are now going to clear the asbestos and start the wet room on 19th February.  The councils last comment was that the asbestos is not a worry as it has not been moved ....but it has been moved and the contractors showed us tiles they had ripped off before realising it was asbestos. ???
    So everything has been ongoing , hopefully now it will wll be fixed out ( including our benefits and pensions ) ?
    Thank you so much Polly .?
    PS. I just noticed that on our UC claim verification that i do indeed have LCWRA  ...? as I said polly ...our heads are pickled , my wife used to deal with this in her stride ( and every other problem that cropped up) but these days age is taking its toll and she ( nor i) are as sharp as we were a few years ago . ??
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,359 Disability Gamechanger
    You're very welcome. I'm glad i explained it clearly for you, the benefits system is complex and UC is even worse.

    Your ESA will most definitely be Contributions based which should have by now been transferred to New style ESA (which is exactly the same, just a different name)

    The amount deducted will be £483 for your ESA and £286 for the carers allowance, which doesn't stop until your wife's state pension starts. Income Support stopped because you claimed UC.

    Please make sure also that they are adding the carers element onto your UC, this is an additional £160.20 per month.

    I hope you get your bathroom sorted soon because the asbestos definitely isn't good and i do believe that it should be removed by a specialist company. I remember when i moved house some years ago, there was asbestos in my garden from a building that was knocked down and the council had to call a specialist company to remove it.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • Seanchai
    Seanchai Community member Posts: 411 Pioneering
    yes Poppy ...we do get carers element on our UC. 
    The council have told us that it will indeed be a specialist company to remove the asbestos ... we have also been told that the company building the wet room will start work the same day as the asbestos is removed .
    Once again , I thank you for all you help Poppy .... ??
  • Adrian_Scope
    Adrian_Scope Posts: 10,822 Scope online community team
    Hi @Seanchai
    I'm really glad Poppy was able to help you with this! 
    I hope the council manage to get your bathroom sorted quickly. 
    Community Manager
    Scope
  • Seanchai
    Seanchai Community member Posts: 411 Pioneering
    Hi Adrian .....thank you very much , i,m grateful for all the help I get of this great site .  The date we have for the clearing of the asbestos and starting the wet room is 19th February ....this is the third time we have been given a date to start the wet room. . my wife slipped in the bath last night and has a bruised arm ( thankfully nothing worse) .. the sooner they get the wet room in the better , it will take between 5 and 7 days as it's a complete new bathroom , shower, WC,  and small wash hand basin . We are also very grateful to the council and social workers who pushed to get this wet room fitted .
    Thank you all at Scope for your help and best wishes since I joined this great site ?. 
  • Chloe_Scope
    Chloe_Scope Posts: 10,586 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi @Seanchai! I really hope it goes ahead 19th February and that your wife is okay! Please do let us know. :)
    Scope

  • Seanchai
    Seanchai Community member Posts: 411 Pioneering
    Thanks for thinking about me guys....its very much appreciated....fingers crossed it all goes well for the19th February. It will take five to seven days to complete the wet room. 
    The last 5 or 6 months has been total stress ...( moving from DLA to PIP assessment  ..then  moving to Universal credit from income support...then hassle with my wifes pension at the start of the year ( she still has not got it but has been told by phone that she will get it on 13th February ....and the of course finding asbestos in the bathroom .....
    I would like to thank everybody on Scope for their advice and support during that stressful period ....God knows what I would have done without Polly,s advice and understanding ....Thanks to all members who supported me since September .

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