No state pension

Hawkstone
Hawkstone Online Community Member Posts: 5 Listener
edited March 13 in Benefits and income

Hi, I am a carer for my brother in law who is reaching 66 in September. I have just received the letter to say that he will be receiving a lower rate of ESA from August 31. He receives higher rate PIP but no other benefits. He is not entitled to a state pension as he has never worked. He does live relatively independently with carers morning, evenings and a lot of family input. He currently attends a day centre four days a week which he does contribute towards. He lives in a regular elderly assisted living complex flat which does have a warden. The flat is owned by the executors of his fathers will and is ring fenced so not taken into financial account but obviously pays no rent. Is he entitled to any other financial help? I guess his contributions to his care will go down as he is not receiving as much income. All advice welcome, thank you.

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  • Kimi87
    Kimi87 Online Community Member Posts: 4,466 Championing

    He can look into applying for Pension Credit

    https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit

  • anisty
    anisty Online Community Member Posts: 727 Trailblazing

    Has he checked his state pension? Easily done online. Receiving certain benefits might have given him automatic credits over the years.

    Google "check my state pension" go into the official hmrc site. He will need a government gateway account set up first if he hasn't already got one.

    And then his full record going back to age 16yrs will be there.

    There is pension credit too for those without enough contributions but will let others comment on the rest of your post as it's not an area i know much about.

  • Hawkstone
    Hawkstone Online Community Member Posts: 5 Listener
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/995638#Comment_995638

    He has never worked at all. His Cp and mild learning disabilities are pretty disabling. His parents cared for him until their deaths so to even be living alone is amazing. Personal alarms are in situ. He can use daily small amounts of money but cannot manage his finances and can do some daily tasks but has carers for assistance and safety. He doesn’t even have a photo id to renew his blue badge because he postal votes. 🙈🙈

  • anisty
    anisty Online Community Member Posts: 727 Trailblazing

    It doesn't matter that he has never worked. He might still have received NI credits. He won't know til he checks.

  • Hawkstone
    Hawkstone Online Community Member Posts: 5 Listener
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/995753#Comment_995753

    I had no idea that was even a thing. 🙈. He has never received anything regarding a Government Gateway log in but I shall ring up today and see where he stands. his outgoings are low but it will still be tight financially with the drop.

  • anisty
    anisty Online Community Member Posts: 727 Trailblazing

    No - the Government Gateway is not a thing you are sent a log in for. You set it up from your own home computer - you can do this to check your own state pension. Everyone can.

    I take it you have not checked your own state pension - it is always a handy thing for everyone to do to check it is on track.

    Set an account up in your own name first (you need your NI number and then 2 of the following: passport, driving licence, answer some questions re your bank account, put your face in the frame for a photo.

  • Kimi87
    Kimi87 Online Community Member Posts: 4,466 Championing

    Link:

    https://www.gov.uk/check-national-insurance-record

  • Hawkstone
    Hawkstone Online Community Member Posts: 5 Listener

    I am going to have to phone someone. He has neither a passport or driving licence and no online presence at all. I have his financial authority so use my details for everything. I just want to make sure he is financially secure.

  • Hawkstone
    Hawkstone Online Community Member Posts: 5 Listener

    My pension is all sorted. My father in law fully cared for my brother in law until his death 2 years ago. He accepted no help from anyone at all, financial or physical so it was a massive change in circumstances. He has managed so well and we are trying to ensure he remains as independent as possible.

  • anisty
    anisty Online Community Member Posts: 727 Trailblazing

    Good to hear @Hawkstone - you probably are best to call someone. Technically he could set up with his photo in the frame and answer the bank questions.

    But you probably don't want him having his photo on the government site.

    In your case, phoning will be best.

    For anyone else reading though - you should be able to answer the bank questions even if you had no accounts. In fact i think one question might have been about credit cards held - to answer none was fine.

    Also - just for a short period at the moment (this is for anyone else reading) you can fill up missing years going back 20 years. Normally it's only 6 years and it will be reverting back to 6yrs soon.

    This can be very worthwhile doing for people aged 40 and over. And very important if you are in your early 60s.

    You can check your full record on the site. Any years that aren't full - check how much it costs to fill them.

    If you have no contributions at all in a year it is about £800 to buy the year. But you might have years that are partially filled and can be bought for as little as £30.

    Every full year adds £300 per year on your state pension for the rest of your life.

    So if you live 20 years on your state pension, that year you bought for £30 is worth £6000 (300 x 20)

    For those of you that have never worked but have claimed qualifying benefits, it is still worth checking your record to make sure your credits have been added.

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