pension credit entitlement

Old_Git
Old_Git Posts: 4,743
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An elderly relative is claining state pension off £150.48


She has £35,000 in savings
is she entilted to pension credit .
"Do not regret growing older, it's a privilege denied to many"

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  • ffacoffipawb
    ffacoffipawb Posts: 3,593
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    Old_Git wrote: »
    An elderly relative is claining state pension off £150.48
    she is also claiming £500 per year housing benefit .

    She has £35,000 in savings (dont think she declared this for housing benefit )
    is she entilted to pension credit .

    Unlikely with those savings. And not housing benefit either. She'll get prosecuted for benefit fraud if caught out.
  • dunstonh
    dunstonh Posts: 116,034
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    doesnt look like it based on those figures.
    I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.
  • seven-day-weekend
    seven-day-weekend Posts: 36,755
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    edited 3 May 2009 at 12:08AM
    No, the limit for Pension Credit is about £130 a week for a single person.

    http://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/pensioncredit/age65.asp

    She's not entitled to Housing Benefit either and is committing fraud by claiming it without declaring savings of over £16000.
    (AKA HRH_MUngo)
    Member #10 of £2 savers club
    Imagine someone holding forth on biology whose only knowledge of the subject is the Book of British Birds, and you have a rough idea of what it feels like to read Richard Dawkins on theology: Terry Eagleton
  • Curveygirl
    Curveygirl Posts: 90 Forumite
    Are you sure she isn't already receiving Guaranteed Pension Credit? That might explain how she's got HB with the high savings (there's no limit once you're on GPC). If she's not already on it then previous posts are corrct that the capital is too high for HB and this should be corrected BEFORE its officially discovered (which it will be, sooner or later, via official information matches). I should add that most Local Authorities could be persuaded that this was Error rather than Fraud is someone is elderly.
    Anyway, to return to the original question, here's a really good link to find out the answer
    www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/pensioncredit/calculator/calculate.asp
    Ssshh - I might know about deals in/near Keswick
  • hedgewitch_2
    hedgewitch_2 Posts: 17 Forumite
    edited 4 May 2009 at 8:24AM
    I am sure someone will tell me if I am wrong - and I do hope I am. My neighbour worked the required years and gets a state pension of about £97 made up to about £135 by pension credit. Another neighbour hasn't worked enough years to qualify for a full pension, but what she does get is made up to £135 with pension credit. My late husband paid extra National Insurance contributions to secure a better pension and it gives me £128 - I can't live on that so I still work, but if I didn't then my pension would be made up to - you've guessed it - £135. So what is the point in working hard and making extra payments, or in making top-up payments, when you are going to get the same amount anyway? Will someone please explain this and tell me if I have got it completely wrong somehow?
  • margaretclare
    margaretclare Posts: 10,789 Forumite
    Hello hedgewitch

    It's an interesting philosophical dilemma, and different people will have different views on it.

    My personal view is that there is a changing ethos. Those of us who were brought up to pay our way and to have a pride in working for what we got, are a generation that is passing. The ethos now is 'what can I claim, what am I entitled to?' You have put your finger on the crux of the problem - what is the point etc.

    Well, for the likes of me, there is a point. I've lost count of the number of times I have been urged to claim pension credit. DH and I can't claim it anyway because of our joint income being too high - although we're not rich, we're not poor enough for pension credit!

    People have said to me 'why did you go on working, you could have got...' But to be within the limits of pension credit we'd also fall within the means test. My personal belief is that it's better to be outside the means test altogether. I don't want to be told what I'm entitled to - I've always preferred to earn it for myself. For someone who grew up in poverty, the kind of poverty that no one sees nowadays, but also with the pride of standing on my own feet and paying my way, there is no contest. Others will vehemently disagree. You've opened a real can of worms!
    [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Æ[/FONT]r ic wisdom funde, [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]æ[/FONT]r wear[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]ð[/FONT] ic eald.
    Before I found wisdom, I became old.
  • EdInvestor
    EdInvestor Posts: 15,749 Forumite
    hedgewitch wrote: »
    So what is the point in working hard and making extra payments, or in making top-up payments, when you are going to get the same amount anyway? Will someone please explain this and tell me if I have got it completely wrong somehow?


    The big difference is the means test of course - your income is yours by right, with no officials looking into your affairs.But you are right that for those people who have not saved to a level that is well clear of the pension credit limit ,it can be difficult to understand why they bothered. The situation may improve in the future as more and more people retire with a full record for SERPS/S2P,which can easily double the basic state pension, and put clear blue water between those who've worked and saved and those who haven't.
    Trying to keep it simple...;)
  • margaretclare
    margaretclare Posts: 10,789 Forumite
    EdInvestor wrote: »
    The big difference is the means test of course - your income is yours by right, with no officials looking into your affairs.But you are right that for those people who have not saved to a level that is well clear of the pension credit limit ,it can be difficult to understand why they bothered. The situation may improve in the future as more and more people retire with a full record for SERPS/S2P,which can easily double the basic state pension, and put clear blue water between those who've worked and saved and those who haven't.

    This is the difference for DH and me. We get pensions income as individuals - for pension credit we'd be assessed as a couple. We also each get income based on our previous employments - SERPS and annuities. DH is one of those people whose SERPS easily doubles his basic state pension and he also has a valuable annuity.

    I would hope that more people would benefit from these additions in time to come, but with the current, more common, thinking that 'it's not worth it because you get it anyway', I am not too sure. 'To get it anyway' you have to have, as Ed puts it, officials looking into your affairs, but fewer people seem bothered by that.
    [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Æ[/FONT]r ic wisdom funde, [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]æ[/FONT]r wear[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]ð[/FONT] ic eald.
    Before I found wisdom, I became old.
  • Hi
    I'm 59 yrs of age and will 60 in February, 2011. I'm aware that Labour introduced some new measures before they left office but will I be able to claim pension credits when I reach 60?
    Ta.
  • anmarj
    anmarj Posts: 1,817
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    davetmann wrote: »
    Hi
    I'm 59 yrs of age and will 60 in February, 2011. I'm aware that Labour introduced some new measures before they left office but will I be able to claim pension credits when I reach 60?
    Ta.

    no because of the age change for women the age in which you can claim is going to be slightly later

    The age from which you can get the Guarantee Credit – the qualifying age – is gradually increasing from 60 to 65 between April 2010 and 2020. To find out the age when you can apply for Pension Credit, you can use the State Pension age calculator.

    http://pensions.direct.gov.uk/en/state-pension-age-calculator/home.asp

    you need to put your gender in as female if you are male iykwim
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