Info on mums state pension

mrsfrench

I'm looking for a bit of advice re the above. I have checked the DWP site and, well, it's not really any use!!

My mum turned 75 on Thursday last week and when I checked her payment for SP on her bank statement she had been paid an extra £134 ish (4 week payment). Does the rate of the state pension go up at 75? Also, is a widow still entitled to claim 'couples' rate or should this have reverted to single person status after dad died?

I'm sorry if these are really basic questions but I'm hoping somebody here can answer them before I have to phone DWP.

Many thanks, mrsf

mrbnewc1

Hi

Unfortunately, State Pension doesn't increase at age 75 (only at age 80 you get an Age Addition of 25p per week extra). The increase in payments will be something else - possibly something has been combined with her State Pension payments - Pension Credit or Attendance Allowance maybe. You'd need to ring the Pension Service on 0845 6060 265 for an explanation.

There is no such thing as a couples' State Pension. As your mum is a widow the likelihood is she's receiving a composite award of her own entitlement topped up with some of your late fathers.

Hope this helps.

mrbnewc1

EdInvestor

mrsfrench wrote: »

My mum turned 75 on Thursday last week and when I checked her payment for SP on her bank statement she had been paid an extra £134 ish (4 week payment). Also, is a widow still entitled to claim 'couples' rate or should this have reverted to single person status after dad died?

This will depend on what state pension she got before: if it was based on 60% of her husband's contributions, then it would rise to 100% on his death. If she was claiming in her own right, it might not change.However, if husband's pension contained an element of SERPS (S2P) then she may have inherited this - or a part of it. Call up the DWP and ask for a rundown. They should also send a letter breaking down the change in due course.

The change might also perhaps have something to do with the higher personal allowance introduced to solve the problem created by the removal of the 10p tax band, which came in in September.I am not sure how this is being handled for people who get state pension income over 6k (not topped up by pension credit).

If you have income from other pensions or savings, the Revenue will adjust the amount of tax via your tax code. The DWP however is not allowed AFAIK to do tax related matters, so this seems unlikely.

margaretclare

The change might also perhaps have something to do with the higher personal allowance introduced to solve the problem created by the removal of the 10p tax band, which came in in September.I am not sure how this is being handled for people who get state pension income over 6k (not topped up by pension credit).

Because we (over 65s) already get the higher age-related personal allowance, our tax code has not altered with the changes in September. These only affect people under 65, who were the ones who lost out the most with the removal of the 10% band. It hasn't affected us at all.

When did the OP's Dad die? I agree, Mum may have inherited some or all of his SERPS. It's likely that she inherited all of it, as she's 75. I know if DH died I would inherit 100% of his (worth having!) and he would inherit mine (not so much). There's a leaflet which explains this all in detail and gives the age-bands applicable.

EdInvestor

margaretclare wrote: »

Because we (over 65s) already get the higher age-related personal allowance, our tax code has not altered with the changes in September.

Good point, I imagine that the numbers of people getting state pensions only which amounted to more than the age allowance will be fairly negligible at the moment, but may rise quite a lot in the future as more people retire with a full SERPS/S2P record -or inherit their spouse's S2P .

Indeed, that may be the underlying reason for the quite substantial recent rises in the age allowance.

margaretclare

EdInvestor wrote: »

Good point, I imagine that the numbers of people getting state pensions only which amounted to more than the age allowance will be fairly negligible at the moment, but may rise quite a lot in the future as more people retire with a full SERPS/S2P record -or inherit their spouse's S2P .

Indeed, that may be the underlying reason for the quite substantial recent rises in the age allowance.

Numbers fairly negligible? I would hope not! Although one could be forgiven for thinking so, given that the term 'pensioner' in the media must automatically be preceded by the adjective 'poor'.

DH and I both have SRP entitlement in our own right, plus SERPS, plus a few other things, including annuity payments. We'd rather have the increased personal tax allowance than any number of other 'concessions', or bribes to keep the grey vote, as these payments should really be called.

I have often been slammed for disagreeing with free bus passes, preferring instead some kind of payment that we could use for whatever we liked, whether that was taxis or running our own car. I had to go to the local hospital in the middle of the night. I could have got the bus from the top of the road - was too knackered, after disturbed nights, to walk there, and after midnight? I don't think my free bus pass would have been any use at all.

(Sorry for the digression.)

EdInvestor

margaretclare wrote: »

Numbers fairly negligible? I would hope not!
DH and I both have SRP entitlement in our own right, plus SERPS, plus a few other things, including annuity payments.

I'm not talking about people like you who get a total income over the age allowance level.I mean people who get state pension income only which is big enough to exceed the level (currently 9.2k).

To get the full basic state pension plus another c.5k of SERPS/S2P you would need to have a 100% record of NI contributions for 44/39 years plus have received more than the average wage since 1978 when SERPS started - and never been contracted out.

Most people in that income bracket either were contracted out into company/public sector pensions over the period from 1978 or into private pensions after 1988.

So not that many people receive a 9k+ wodge of their income in state pension form, though there may be many pensioners getting that much or more in total income.

mrsfrench

Thank you all for your replies. I'm not entirely sure of the history of the pensions but I do think mum had a much smaller payment while dad was alive, and that it increased considerably after he died (April 2005). She also has a pension income from dads employers and does not qualify for pension credit.

I shall phone DWP and ask for clarification of the extra funds, (at least I feel a bit more confident having asked for some advice first). It may be something very straight forward and probably coincidence that it appeared in the payment over her birthday.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to reply.
mrsf

EdInvestor

Please let us know the result.All snippets of info about the state pensions are very welcome as the state of general knowledge on the subject is pretty low due to the complexity.

margaretclare

To get the full basic state pension plus another c.5k of SERPS/S2P you would need to have a 100% record of NI contributions for 44/39 years plus have received more than the average wage since 1978 when SERPS started - and never been contracted out.

That does apply to DH. Not to me, since I was contracted out for a lot of the time into the NHS scheme. I have the full 39 years though, plus some SERPS from the times I wasn't working for the NHS.

mrbnewc1

For clarification, State Pension isn't taxed at source, so the increased payments won't be connected in any way to the change in tax allowances etc.