Pension/carers allowance

Zziggi

Can anyone help me please with some pension & carers allowance advice?

husband = full-time work, low income aged 57
wife = 60 next month, doesn't work, currently claims carers allowance for looking after an older relative.

wife is expecting to get only about £45 p.w. state pension as she has been a housewife since marriage and only a carer in since 2001.

1) will she be able to claim her state pension AND carers allowance?

2) is it in her financial interest to continue to claim carers allowance?

3) i read that if a carer stops being a carer after they reach 60yrs then they continue to get the carers money despite nolonger being a carer. Is this right?

4) anything else she/they could claim? either now or once the wife reaches pesionable age?

thank you

CIS

Carers allowance is affected by the value of the basic state pension.

If the basic state pension is less than the carers allowance , the carers allowance is reduced by the value of the basic state pension in payment. If the basic state pension is higher than the carers allowance, the carers allowance is completley extinguished by the state pension.

Even if she is not getting any carers allowance because its value has been extinguished, then as long as she would ordinarily qualify to claim it, she will continue to receive the underlying entilement to it and be eligible to receive any other benefits that rely on carers allowance eligibility.

Entitlement to carers allowance stops with the cessation of care, what people have probably noticed is the value of their pension return to normal when the Carers Allowance stops and presumed this was still the carers allowance.

She should try claiming pension credit to top up her money, depending on the amount in payment, pension credit can also give up to maximum Council Tax and Housing Benefit.

$17mma

www.entiltedto.co.uk
www.welfarerights.co.uk

krisskross

If the wife is claiming a pension on her husbands contributions as she hasn't worked my understanding was that she wouldn't get it until he is 65.

edit: sorry just reread. Wife must have some contributions of course if she is expectinga pension of just £45.

Zziggi

I'm a little confused here....

So if her pension was, for example £50p.w., then am I right in thinking that she might as well let her (younger - aged 56) sister claim carers allowance for their mum when the elder sister turns 60? Will the elder sister (the person in question) still have an underlying entitlement when her sister takes over as the receipiant of carers allowance??

She doesn't think she will be eligible for pension credit top-up and therefore reduction in council tax. So there appears to be no point in getting CA once she is 60. Have i understood this right?

thank you.

CIS

Really its six and a two threes, if she had £50 per week basic pension and carers allowance is £47.50, she would get £50 state pension and £0 carers allowance, but she would have underlying entitlement to carers allowance.

She will also get any additional / graduated pension on top of that figure.

Pension credit is calculated using a series of elements that are tapered for certain circumstances to get the amount that you are supposed to need to live on, on her claim , she could have a total household income of approximately £167 couples element + £25.50 carers element (even with underlying carers allowance) = £192.50 per week and still receive pension credit.

If she get £50 per week pension and £0 carers allowance, then they can get about another £152.50 per week in income (including the £10 per week disregarded inocme) and still get pension credit.

If shes entitled to any pension credit, then she will get full HB and CTB.

It may be worth her while for her husband to cut back his income so that they get Pension credit as the HB and CTB could easily be more than any extra income he gets.

It will be worth her looking in to it as an option