military disability pension ?

sammy1968

My Hubby was in the Royal Navy and got discharged on medical grounds.
He was awarded a medical pension from the Navy.

Plymouth CityCouncil are counting his medical pension as income and because of this we get no help with council tax and they also take into account his pension when working out his IB as they treat it as an occupational income which it is`nt ,we have written prove from the navy to say it is not a occupational pension but a medical one.

So is this correct can the council still take it into account?

I have heard of a similar case at Havant Borough Council where a Royal Marine appealed and had his medical pension discounted as income ? and also that the law changed last year and local authorities can now ignore all disability-related military pensions from any financial assessments.


Does any one have any ideas ?

Oldernotwiser

Sorry, I don't know the answer, but is this relevant?


Effect on other benefits

If you get War Disablement Pension or another payment under the War Pension Scheme, this may affect other benefits you might get, such as Disability Living Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit or Income Support.
Jobcentre Plus can advise on how your other benefits may be affected.

Edit: It might be worth also posting this on the Armed Services Board as it's a bit specialised.

Tally-Ho_2

Hi,

My brother is a War Pensioner so I have asked him about your question.

Basically it depends on the council in your area. The amount of War Disablement Pension they have by law to disregard is only £10.00 per week, but some (most?) do give a full disregard of War Pensions when working out Housing Benefit/Council Tax Benefit. This full disregard though is 'discretionary' and dependent on the councils policy.

The only way to get it changed is to lobby local councillors to get the policy changed (but as it would in effect reduce the council's income) it could be a hard job.

Tally