pension credits.

Brodiebobs

thanks for all of your replies. Just checked with my mum and sleepless saver is correct we had to supply the LA with the information about the money because she was self funding, but my mum said she is sure around this time she had to supply the same information (bank statements) to pension credit people because obviously she sold the house so their was a change of address and my mum became her power of attourney.

Then she said every year they sent out a form to check her circumstances and the people in the home had to sign this to verify she was alive(!?) and she thinks they had to write in this how the home was being paid for.

But how would we prove this? could we request a copy of all the documents they hold to check the information they hold? The thing is my mum is obviously still upset about this and it was so long ago and she had to deal with so much i think its all a bit foggy!

Pollycat

Brodiebobs
I think the onus may be on you to prove that you've advised the Pension Credit people.

My Mum & Dad moved into a warden-controlled Council flat and put their small terraced house up for sale.
When it had sold, the day that the settlement cheque arrived we went down to the Council offices with the letter from the solicitor and I also rang up the Pension credit peole to tell them.
They asked me to send a copy of the letter, which I did and it was returned from them with with a 'received' and date stamp on - which proves that they were aware of the change in circumstances.

I kept the letter in case of comeback.

Does your Mum have anything like that?

Brodiebobs

polly cat, to be perfectly honest i dont know.
I know she has a suitcase of all the paperwork relating to gran under her bed, so think over this weekend were going to have to have a good look through it all.
They are meant to be giving us a call after the bank holiday when they have gathered some more information, so we should be fully prepared by then!
Thanks for all the advice given and i'll update when we have more info but i think in all honesty my mum is that fed up she'll just pay it, its more the way its been handled thats irritated us more, mum just told me a lady she spoke to was very curt and said well if you dont pay we'll just take you to court and have it taken from your wages! my mum was mortified, she's never even had an overdraft and hates 'owing money' anywhere!

dunstonh

The pension credits people will normally have a log of when new information was supplied and recorded. So, they should be able to verify when they were notified. If they got it and then didnt do anything with it then you have a stronger case. If they have no log recording that information was supplied then you have a weak case.

cabbage

Hi
I don't know if this helps and adds to your case but for pension credit, once you have been assessed you may go into a phase where they no longer need up to date details of your income, I think this is called the Assessed Income Period during this time, you only need to advise them of certain changes. Unfortunately, I can't find much info on line but found this link http://www.redcar-cleveland.gov.uk/main.nsf/Web+Full+List/519A61C884584B64802574E40052204A?OpenDocument which mentions changes to capital.

If this is the case, then the increased capital would not have an affect until the AIP finished. You could argue that if she was in a AIP she did not have to inform them of the increased capital?

As I said, unfortunately, I can't find alot of info on line about this and there are certain changes you need to let them know about but it might be worth looking into at CAB/Welfare Rights.

anmarj

cabbage wrote: »

Hi
I don't know if this helps and adds to your case but for pension credit, once you have been assessed you may go into a phase where they no longer need up to date details of your income, I think this is called the Assessed Income Period during this time, you only need to advise them of certain changes. Unfortunately, I can't find much info on line but found this link http://www.redcar-cleveland.gov.uk/main.nsf/Web+Full+List/519A61C884584B64802574E40052204A?OpenDocument which mentions changes to capital.

If this is the case, then the increased capital would not have an affect until the AIP finished. You could argue that if she was in a AIP she did not have to inform them of the increased capital?

As I said, unfortunately, I can't find alot of info on line about this and there are certain changes you need to let them know about but it might be worth looking into at CAB/Welfare Rights.

should point out that moving to a care home is a life changing event and such the AIP would of ended when she moved to the care home, if it had been disclosed on the review forms then a new AIP would not of been set as she had a reportable change due, so the arguement of an AIP is useless

anmarj

Brodiebobs wrote: »

Then she said every year they sent out a form to check her circumstances and the people in the home had to sign this to verify she was alive(!?) and she thinks they had to write in this how the home was being paid for.

if an AIP was set then a form would not been sent every year and they would not of asked to verify that she was still alive. Your gran more than likely have had an AIP set which would of stopped on her admission to the care home, when a form would of been completed. The only thing I can possibly think it might be, is was your gran in recepit of AA? They might of asked for a review every year to assess her need for AA, but could be wrong.