Can someone help me re pension credits/pensions

sitcom123

Hi just wondering if anyone can help me a little on what benefits my MIL may or may not be entitled to. I have no idea about any of it and she wont let me get in touch with anyone in any of the benefit offices in case she owes money out!!!! So I have told her I will try to find out myself first. So...

She lives alone in a council flat & is 73yrs old
She gets £136 in total which consists of state pension/late husband pension/and a pension credit
She has no savings really less than £500
She gets a rebate for part of her council rent and council tax.

Is that all she is entitled to?? how do people get the full rent paid? is there a limit of how much you receive and if so what is it?

I would just like to make things a little easier for her as she gets older and if she can get all of her rent/council tax paid I know that would be a big help to her but I am not sure how I work it all out

karenx

For getting all rent paid it depends on income and also what their LHA rate is. Try looking here https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/Secure/LHARateSearch.aspx?SearchType=PostCode and it will tell you max payable assuming they are entitled to full rate paid.

pebbles88

you could try entitledto.co.uk or the online benefits advisor at direct.gov. it may also be worth seeing if your local authority has a welfare rights dept as they could advise also.

its lovely of you to check for her, i smiled at you saying she was worried she may owe some money, thats exactly the same as my mam!!

good luck

Oldernotwiser

karenx wrote: »

For getting all rent paid it depends on income and also what their LHA rate is. Try looking here https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/Secure/LHARateSearch.aspx?SearchType=PostCode and it will tell you max payable assuming they are entitled to full rate paid.

LHA isn't applicable for council accommodation.

alwaysonthego_2

If she is getting guaranteed pension credits she should get full HB/CTB regardless of her savings/income.

sitcom123

I am not sure if she is getting guaranteed pension credit or saving pension credits and I really dont know what the difference is between them

meg72

sitcom123 wrote: »

I am not sure if she is getting guaranteed pension credit or saving pension credits and I really dont know what the difference is between them

As I understand it. Guaranteed pension credit means you have been assessed as
having not enough savings to make a difference, you then get full housing and council tax benefit. Savings credit mean that you have quite a bit and do get some extra Pension for this but do not qualify for full housing and council tax rebate.

I think its important to ask just which one she is on.

sitcom123

I would imaging it will be guaranteed savings then as she only has around £500 in savings

alwaysonthego_2

meg72 wrote: »

As I understand it. Guaranteed pension credit means you have been assessed as
having not enough savings to make a difference, you then get full housing and council tax benefit. Savings credit mean that you have quite a bit and do get some extra Pension for this but do not qualify for full housing and council tax rebate.

I think its important to ask just which one she is on.

Guaranteed PCs look at income aswell, not just savings (only over £10,000).

She is possibly geting GPCs if her income is only £100 from pensions.

anmarj

to obtain Guaranteed credit, her combined income of state pension and husbands pension needs to be less than £132.50 (current rate) per week if this is over this amount then she would not be getting the GC but the savings credit element only. If she is getting the savings credit only then is not entitled to full help on council tax/rent, this would be taken into account as income for their assessment and awarded accordinly. If she is getting a rebate for part of her rent and council tax, then I would assume she is on the savings credit element only therefore not eleigble for full help with these

sitcom123

anmarj wrote: »

to obtain Guaranteed credit, her combined income of state pension and husbands pension needs to be less than £132.50 (current rate) per week if this is over this amount then she would not be getting the GC but the savings credit element only. If she is getting the savings credit only then is not entitled to full help on council tax/rent, this would be taken into account as income for their assessment and awarded accordinly. If she is getting a rebate for part of her rent and council tax, then I would assume she is on the savings credit element only therefore not eleigble for full help with these

she must be getting savings credit then as her combined income from both pensions is £136 and she only gets part of her rent paid. The savings credit she gets is £13per week she is most concerned that she may not have declared it to the rent office when she first got it, and is therefore not really entitled to get the partial rent paid. She is worrying herself sick now she has declared it 2 years on that she is going to be named and shamed in the papers, I have told her to see what comes back from the council as she has put it on this years form and we will take it from there I am almost sure that she would still get some kind of help with her rent surely if she wasnt getting the £13 pension credit or am i being naive??