Confusedagain.com

gorgeousgeorge

Partner over 60 has been claiming JSA(c) since december, nothing is claimed for me, we have been living off of savings, he put in a claim for pension credits for us as a couple which we heard would be a top up on top of his JSA(c). Still havent received anything from pension credits, so we have just rung them, and was told that he couldnt claim both?? whereas when i made enquiries into it before I was told it would be a top up until his JSA(c) came to an end, then pension credits would pay the full amount to us.......getting fed up of being told 2 different things :mad: We have just been given a small amount of housing benefit based on his JSA, my part time earnings, and my childrens earnings.

Does anyone know if pension credits do top up on top of JSA or not?

KeaneFan10

Hi i found this information
Pension Credit (PC)

PC is replacing IS/JSA-I for people aged 60 or over from October 2003. However:

• Men on JSA-I aged between 60 and 65 can choose between JSA-I & PC.
• If claimant is 60 or over but partner is under 60, they can choose between IS/JSA-I and PC. i.e. the person under 60 could claim IS/JSA-I.

Note: When choosing which benefit to claim a person should be aware of the different rules for each benefit to ensure that they will be better off. They should therefore seek advice.
PC does not include an amount for children so CTC should also be claimed if relevant.

gorgeousgeorge

Hi, thanks for that, but i had already seen that, the job centre will want my partner to go on Pension Credits when his JSA contribution based runs out , but what i want to know is do pension credits top up the JSA contribution based?

KeaneFan10

Sorry i cannot post a link but this is what it states ....
Who can get Jobseeker's Allowance?

To get Jobseeker's Allowance you must be:

• available for and actively seeking work
• between 18 and State Pension age
• working less than 16 hours per week on average

Jobseeker's Allowance isn't normally paid to 16 or 17 year olds, except in special cases.
If you’re a man aged 60 to 64, you may be better off claiming Pension Credit. Contact Jobcentre Plus for advice.


So from what i gather is a not you either claim one or the other no top ups

gorgeousgeorge

Thanks for this, but it really still isnt a lot of help to us at the moment, when i have been onto the entitledto calculator and put in all our details, it shows that we should be entitled to pension credits of about £66 as a couple on top of what we have coming in i.e jsa (c) small army pension and my wages of £30.

KeaneFan10

The law states a couple need to live on just over a £100 a week (someone quote me if i am wrong) so from what you state here seems you get this with what you have, do you have children and if so do you get child tax credits and help with housing costs ?

gorgeousgeorge

As i said partner is over 60, I am 44. He gets £57 jsa (c) £60 army pension, £30 from my wages total £147. Disregard £10 of my earnings, total £137, law states that anyone over 60 ( with partner being under 60 ) is entitled to £202.40 a week.
Yes I have to grown up children, both who work, and thats why we only get a small amount of H/B & C/T as its based on their wages. We still have to pay £95 rent & £11 c/t a week.

anmarj

yes Pension credit can be paid as well as JSA (c) if that is what he is on. he would be paid clerically as the two benefits conflict with each other. the only thing i can think of is that he may have an elememt of jsa (IB) which would disqualify him from claiming pension credit at the same time. the other thing is that the age for claiming PC is rising with womans age from 6 april 2010, so how far over 60 is he?

gorgeousgeorge

Hi, he is 61,( 62 in May), he put in a claim for Pension Credits in late February for the both of us, and both of our bank statements, savings etc details were sent in to them. When he first made the claim for Pension Credits, they said he could backdate it to dec 7th 2009. The date he 1st claimed JSA (c) there is no element of JSA (ib) he never claimed for me.

suelees1

I remember seeing your earlier posts. You must be getting so frustrated.

And KeaneFan10 - no that's wrong for those over 60. I can't remember exact new rates since they went up a couple of weeks ago but it's around £200 pw for a couple (sorry just gone back and noticed gorgeousgeorge has given the rate of 202.40)

The Pension Service are really behind with processing and are taking weeks and weeks but that's no help to you. I'd ring up and ask for a manager to call you back and also put in an official complaint to their Customer Services section also asking for an ex gratia payment for the stress and worry caused by the delay. I'd normally say speak to your MP but you can't now Parliament has been dissolved.

NASA_2

I'm pretty sure that JSA cannot be paid at the same time as Pension Credit. Surely it would would be easier just to stop the JSA claim as no financial loss would be felt.