Pension credits and delaying retirement

allanm_2

I will be 65 in October and decided to get a pension forecast from the pension forcast web site.

Then I decided to put in various what if senarios.

For instance if I decided to delay my pension for a year I would get a lump sum equivalent to my years delayed pension plus £80 and the same pension.

Because of certain circumstances I left my work a year ago and as my wife and I had enough money to live off, her pension and I, a cashed in a private pension, I never bothered to sign on and claim unemployment benefit, if I was even entitled to it.

I did apply for and was given pension credits.

I have just had a letter from the pension credit service and as expected, my pension credit will end on the day before my 65th birthday, as they probably assume I will be claiming my state pension.

I do not envisage me delaying my state pension, after all, I could depart this world the day after my 65th birthday like one of my uncles, but I just wondered if I would have been still entitled to pension credits if I did delay taking my state pension?

redz

No. Your SP if you choose not to claim it will still be taken into account as notional income for PC purposes.

real1314

The term is "income available on application" - i.e you can apply for and will receive state pension, so they treat you as having it. It applies to almost any income, e.g private pensions too

anmarj

also, from April 2011, the legislation has been amend that Pension Credit is am exlcuded benefit for SP deferral in the same way that you cannot defer your state pension if you claim carers alllowance .ie if you SPA 20/4/11 and you receive Pension Credit and you do not take SP then you would be made to claim from the start of your entitlement and only receive any money due after a recovery is done.

allanm_2

After looking into deferring my state pension I cannot see any advantage to doing that anyway.

At least for someone who doesn't have a massive private pension or who doesn't want to work beyond retirement age.

Is this just another ploy by the government to make money by hoping that those who do defer their pension drop dead before they get the money?

allanm_2

You seriously can't be expecting to receive full PC at the same time as your SP is building up into a nice little lump sum after say 5 years? That way, you are obtaining an unfair advantage.

No, I just wondered.

Who knows how this crazy welfare system works? The only way to find out something is to ask.