Pensions/savings?

David5690

Hi all

My Mother recently passed away, leaving £22,000 in savings. I am the excutor of the estate and will split the money three ways with my two brothers and myself.

I just got a letter from the Department of Work and Pensions stating they need info on my mothers savings. My mother claimed a state pension and I have no idea if she could have had these savings along with a state pension.

A lot of the balance was accumulated by the pension money anyhow. I dont know what to expect when I send the form in with the particulars they require.

Anyone have any idea regarding this matter and what I should expect to hear from the DWP.

Thanks David:beer:

sleepless_saver

She could have the savings with a state pension and there would be no problem, as the state pension is not affected by any savings you have. However if DWP are interested, it sounds like she may have been receiving pension credit. This is affected by savings. DWP will want to see if they have overpaid pension credit, e.g. if she had not told them about her savings when she was last assessed. If so then DWP would want the overpayment back.

It does not matter where the savings came from.

David5690

sleepless_saver wrote: »

She could have the savings with a state pension and there would be no problem, as the state pension is not affected by any savings you have. However if DWP are interested, it sounds like she may have been receiving pension credit. This is affected by savings. DWP will want to see if they have overpaid pension credit, e.g. if she had not told them about her savings when she was last assessed. If so then DWP would want the overpayment back.

It does not matter where the savings came from.

Thanks for the reply,

I noticed on her bank statement she was receiving £192.76 per week. I noticed on the pension credit website the standard is £137.35 so I think it looks like I'm going to have to pay £55.41 x how long she was claiming for, if you are correct with the assesment she had which I think thats probably the most likely reason I got this letter.

Dave.

bilbo51

Just as a matter of interest (my mum died just before Christmas last year) I ran through this calculator:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Pensionsandretirementplanning/PensionCredit/DG_180167?PRO=articletest&CRE=top

I was just amazed to see how many different benefits are available.

sleepless_saver

David5690 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply,

I noticed on her bank statement she was receiving £192.76 per week. I noticed on the pension credit website the standard is £137.35 so I think it looks like I'm going to have to pay £55.41 x how long she was claiming for, if you are correct with the assesment she had which I think thats probably the most likely reason I got this letter.

Dave.

From the bank statement you can't tell how much is state pension and how much pension credit, so you can't really estimate the overpayment. She was probably getting some state pension which the pension credit topped up. Plus her state pension+pension credit entitlement may have been more than the £137 (e.g. due to getting attendance allowance, a small occupational pension, or savings). So you would really need to look at her last annual statement from the pension service which breaks down what she gets. Even that would only be a rough guide, as you'd need to work out her actual entitlement e.g. using entitledto.co.uk.

ETA: Light bulb moment! The maximum overpayment is the amount of income they assume she has from the savings. This year they ignore the first £10000 and assume £1 per week for each £500 of savings. So on the basis of current figures, they would assume she had an income of £24 a week from her £22k, so that is the maximum she could have been overpaid if she had not declared the savings. (They ignored less money in earlier years, maybe £6000 I'm not sure, so that would be £32 per week assumed income, so a max overpayment of £32).

David5690

sleepless_saver wrote: »

She might have been entitled to more pension credit than the £137.35 e.g if she had some savings or a small occupational pension, or if she was getting attendance allowance. So your figure of £55.41 is probably the maximum overpayment possible.

I'll just send all the info they need and just let them do what they have to do.

Thanks for your replies, I feel a have little bit more insight than I had about an hour ago and what to expect.

Cheers Dave:beer:

David5690

sleepless_saver wrote: »

From the bank statement you can't tell how much is state pension and how much pension credit, so you can't really estimate the overpayment. She was probably getting some state pension which the pension credit topped up. Plus her state pension+pension credit entitlement may have been more than the £137 (e.g. due to getting attendance allowance, a small occupational pension, or savings). So you would really need to look at her last annual statement from the pension service which breaks down what she gets. Even that would only be a rough guide, as you'd need to work out her actual entitlement e.g. using entitledto.co.uk.

ETA: Light bulb moment! The maximum overpayment is the amount of income they assume she has from the savings. This year they ignore the first £10000 and assume £1 per week for each £500 of savings. So on the basis of current figures, they would assume she had an income of £24 a week from her £22k, so that is the maximum she could have been overpaid if she had not declared the savings. (They ignored less money in earlier years, maybe £6000 I'm not sure, so that would be £32 per week assumed income, so a max overpayment of £32).

Hey, just noticed your Edit to Add:money:;

Thanks, this gives me a clue of what to expect. Lets hope the time of the over payment doesn't run into many years as it could be a huge chunk out of my mothers estate.

Thanks Dave.