Pension Credits rip off

xylophone

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Pensionsandretirementplanning/PensionCredit/DG_10018692?CID=furl-pensioncredit


I assume that as you are still working your joint weekly income is more than £209.70.

In fact as you expect £11000 per annum when you retire your joint weekly income will still be over £209.70.

margaretclare

bigfreddiel wrote: »

i'm not retired or near sp age - my partner gets her own sp in her own name and is only £102/week (approx) - when I reach sp age I get mine in my own name

Your partner gets full state pension then, earned on her own contributions. Well done that woman!

bigfreddiel

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

The purpose of PC is to make your total income up to

• £137.35 if you are single
• £209.70 if you have a partner

.

so the above statement is actually wrong then if you read the followups to my previous comments

fj

real1314

bigfreddiel wrote: »

so the above statement is actually wrong then if you read the followups to my previous comments

fj

No, it's quite right, although you could add the word "household" between "your" and "income" if you wanted to be pedantic. :cool:

seven-day-weekend

It's not wrong, I got it from the Governemt site!

The £209 is the income FOR A COUPLE - you , as a couple, would only be entitled to that amount from Pension Credit if your TOTAL income, from both of you, from other sources, was less than that.

margaretclare

bigfreddiel wrote: »

so the above statement is actually wrong then if you read the followups to my previous comments

fj

No, it's not wrong, because pension credit can't be claimed as an individual but as a household, a couple, a partnership if you like. *You* cannot claim pension credit on your own and neither can your partner.

Other forms of pension, you get on your own - your partner's SRP on her own. Means-tested benefits are assumed to be for a 'household' i.e. food is shared, heating costs, to help with those kind of things, so that nobody sinks below a certain standard of living.

xylophone

margaretclare wrote: »

No, it's not wrong, because pension credit can't be claimed as an individual but as a household, a couple, a partnership if you like. *You* cannot claim pension credit on your own and neither can your partner.

Other forms of pension, you get on your own - your partner's SRP on her own. Means-tested benefits are assumed to be for a 'household' i.e. food is shared, heating costs, to help with those kind of things, so that nobody sinks below a certain standard of living.

Not quite accurate - a pensioner not living with a partner can claim pension credit if he/she has a weekly income below £137.35.
http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/understanding-pension-credit - perhaps this explains it better.

margaretclare

xylophone wrote: »

Not quite accurate - a pensioner not living with a partner can claim pension credit if he/she has a weekly income below £137.35.
http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/understanding-pension-credit - perhaps this explains it better.

Well, a pensioner living alone IS a 'household'! Anyone who lives alone and has a house or flat to pay bills on is a household.

molerat

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

The purpose of PC is to make your total household income up to

• £137.35 if you are single
• £209.70 if you have a partner

• There we go

bigfreddiel

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Yes it is, so if the Pension goes up, the Pension Credit will go down.

The purpose of PC is to make your total income up to

• £137.35 if you are single
• £209.70 if you have a partner

and if you get ANY amount of PC, you will not have to pay any rent or Council Tax. Did the OP's friend mention that bit?


Doesn't sound like a bad deal to me.

hmmmmm.... no mention of household in the post I was commenting about - so seven-day-weekend was misleading us all - I alost thought my partner could be getting a nice little increase of £30 approx.

somehow i knew s-d-w was wrong

fj