Attendance Allowance

bryanb

Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »

- means .. .. .. imaginary, speculative or theoretical, not "ie she should be getting it."
- it's in fact £64.40 and the lady gets £73.20
- that's a notional increase of £8.80pw for her and £16.41pw for him

Many events including the £9.55pw annuity [fixed fluctuating or terminating] can change, this can cause the closing value of their joint benefits to be bigger or smaller than they would otherwise be.

The current track record of this man

means it's entirely possible the taxman will come after the difference in the following tax year.

Sorry, but the lady has assured us she DOES NOT get any state pension. She is 66 years of age.

flossy_splodge

shellieboo wrote: »

Ta, I keep saying I dont get a state pension. If I was entitled they would have given it to me 6 years ago when I was 60.
Im going to phone that link to see if I can get one from my husband. If they allow me one will it go back to when I was 65

I understand how you THINK it works, but take it from me, you have to CLAIM it to get it.
They do not automatically say 'hey, here's some money you're entitled to'. You have to ask for it.
And NO, it is NOT rude to ask for it rather than ask 'if' you're entitled.
Too many government departments are manned by inexperienced staff who will give you any old answer. If you ask how much, rather than 'if' they will have to find out and tell you.
Try that web link I gave you.
Also please note the info others have given you. Your pension is YOURS, not anyone elses. If you do not have entitlement to a full pension due to not having paid enough stamps they will tell you and then ask about your husband to see if you can be topped up via HIS contributions. Please phone them or try the link!

kazzah60

I REALLY think the OP should contact her local AgeUK office- they have recently won a LOT of lottery funding for projects and our local office in Coventry has money advice people, advocacy people etc etc

I am sure all branches will be similar and I do think at this current time they will be in the best position to help the OP sort out her fincances.

shellieboo

Well I took the plunge and went to see the ageconcen. They couldnt do much other than to say to do another claim. I have an appointment to go down again next week and they will help me.
I got a lecture off them about what I did but they blamed the government for not realising that something was going wrong and that they should have asked me what exactly was happening.
But there isnt much that can be done now.
They were unhappy about what I had said to the government that I didnt want the DLA anymore because I wasnt entitled to it. They fear that it will be used against me again as well as the last allowance claim fail.

They looked at the pension credit papers I took for the past 8 years and for the past 6 years it was showing that I was receiving a state pension which I wasnt. When I got home the pension credit people telephoned me to find out what I was complaining to ageconcern about. They told me that I hadnt claimed my state pension when I should have so they had to assume that I was getting it which I wasnt. They told me that I should have been receiving a state pension because of my credits for the past 6 years.

Then I had a telephone call of the government pension people who told me that I have been missing out on my state pension and should have claimed it 6 years ago. So they are sending me a claim for it to start now.

If everybody is saying that Ive been getting my pension for 6 years but havent will they give me some back pay for those years or have I lost it?

Its so confusing I just wish I didnt have to claim any of this lot how am I supposed to know what to do nobody tells me nobody telephones me nobody writes to me.

kazzah60

unfortunately Shellie- this is the way of the world now
no-one will EVER knock on your door and advise you of what you are entitled to, the onus is on you to be pro-active in finding out what you are entitled to and applying for it-the relevent department will soon turn you down if you aren't entitled

I really don't know why you were confused about claiming your state old age pension - in my experience almost everyone nearing claming age knows that they need to claim it.

SandraScarlett

shellieboo wrote: »

Hi I hope I am at the right place to ask this question.

I'm a 66 year old woman and I seem to have got myself into a right pickle.

Up until when I was 65 I used to have DLA at the higher for mobility and middle for care.I had that since 1993 and had quite a few reviews until 2005 when they gave them to me indefinitely.
I honestly believed that when you get to 65 you can't have DLA and must claim Attendance Allowance instead
I checked it out with the jobcentre and they said that DLA is for under 65's and Attendance Allowance for over 65's.
So I telephoned and wrote to Blackpool telling them that I wanted to change. They sent me a form to fill in which I sent back with a letter saying that Attendance Allowance is what I want to claim.
I filled out a AA1 I think it was called. They refused the claim so I appealed. I went to court last November and they said I couldn't have it either. The judge asked me why I had applied for it so I told him. He said I should have not cancelled the DLA claim??????
The short and long of all of this is that the DWP told the court and had all my letters that I said that I didn't want DLA anymore.

I sent reports from the physio and the lady that comes round from Social Services to make sure I'm alright and she is the one that said I needed all of the equipment they put in for me.
When I told her what happened she said that the DWP would use me telling them that I didn't want DLA anymore against me.
Apart from having to fill out another form and sending in the same evidence what else can I do? Surely the DWP can't hold me giving up my DLA against me as I am severely disabled and have been for many years.

Dear Sirs

NI NO: 1234567

From 1993 until the 17 November 2012 (insert correct date here) I was in receipt of DLA for Higher Rate Mobility and Middle Rate Care. When I became 65, on the 18 November 2012 (insert correct date here) I was under the impression, wrongly, that at the age of 65, it was necessary to change from DLA to Attendance Allowance.

In order to be sure, I telephoned the Job Centre, explained my query, and was told that DLA was only for under 65s. At no time did they say "but as you've been getting DLA, you can stay on it". Knowing that you record telephone calls, this can be easily verified by yourselves.

I was also given the impression that the rates would be the same and only the name of the allowance would change, which I now find to be completely wrong.

I am severely disabled with ******* which is why I have been receiving DLA for 20 years, and it was granted indefinitely in 2005. Its removal is causing me extreme hardship and discomfort, and is also affecting my mental health and stability as I am worrying so much.

Although many people seem to know exactly what benefits they are entitled to, I do not, nor do I understand the rules. In fact, I have now been informed by friends, that I should have been claiming my State Retirement Pension since my 60th birthday - something else which I did not know.

Would you please reinstate my DLA, as I feel I am being punished by not being aware of the rules, and led astray by the ambiguous advice given by the job centre. If required, full details of my illness can be obtained by yourselves from both my GP and my physiotherapist.

Thank you.

Yours faithfully

Mrs ShellieBoo

************************************

HTH

xx

shellieboo

kazzah60 wrote: »

unfortunately Shellie- this is the way of the world now
no-one will EVER knock on your door and advise you of what you are entitled to, the onus is on you to be pro-active in finding out what you are entitled to and applying for it-the relevent department will soon turn you down if you aren't entitled

I really don't know why you were confused about claiming your state old age pension - in my experience almost everyone nearing claming age knows that they need to claim it.

Ta,
It looks like that.Those that dont know suffer and those that know how to play the system win. I didnt claim a state pension because I didnt know there was one for me. Yes I know when you get to 60 you can have it but whats the point knowing that it if you didnt know it was there. I havent worked that much not enough for a pension i thought.I just thought that if you were going to get one they would somehow pay it to you.

mark55man

good luck with this claim over the next few weeks, I hope you can let us all know how it is getting on

remember you are fighting for quite a lot of money now and in the future and use that thought to stiffen your resolve if you get weary of being mucked around

you should make the most use of the charities who are there to help you, but you will need to keep it ticking along. if writing one letter a week doesn't get you anywhere try writing two - from the film the shawshank redemption !.

have you thought of involving your MP - especially if he/she is not Conservative, but even so. if it happens to be Ian Duncan Smith maybe don't bother!!

margaretclare

As I understand it, a person getting DLA before age 65 continues to get it afterwards, it doesn't have to change to AA. If you apply for the first time after age 65, however, AA is what's available, not DLA. The criteria are different for these 2, but if you were getting it before then it will carry on.

That said...

OP, you keep saying that you didn't know there was such a thing as a state retirement pension. With all due respect, which planet have you been living on? I've never met another person in the UK who didn't know that SRP exists, that you've been paying for it these many years in your National Insurance contributions, even if the age for receiving it has changed.

The point about your husband is that if you don't make these contributions for yourself then you can claim 60% of what he gets, when he reaches retirement age. Your former husband would only be relevant if you were divorced or widowed and hadn't remarried.

HTH

Torry_Quine

margaretclare wrote: »

As I understand it, a person getting DLA before age 65 continues to get it afterwards, it doesn't have to change to AA. If you apply for the first time after age 65, however, AA is what's available, not DLA. The criteria are different for these 2, but if you were getting it before then it will carry on.

That said...

OP, you keep saying that you didn't know there was such a thing as a state retirement pension. With all due respect, which planet have you been living on? I've never met another person in the UK who didn't know that SRP exists, that you've been paying for it these many years in your National Insurance contributions, even if the age for receiving it has changed.

The point about your husband is that if you don't make these contributions for yourself then you can claim 60% of what he gets, when he reaches retirement age. Your former husband would only be relevant if you were divorced or widowed and hadn't remarried.

HTH

Slightly harsh. She didn't know that she was entitled to a state pension as she hadn't been paying NI contributions herself. I'm sure that many women are in the same position!

As to the AA/DLA situation she asked about it and was sadly given the wrong information.

Hopefully she will get this sorted and possibly others will learn from it.