Lose of Pension Credit/House Sale

jimopg

My mother aged 95 has been living in home which she owns and receiving guaranteed pension credit.
She has just moved into council own sheltered accommodation. During the application process with the council she has been advised she will start to receive housing benefit.(because she receives pension credit)

However I am concerned that when she sells her house she will no longer qualify for pension credit and therefore she will also lose housing benefit and council tax relief.

My questions are:
1.Am I right to assume she will lose both these benefits because she will have too much capital?
2.Would any loss of benefits take effect immediately after the house sale?
3.On losing all these benefits she will have to pay our around £800 /month to cover all the charges for sheltered accommodation.
If we do nothing then eventually here capital will go below £10000 and I assume she will be eligible again for benefits.
Would it be acceptable to use the money from her house sale to buy a flat to obtain a rental income.We could then fund her charges with a combination of remaining capital and rental income .

Any advise or comments would be appreciated.

Mojisola

jimopg wrote: »

Would it be acceptable to use the money from her house sale to buy a flat to obtain a rental income.We could then fund her charges with a combination of remaining capital and rental income.

As long as her bills are paid, no-one will be bothered where the money has come from.

fluffymovie

Most awards of PCGC are made up to a certain date (called an assessed income period), this means the Pension Service aren't interested in changes during this time so if your Mum has an AIP, she will retain PC. (I had a case once where a couple sold a house in Knightsbridge and received £500k. They remained on PCGC and we paid all their rent too!)

If she were to purchase a property, then it would be considered an asset for any means tested benefits and so she would still be ineligible fo rbenefit if not on an AIP.

lld01

Best thing is to give the pension service a quick call to confirm, but you'll likely find she has an AIP so the pension credit will not be affected at the moment.

If a "live event" occurs at a future date, however, such as a new partner or a move into a care home, this will prompt a full reassessment and it could then be taken into account.

xylophone

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/specialist-guides/technical-guidance/pc10s-guide-to-pension-credit/assessed-income-period/

When the assessed income period ends early

[Legislation 67]

An assessed income period will end before the planned date if your customer:

starts to be treated as a member of a couple
stops being treated as a member of a couple (for example, if their partner dies or goes permanently into a care home or they or their partner go into hospital for more than a year)
goes permanently into a care home
temporarily stops getting a pension or annuity, or the amount they get goes down temporarily (for example, payment of a pension from abroad stops because of problems in the country in question) and they ask for their Pension Credit to be recalculated,
is no longer entitled to Pension Credit.

Does this "sheltered accommodation" count for this? Might this be worth checking?

With regard to house sale etc, do you have POA?

If renting out property don't forget landlord responsibilities/ tax etc

https://www.gov.uk/browse/housing/landlords
https://www.gov.uk/renting-out-a-property/paying-tax
http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/domestic/faqlandlord.htm

anmarj

xylophone wrote: »

Does this "sheltered accommodation" count for this? Might this be worth checking?

no it does not affect the AIP

jimopg

Thank you for all the useful information.

I believe my mother aged 95 has an AIP and therefore from the feedback I have received it would seem that she will not lose her benefits within this AIP.
My problem is that I don't know what is her actual AIP .

I am concerned if I ask the pension dept to reconfirm her AIP this might cause problems if they want further information.
I am wrong to be concerned in requesting confirmtaion of her AIP?

Is there any other way of confirming her AIP?


Thank you.

anmarj

jimopg wrote: »

Thank you for all the useful information.

I believe my mother aged 95 has an AIP and therefore from the feedback I have received it would seem that she will not lose her benefits within this AIP.
My problem is that I don't know what is her actual AIP .

I am concerned if I ask the pension dept to reconfirm her AIP this might cause problems if they want further information.
I am wrong to be concerned in requesting confirmtaion of her AIP?

Is there any other way of confirming her AIP?


Thank you.

any award letter from DWP regarding the Pension Credit will mention the AIP. Can't remember the exact wording but should have something along the lines of "been awarded from xxx date with indication that the AIP would be never ending - ie no end date. (it changed in 2009 when the neverending AIP's was introduced for those that had AIP ending after April 2009 and were aged 80 or over at the time requiring no review). But the Pension Service can confirm (only to your mum over the phone or a letter can be sent out).

Mojisola

jimopg wrote: »

I am concerned if I ask the pension dept to reconfirm her AIP this might cause problems if they want further information.

I wouldn't worry about talking to the DWP. I had to do so when my mother inherited some money. She was worrying herself sick about it because she thought the DWP would demand lots of money back.

They were very helpful on the phone and agreed to send her a letter telling her that she was still entitled to all her benefits despite having the extra money because of the AIP.