Benefit entitlement for widow?

OnlyMe_08

Hi

I'm hoping the good people here will be able to provide some help & advice into the scenario described below (for a family relative).

What benefits would a woman of 59 be entitled to, considering the below:

• she receives housing benefit and council tax reduction
• her bereavement allowance has recently ended, prompting the council to re-assess circumstances (leading to suspension of above)
• she does not work and hasn't for at least the past 10 years, as for past few years been caring for late husband no carer allowance was claimed)
• has no 'children', so cannot be considered as a single parent (she has grown up children)
• she's not a carer or disabled
• not actively seeking work, so will not qualify for JSA

She has in essence been dependent on late husband, being a 'housewife', who received state pension / pension credit.

She currently has savings of around £5000, but support could also temporarily come from her grown up offsprings.

So the question is, what benefits would she be entitled to and would her housing benefit / council tax be affected (in that would she still have a roof over her head)?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.


Thanks.

jacques_chirac

Is there a reason why she is not seeking work? The suitable benefit in her situation would be JSA, but she would need to be actively seeking work.

Dunroamin

As above.

She needs to be looking for work and can claim JSA until she finds a job.

pmlindyloo

She can still claim HB and CT reduction even if she does not claim JSA based on low income.

OnlyMe_08

Thanks all, it's what I thought in that income support would not be applicable due to not satisfying one of the eligibility criteria (lone parent), and JSA being the only option.

Problem is, she's not seeking work. I guess it's because she been out of it for quite a while, and was dependent on her late husband prior to his passing over a year ago.

So there are no implications to her HB and CT reduction if she simply declared that she has no income? Would the amount remain the same or increase? The ironic thing is, considering bereavement allowance has now ended, you would have thought the council would have just increased her HB/CTR amounts, but I guess it's part of their process to suspend and clarify income levels periodically?

McKneff

I cant see any reason why she cant actually start looking for work, many people do this and many companies employ older people.


Supermarket work, factory work, pub work, anything that she feels she could do.

Neelienew

OnlyMe_08 wrote: »

Thanks all, it's what I thought in that income support would not be applicable due to not satisfying one of the eligibility criteria (lone parent), and JSA being the only option.

Problem is, she's not seeking work. I guess it's because she been out of it for quite a while, and was dependent on her late husband prior to his passing over a year ago.

So there are no implications to her HB and CT reduction if she simply declared that she has no income? Would the amount remain the same or increase? The ironic thing is, considering bereavement allowance has now ended, you would have thought the council would have just increased her HB/CTR amounts, but I guess it's part of their process to suspend and clarify income levels periodically?

She would have to inform them of a change of income.
I assume she has another six years or so until she draws her State Pension. Best advice is for her to sign on for IB JSA.

Dunroamin

OnlyMe_08 wrote: »

Thanks all, it's what I thought in that income support would not be applicable due to not satisfying one of the eligibility criteria (lone parent), and JSA being the only option.

Problem is, she's not seeking work. I guess it's because she been out of it for quite a while, and was dependent on her late husband prior to his passing over a year ago.

So there are no implications to her HB and CT reduction if she simply declared that she has no income? Would the amount remain the same or increase? The ironic thing is, considering bereavement allowance has now ended, you would have thought the council would have just increased her HB/CTR amounts, but I guess it's part of their process to suspend and clarify income levels periodically?

What's she going to live on for the next six years if she doesn't work? £5k savings won't last long and she'd be silly to head into retirement having spent all her savings.

pmlindyloo

The bereavement allowance would have been counted as income for housing benefit and CT reduction purposes as it is based on NI contributions of her late husband.


Therefore she needs to inform the council of her change of circumstances. Her HB may increase but the maximum she will get is the local housing allowance for a one bed place (presuming she lives alone). Ditto for CT reduction.


I agree that she should consider claiming income based JSA as her NI contributions will be paid which will go towards her state pension and other benefits.

OnlyMe_08

Dunroamin wrote: »

What's she going to live on for the next six years if she doesn't work? £5k savings won't last long and she'd be silly to head into retirement having spent all her savings.

Why would you/she expect her HB to increase?

To answer your first point, financial assistance could come from her children. I guess she's got used to being a 'housewife' for quite some time.

To your second point, I assumed that HB/CTR is based on income, in this case bereavement allowance, so if she no longer have this as a source (and was the her only source of income), HB may increase?

Is eligibility for HB/CTR based on other benefits? If not, I guess she can continue as it is?

OnlyMe_08

pmlindyloo wrote: »

The bereavement allowance would have been counted as income for housing benefit and CT reduction purposes as it is based on NI contributions of her late husband.


Therefore she needs to inform the council of her change of circumstances. Her HB may increase but the maximum she will get is the local housing allowance for a one bed place (presuming she lives alone). Ditto for CT reduction.


I agree that she should consider claiming income based JSA as her NI contributions will be paid which will go towards her state pension and other benefits.

Thanks pmlindyloo.

Judging by your comments, if she declared no source of income at the moment, the council cannot further suspend her HB & CTR?

When she does reach SPA, will her entitlement also be based on NI contributions of her late husband, as well as her own?

I will discuss with her to explain the situation.

Thanks.