Help with getting my head round my mums pension

sleepless_saver

Quickest thing to do is to phone the Pension Service and ask them to explain it. You could ask them to send a copy of her most recent award letter too if you cannot find it (usually sent out in March of each year).

You will need your mother to be there too so that she can give her consent for them to speak to you. You don't need PoA for this, though it's useful to have anyway.

greenglide

Just because one brother doesn't live locally is no reason why both shouldn't power of attorney allowing either to act. Both my brother and I have POA for our mother and my wife and I both have POA for my mother in law. It costs no extra.

The figures struck me as odd. Did the late father not have a full state pension?

Or did mother have a full pension of her own so that she only inherited SERPS/S2P?

Even if she had inherited SERPS / S2P / GRAD it would be paid as her entitlement so would always have her NINO on the payment.

seven-day-weekend

The payment ending with PC is Pension Credit.

The other two are State Pension but appear to be for two different National Insurance Numbers.

If she lives alone Pension Credit will make her income up to £148.35.

It seems to me as though she is getting far too much Pension Credit.

Ring the Pension Service and sort it out asap.

sleepless_saver

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

It seems to me as though she is getting far too much Pension Credit.

Ring the Pension Service and sort it out asap.

Not necessarily too much, she could be getting savings pension credit on top of guarantee pension credit. A call to the Pension Service is definitely needed though.