ESA stopping now about to get State Pension

Monobloc

Hi,
My wife gets her State Pension in March.She currently receives CB ESA in the support group.I know the ESA benefit will stop when the State Pension begins.She has had a letter from DWP saying that they will pay her pension into the same Post Office account that her ESA was paid into.Does she need to inform DWP about her impending pension,or will the changeover happen automatically.Did try phoning DWP about this,but gave up after hanging on for ages on a 0845 number.

[Deleted User]

if you want to make sure just call into your local job centre plus

cheekyweegit

Hi there,

Whilst your wife's ESA will stop automatically when she reaches State Pension Age, she will still need to make a claim herself for her State Pension.

The reason for this is some people even if on benefits before hand like to defer their State Pension for various lengths of time so they can have a lump sum payment (minimum 1 year if you would like interest on it).

They often have work place pension which kick in giving their income the little boost allowing the deferral of the State Pension to take place.

To claim her State Pension ask her to call 0800 731 7898 choosing Option 1 (option 2 is for change of circumstances).

Oh if she wants to claim it from her actual retirement date, she can put her claim in now so everything is hopefully up and running for her retirement date the the change over of where her money comes from.

Hope this helps.

Monobloc

Thanks,Cheekyweegit and Woodbine for your advice.

midnight_express

You are supposed to claim the pension three to four months before your retirement date.

Murphybear

I am in exactly the same situation as the OP's wife.

I currently claim ESA and my retirement pension starts on 6th March.

The DWP wrote to me in November last year to confirm my pension date and said they would send further details by 20th February and I didn't need to contact them about it unless I wanted to defer the state pension.

I have received a letter from them with all the details including a complete breakdown of the basic pension and all the "extra" pensions. They confirmed that it would be paid into the same account that I receive my ESA payments and the same frequency.

So I didn't have to claim my state pension, they did it all for me.

Hope this helps