had to resign at 64 , what now?

Londonsu

head_above_water wrote: »

Thanks for all your replies, I appreciate it. I have an appointment with the Union on Thursday as I was I seeing them anyway about the fact that had done nothing about my dermatitis. I will update them and go from there. My wife works, she is on a temporary contract until May after being made redundant in Jan. she earns £1,300 a month. I will contact step change but I am worried they will suggest becoming bankrupt as I will have no income. we have no savings apart from her redundancy which will tide us over for 3 months mortgage.

we have been thinking of selling the house to release some money and rent somewhere. we have never rented before and I am concerned about the credit check due to my step change agreements. its a shame as we have just 20 months left of a 25 year mortgage, we are up to date so maybe they will give us a break.

I am just so confused at the moment and don't know where to turn, I have never claimed a penny before i have worked since I was 16. i will look into pension credits, my wife had to go on JSA for 3 weeks before she had this temp job so she will know where to send me. Thanks again

NO DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT SELL YOUR HOUSE


Firstly if you are thinking of paying your rent with the equity how long will that last, you could find yourself having to find rent money at age 80 and at the mercy of a LL who could evict you at any time.


Also should you and your wife need to go into a care home, selling your house could be seen as deprivation of assets when it comes to care home fees.


Your best bet is Age Uk go onto their website and contact them, they are the best people to talk you through your options
http://www.ageuk.org.uk/

poppasmurf_bewdley

lld01 wrote: »

Financially none as PC will deduct the ESA as income pound-for-pound

So it seems as though BennieBerk is happy to accept payments from the Government and Taxpayer up to the value of the ESA/Pension Credit limit (and presumably full Council Tax Benefit/Housing Benefits) but someone else who wishes to accept Pension Credit only is morally reprehensible.

Talk about do as I say, not as I do!

benniebert

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

You thought wrong! When I was made redundant at the age of just over 60, I had the choice of JSA or Pension Credit. As PC was double that of JSA, plus my council tax was paid in full, it was a no-brainer. And that choice was written into law so was a perfectly acceptable decision to make - as it still is.

Whether you personally look on it as a moral decision is entirely up to you. If you have to make that decision soon, I look forward to seeing what choice you would make.

EDIT. Just seen your post above so it seems you were happy to take Pension Credit (and the payment of all your council tax). Back to the double standards again?

Not at all, I could have, like you, claimed Pension Credit only and receive the same money with no hassle. I could have claimed Income Based ESA if I wanted. However the right thing was to claim Contribution Based ESA as I was too sick to work and have Pension Credit top up our income. Income Based ESA/JSA would pay exactly the same as Pension Credit.
Under 65? you should claim ESA if you are too ill to work or JSA if you need a job. Claiming Pension Credit before State Retirement age is simply morally wrong in my opinion.


Incidentally the same level of Council Tax Benefit/Support would be given for all three benefits - so there is no advantage.

benniebert

lld01 wrote: »

Financially none as PC will deduct the ESA as income pound-for-pound

Thanks for your input.


So why not claim ESA/JSA instead is what I am asking?

benniebert

Londonsu wrote: »

NO DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT SELL YOUR HOUSE


Firstly if you are thinking of paying your rent with the equity how long will that last, you could find yourself having to find rent money at age 80 and at the mercy of a LL who could evict you at any time.


Also should you and your wife need to go into a care home, selling your house could be seen as deprivation of assets when it comes to care home fees.


Your best bet is Age Uk go onto their website and contact them, they are the best people to talk you through your options
http://www.ageuk.org.uk/

The question of selling or not will be taken out of their hands anyhow if they declare that they are bankrupt. The Official Receiver will want to recover the equity that the poster has for the benefit of their creditors.

poppasmurf_bewdley

benniebert wrote: »

So why not claim ESA/JSA instead is what I am asking?

Why? It is the same amount, and all comes from the same pot. And why should doing it your way be morally correct and doing it the other way morally wrong?

benniebert

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

So it seems as though BennieBerk is happy to accept payments from the Government and Taxpayer up to the value of the ESA/Pension Credit limit (and presumably full Council Tax Benefit/Housing Benefits) but someone else who wishes to accept Pension Credit only is morally reprehensible.

Talk about do as I say, not as I do!

Missing the point completely.


Claiming ESA and getting a top up with Pension Credit means that the claimant will have to undergo all that ESA involves - completing ESA50 forms, gathering evidence, assessments with ATOS, probably failing the assessment, preparing a submission and applying for a reconsideration, possible having to go to a Tribunal to get a final ruling on the claim. In the 5 years that I claimed ESA (60 - 65) I had to go twice to a tribunal to get the decisions overturned.


Claiming only Pension Credit would give the same amount of money but none of the hassle. You can sit back and watch the money roll in for no effort.


However being sick AND not having reached State Retirement age morally means claiming ESA and not taking the easy way out with Pension Credit.

Londonsu

benniebert wrote: »

The question of selling or not will be taken out of their hands anyhow if they declare that they are bankrupt. The Official Receiver will want to recover the equity that the poster has for the benefit of their creditors.

As I read it the OP was worried that step change may suggest it not that they are going to go down that route which is why I have suggested Age UK who are better able to help as they are specifically there for people over 55 and not just a generic Debt Charity like step change

poppasmurf_bewdley

benniebert wrote: »

Missing the point completely.


Claiming ESA and getting a top up with Pension Credit means that the claimant will have to undergo all that ESA involves - completing ESA50 forms, gathering evidence, assessments with ATOS, probably failing the assessment, preparing a submission and applying for a reconsideration, possible having to go to a Tribunal to get a final ruling on the claim. In the 5 years that I claimed ESA (60 - 65) I had to go twice to a tribunal to get the decisions overturned.


Claiming only Pension Credit would give the same amount of money but none of the hassle. You can sit back and watch the money roll in for no effort.


However being sick AND not having reached State Retirement age morally means claiming ESA and not taking the easy way out with Pension Credit.

So you are quite happy for someone who is sick (maybe with depression) to have to jump through hoops to get his or her money rather than get it in a simple, straightforward way?

benniebert

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

Why? It is the same amount, and all comes from the same pot. And why should doing it your way be morally correct and doing it the other way morally wrong?

Maybe people see that those claiming Pension Credit instead of JSA/ESA are taking the easy option and not taking there responsibilities seriously enough?


Being able to claim Pension Credit before the man reached State Retirement age, was a quirk in the system and was never the case for it to be used in that way.


Very shortly this quirk is to be removed thank goodness. Nobody under SR age will be allowed to claim Pension Credit - they will have to claim JSA/ESA under UC. Also even if one party of the relationship is over SR age and the other is not, then they will both have to claim ESA/JSA under UC until they are BOTH over SR age. It's been a long standing abuse of the system.