Receipt of : Guaranteed Pension Credit = income & capital are ignored = full CTR ?

Rick_Harmer

Hello, I wonder if somebody can please qualify or confirm the following statement and provide a layman's definition of what a "passport to benefits actually means"?

If you get the guarantee credit part of Pension Credit, your income and capital are ignored and you will get full CTR

Link removed to CAB Statment as new user its not allowed.

My story is:
My Mum Aged 76 is / or was in receipt of the guarantee credit part of Pension Credit
it was only a small amount something like £12

Yet two years ago mum got a massive bill from council asking for repayments of overpayment of benefits CTR and HB and she was in a dreadful state, stressed and very very upset.

I took her to Citizens Advice with bundles of paperwork from the council and the adviser told us as MUM has the guarantee credit part of Pension Credit she has a PASSPORT to a host of benefits and that we should have never been sent any demands for repayments.

long story short :
Mums Capital had actually gone over the £16'000 threshold due to a cancelled holiday and they just happened to ask her for all her ISA and capital statements around the same time.on that occasion the Council had to juggle all their figures and write off the loin share of their claims..

HOWEVER:
In July this year (2017) the DWP have again asked mum for Statements of Capital and then withdrawn the guarantee credit part of Pension Credit and suggested that MUM now owes them overpayments dating right back to July 2016 ! to top this off we had to get everything Scanned twice, once for the council and once for the DWP ?

WHAT ARE GOVERNMENT EMAIL ACCOUNTS AND I.T systems FOR ?
and why can't they just both use the same set of scanned documents?

We have been told twice on different occasions by the C.A.B that income and capital are ignored and you will get full CTR and some H.B.
And we was also told this same statement that at the COUNCIL Offies by the adviser !

So my questions are..

A. As my mum has this so called Passport to benefits why have they withdrawn it?
B If your income and capital are ignored and you will get full CTR why have they again asked her for full statements of Capital
C. why have they withdrawn the guarantee credit her income has not raised (other than bonus payments on isa's).
D. how can I get a firm Definite Answer to these questions and perhaps take it to an Appeal

In the mean while My mums is facing paying back close to £5000 or is it £2000 ?
Yes we have two sets data from the council and sums don't equal to the same info I was given in an email from the Benefits Officer after using software to adjust for Diminution of Capital.

Mum is worried to death that they think she is a crook and is at risk of losing her council flat. yet again they seem to give her some very misleading information.

Without current Access to all her files at home.
I est.
from memory her state pension + a small Sainsbury Pension equal approx. £145 per week.. Her Capital has actually floated from 15k up to 18.5k over the last 12/15 months..

OH question E

E. how long has the Capital lower and higher limits been capped at £10k and £16k ?
I've been told this is about 20years at the same level .. if this is true its a scandal because
£16'000 in 1997 was worth a lot more than it is in 2017 Y/N

thank you for reading..

poppy12345

I'm not sure why you thought that capital is ignored? Anything over £10,000 and it affects it £1 for every £500. Over £16,000 and it stops completely.

Icequeen99

poppy12345 wrote: »

I'm not sure why you thought that capital is ignored? Anything over £10,000 and it affects it £1 for every £500. Over £16,000 and it stops completely.

That's not correct for pension credit. There is not upper limit - so if you have savings of £20,000 then you have tariff income added to your weekly income but if that results in some GPC then you will passport through to Council Tax normally.

OP - you need to work out whether the rise in capital has put your Mum over the GPC limit.

I think you have misunderstood what you have been told possibly - the passport is from GPC to full HB and CTR. But GPC takes into account capital on a tariff basis - for every £500 or part £500 over £10,000, £1 is added to your weekly income figure.

IQ

xylophone

write off the loin share of their claims..

Their pound of flesh?:eek:

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/fs48_pension_credit_fcs.pdf may be worth a read.

Rick_Harmer

“
"I'm not sure why you thought that capital is ignored? Anything over £10,000 and it affects it £1 for every £500. Over £16,000 and it stops completely."
Originally posted by poppy12345

believe I understand them Figures..
This is why it's confusing : Citizens Advice states from their web site and in person

If you get the guarantee credit part of Pension Credit, your income and capital are ignored and you will get full CTR

Even after we dealt with DWP 1st time around we was told that the Pension Credit was a passport to help with dental care and other stuff plus the upper limit no longer applied to her savings or capital figures.. I clearing remember this and said its bizarre ..

sheramber

details here http://www.rights4seniors.net/content/guarantee-credit with a calculator you can use to check it it is due.

CAB have given the wrong information or it was misunderstood.

Rick_Harmer

Icequeen99 wrote: »

That's not correct for pension credit. There is not upper limit - so if you have savings of £20,000 then you have tariff income added to your weekly income but if that results in some GPC then you will passport through to Council Tax normally.

OP - you need to work out whether the rise in capital has put your Mum over the GPC limit.

I think you have misunderstood what you have been told possibly - the passport is from GPC to full HB and CTR. But GPC takes into account capital on a tariff basis - for every £500 or part £500 over £10,000, £1 is added to your weekly income figure.

IQ

can you please confirm GPC (meaning) = guaranteed Pension Credit
Mums Capital went up to £18.600
she had a small amount of guaranteed Pension Credit Estimate (£9 0r maybe £12).

Rick_Harmer

xylophone wrote: »

Their pound of flesh?:eek:

ageuk org uk
may be worth a read.

The part that catches my eye is :

Changes you do not have to report in an AIP
During an AIP, you do not have to tell the Pension Service about
changes in your ‘retirement provision’, which is defined as:
 capital
 occupational, personal, private, stakeholder and overseas pensions
 payments from an equity release scheme
 annuities
 payments from the Financial Assistance Scheme or Pension Protection
Fund.

Note
If you receive Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Support from your
local authority and you receive only the Savings Credit part of PC,
you need to tell the local authority if your savings go over £16,000 –
whether or not you have an AIP. You may no longer be entitled to
Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Support.
Increases in your income and capital in an AIP
During an AIP, adjustments are made for any regular increases to your
State Pension and private pensions. For example, if your occupational
pension increases each April in line with inflation, The Pension Service
makes an adjustment for this automatically.
Other increases in your retirement provision (such as a Premium Bond
win or an inheritance) do not affect your PC entitlement while your AIP
continues and do not have to be reported.

can someone expand what is AIP (meaning)?
thank you

xylophone

AIP (meaning)?

Assessed Income Period. See p24 of Age UK link.

Rick_Harmer

sheramber wrote: »

details here R E M O V E D L I N K with a calculator you can use to check it it is due.

CAB have given the wrong information or it was misunderstood.

MUM is 76 years old please see following info:

Do I need to tell you if my circumstances change?

If you are 65 or over and get Pension Credit, you may not have to let us know of
changes to how you fund your retirement for a set period of time - for example
changes to your savings investments and occupational or personal pensions. This
is called an ‘Assessed Income Period’ and can last for up to five years. If you are
over 75, there is no time limit.
If you do not have an assessed income period, you should tell us of any changes
in your circumstances.
Even if you have an assessed income period, you should tell us straight away
about changes other than how you are funding your retirement

From Same gov Fact sheet:
If you are aged over 75 and have an AIP with no end date, it will remain in place
until your household circumstances change, for example if you move into a care
home or if you become a member of a couple.

When your AIP ends you will need to tell us about any change to your
circumstances, including pensions.

---

I think My question now is to search Mums Paperwork and find out from award letter/s
if she had a END DATE ...because the gov seem to have moved the goal posts on the end dates ...

if the letter does not state an END DATE... We need to appeal I guess...

xylophone

You are sure that your mother had an AIP?