Pension credit and Attendance Allowance

Dal_Whinnie

My sister in law is 70 and receives Attendance Allowance (AA) as she is virtually totally paralysed following contracting Guillain–Barr! syndrome. Talking to her husband the other day he was saying they can't claim Pension Credit because the amount of AA they would lose would be more than the pension Credit they would receive. My understanding is that the AA is a fixed amount so I cannot see how he can be correct but does being in receipt of AA impact the right to receive any other benefits?

pmlindyloo

AA is a non means tested benefit and does not count as income for Pension Credit.

Can you put their details into a benefit calculator to see what benefits they may be eligible for?

Try https://www.entitledto.co.uk

If this isn't possible they can contact AgeUK for help. If there is a local AGeUK they will do home visits.

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/services/age-uk-advice-line/

You will need to know what income and savings they have.

Dal_Whinnie

Thank you pmlindyloo, I only have a suspicion of their financial circumstances but will suggest they contact AgeUK if they haven't done this. Unfortunately they appear to hit hurdles at every turn from the social housing they are in to the care they receive etc etc. It is just that sometimes they make statements which don't Gell but I don't know sufficient about the rules and just want to help if I can without wanting to interfere

Alice_Holt

Quite the opposite.

Being in receipt of AA can increase the amount of Pension Credit payable:
https://www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/fs48_pension_credit_fcs.pdf
Paras 5.1 and 5.2

Dal_Whinnie

Alice_Holt wrote: »

Quite the opposite.

Many thanks, I will have a read and try and get them to contact Age UK for more advice