Pension credit cut sneaked in.

p00hsticks

margaretclare wrote: »

There's a lot of misinformed talk about a 'couple's income'. As I understand it, income is an individual matter. That has been the case since - I think - the Budget of 1990.

That was in relation to individual taxation.

As calcotti says, assessment for means tested benefits take into account household income as a whole - it would not make sense, for one example, for one half of a retired couple to be able to claim maximum pension credit when the other half was working full time on a high wage or retired on a good private pension. .

ka7e

Legacy claimants aren't affected (for the time being) unless their circumstances change such as changing address. I am 60 and care for my husband who is 83 and has dementia and mobility problems. If we move to a bungalow, as planned later this year - will I be required to seek employment to qualify for UC? Or will our income fall to his UC basic pension plus carer's allowance? I think there will many WASPI women who are carers that will affected.

Pollycat

ka7e wrote: »

Legacy claimants aren't affected (for the time being) unless their circumstances change such as changing address. I am 60 and care for my husband who is 83 and has dementia and mobility problems. If we move to a bungalow, as planned later this year - will I be required to seek employment to qualify for UC? Or will our income fall to his UC basic pension plus carer's allowance? I think there will many WASPI women who are carers that will affected.

Just to point out that not everyone who was affected by the 1995 and 2010 Pension Acts that pushed women's state pension age back to 65 to align them with men born on the same date are supporters of WASPI - Women Against State Pension Inequality.
How can it be inequality if they are being treated the same as a man born on the same date?

calcotti

ka7e wrote: »

Legacy claimants aren't affected (for the time being) unless their circumstances change such as changing address. I am 60 and care for my husband who is 83 and has dementia and mobility problems. If we move to a bungalow, as planned later this year - will I be required to seek employment to qualify for UC? Or will our income fall to his UC basic pension plus carer's allowance? I think there will many WASPI women who are carers that will affected.

I don’t think you are correct about a change of address being a relevant change in circumstances. As long as there continues to be an entitlement to Pension Credit and /or Housing Benefit existing claimants will stay on legacy benefits. If the legacy benefits end for some reason it will not be possible to make a new claim

“if a member of a mixed-age couple has entitlement to pension credit or pension-age housing benefit on the day before the appointed day (15 May 2019), entitlement as part of that couple may continue after the appointed day; and
the savings continue to apply until such time as there is neither entitlement as part of the couple to pension credit, nor pension-age housing benefit.”

Obviously only time will tell how the regulations are applied.

As an aside if you were claiming UC you would not be required to look for work if you are a carer.

xylophone

For means tested benefits (both new and old) it is the case that the combined income of couples has to be taken into account.

Which is what makes it so astonishing that a family with one earner on £60,000 a year faces HICBC while one with two earners on £50,000 a year each does not......

margaretclare

calcotti wrote: »

For means tested benefits (both new and old) it is the case that the combined income of couples has to be taken into account.

The local authority also applies means-testing for care in the home. This nearly happened to us a couple of years ago when a 'care package' was set up for DH on leaving hospital - fortunately we managed to cancel it. The LA wanted to assess his income and assets, but only his - not mine.

OhWow

calcotti wrote: »

For means tested benefits (both new and old) it is the case that the combined income of couples has to be taken into account.

Off topic, I read that some councils are now going to be basing their Council Tax Reduction on joint income instead of just a flat rate to be paid, to make it a fairer system. That should help childless couples on joint JSA. While some will have to pay more towards their Council Tax.

OhWow

tacpot12 wrote: »

I do wonder if the timetable of the change is fair - have people made decisions based on what they expected to happen

It's not a good idea for people to plan their life on what benefits they expect to be given.

calcotti

OhWow wrote: »

Off topic, I read that some councils are now going to be basing their Council Tax Reduction on joint income instead of just a flat rate to be paid, to make it a fairer system. That should help childless couples on joint JSA. While some will have to pay more towards their Council Tax.

I thought all councils based their CTR on joint income - albeit that the support given is often based on income bands.

xylophone

The LA wanted to assess his income and assets, but only his - not mine.

The funding of care is different from means tested benefits.

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/means-tests-for-help-with-care-costs-how-they-work