Pension Credit Mixed Age

rosey-789

My partner is 65 and receives his state pension in November this year. Earliest he can apply is July and we miss out on the pension credit due to being a mixed age couple. Now I'm 54 and his full time carer because of a lot of medical health conditions he has so I receive £66 per week carers allowance and at the moment we receive esa which stops in October. What I'm looking for is advice on is he will have his state pension and my carers allowance only. We won't be able to apply for universal credit because then they would ask me to look for work (which I'd love to do) but being his carer surely this means we won't be entitled to anything. Is this correct.

tacpot12

It's possible that you will be able to negotiate to have no work related commitments. Have a read of the link below in the section on claimant commitment:
https://www.carersuk.org/help-and-advice/financial-support/help-with-benefits/universal-credit

Ultimately if you can't convince your work coach that you have 'regular and substantial caring responsibilities for a severely disabled person', you will either have to appeal their decision or close your claim for UC. I think you would be better to claim UC and then see what you can negotiate.

rosey-789

Thanks for that. I just find this ridiculous when I'm his carer and if I wasn't looking after him over 35 hrs per week due to having to look for work then who would help him throughout the day. Not only that I'd lose the Carers Allowance.

p00hsticks

Could he look into claiming Attendance Allowance ?

https://www.gov.uk/attendance-allowance

sleepless_saver

The partner must already be getting DLA or PIP for the carer to be getting carers allowance. He/she won't be able to get attendance allowance as well as DLA or PIP.

Alice_Holt

As a carer under UC you will be in the No work-related requirements group.
https://www.turn2us.org.uk/Benefit-guides/Universal-Credit/Claimant-Commitment-Conditionality

I would advise going to your local advice agency / CAB and getting a benefit check. UC will look at your income as a couple - including your husband's state pension.
If you don't have housing costs - it may be that you would not benefit from UC.

I think the relevant UC elements (assuming no housing costs) would be:
Basic element (couple).....£499
Carers Addition.................£160
Total (Per Month)..............£659

https://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/Universal-Credit-Rates

From this will be deducted your husbands State Pension and your CA. So, without any rental liability UC is unlikely to provide you with any extra money as the SP & CA are likely to be more than £151 per week.

You can work and still receive CA - but net earnings have to be below £123, So, around 14 hrs a week at minimum wage.
Look at the Carers UK site for more info on working & CA.

p00hsticks

sleepless_saver wrote: »

The partner must already be getting DLA or PIP for the carer to be getting carers allowance. He/she won't be able to get attendance allowance as well as DLA or PIP.

But they say....

rosey-789 wrote: »

What I'm looking for is advice on is he will have his state pension and my carers allowance only.

No mention of DLA or PIP ?

Pollycat

p00hsticks wrote: »

But they say....





No mention of DLA or PIP ?

But the 'eligibility' criteria for Carer's Allowance on gov.uk says:

The person you care for

The person you care for must already get one of these benefits:

• Personal Independence Payment - daily living component
• Disability Living Allowance - the middle or highest care rate
• Attendance Allowance
• Constant Attendance Allowance at or above the normal maximum rate with an Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
• Constant Attendance Allowance at the basic (full day) rate with a War Disablement Pension
• Armed Forces Independence Payment

So there should be some benefit in that list that the OP's partner gets to give eligibility to Carer's Allowance.
https://www.gov.uk/carers-allowance/eligibility

WillowCat

As you get carer's allowance your husband is on a qualifying benefit, and if you were to apply for UC you would be exempt from work related requirements due to being a carer.

If he gets enhanced PIP daily living, or higher rate care DLA then he would automatically get LCWRA on UC which is the higher rate of disability element (336.20 a month). You would also get the standard element (498.89) and carer element (160.20), and if you have housing costs these would be paid up to the eligible rent. The total of all this would be reduced by his state pension and your carer's allowance. It's possible if you have no or low housing costs, and he isn't entitled to LCWRA then the pension and carer's allowance would wipe out any entitlement.

Alice_Holt

WillowCat wrote: »

For a working age claimant you are correct.

However the OP partner will be of state pension age when they claim UC and different rules apply.

Please refer to paragraph 5 of schedule 9 of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013

An award of PIP at the enhanced daily living rate does automatically entitle a person of state pension age to the LCWRA component.

Thanks for this. You are quite right.


My comment will only apply to working age claimants.

"Disabled and over the age for state pension credit
5. The claimant has reached the qualifying age for state pension credit and is entitled to attendance allowance, the care component of disability living allowance at the highest rate or the daily living component of personal independence payment at the enhanced rate."

Best wishes.

PS: I will delete my incorrect post to avoid any further confusion for the OP.

rosey-789

Hi, Thanks for info. Yes he gets pip high rate mobility and middle care. He is 65 now but state pension age in November. Now I spoke to someone at dwp and they said because I receive carers and he will receive his state pension we wouldn't be entitled to nothing more unless I agree to look for work. Oh and we would receive the housing benefit and council tax rebate we already get.