ESA Stopped at 65

xylophone

Not any more because people can defer their State Pension. I had a letter some time before my retirement date.

Whether under the old or the new SP arrangement, the pension had to be claimed otherwise it became deferred by default.

It is rather odd that the OP's mother did not receive an invitation to claim around two months before she became eligible for state pension.

https://www.gov.uk/new-state-pension/how-to-claim

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/fs48_pension_credit_fcs.pdf

calcotti

xylophone wrote: »

It is rather odd that the OP's mother did not receive an invitation to claim around two months before she became eligible for state pension.

She may have received it and not realised it’s importance.

calcotti

Rubyroobs wrote: »

Your dad could potentially claim an underlying entitlement to carers allowance to claim the carers premium of pension credit ? He would not actually receive any carers allowance but it would boost the pension credit a little.

OP, please take note of this suggestion by rubyroobs (assuming dad has not previously done this).

The process involved is for your father to claim Carer’s Allowance. He will eventually receive a letter advising him that he cannot be paid Carer’s Allowance (because he gets State Pension) but has an underlying entitlement.he should then inform Pension Credit and a carer addition will be added which is worth £36.85/week.

calcotti

tractorgirl1 wrote: »

I've been researching the web, and I think overall they are going to lose about £35 a week.

Previously...

Mum - ESA £223.30 fortnightly, £81.90 DLA per week.
Dad - SP £319.96 fortnightly, £40.94 PC fortnightly.

Will be... (totally guessing...)

Mum - SP £258.40 fortnightly, £81.90 DLA per week.
Dad - SP £258.40 fortnightly

I really have no idea! They got £1496 roughly per month, I'm sure they can budget accordingly if they lose a couple of hundred a month.

They will not lose money. The Pension Credit will be recalculated to take account of your mum’s change in income. If mum’s income goes down the PC will rise, if mum’s income goes up the PC goes down. If mum’s income is to high for any PC to be payable that is because their total combined income is higher than before.

As per previous post the possible PC entitlement can be increased if dad claims Carer’s Allowance.

You have used a figure of £258.40/fortnight for your mum’s pension. Is this an amount she has been told she will get or a figure you have guessed? I suspect you have assumed your mum will get the old Basic State Pension amount. Full state pension is now £168.80/week but there are lots of reasons why your mum may get less than this. She may get less than the old basic State Pension, it all depends on her National Insurance record.

I note also that you have shown your father’s state pension as reducing. There is no reason for this to happen - his pension should be unchanged, only the Pension Credit gets reviewed.

Using your figures the amounts would be:

Mum - ESA £223.30 fortnightly, £81.90 DLA per week.
Dad - SP £319.96 fortnightly, £40.94 PC fortnightly

Will be... (totally guessing...)

Mum - SP £258.40 fortnightly, £81.90 DLA per week.
Dad - SP £319.96 fortnightly, £5.94 PC fortnightly

The total is unchanged.

calcotti

Reviewing your existing figures I think PC already includes the carer addition
Mum - ESA £223.30 fortnightly, £81.90 DLA per week.
Dad - SP £319.96 fortnightly, £40.94 PC fortnightly.

Standard couple amount is £255.25/week
mum ESA - £111.65
Dad pension - £159.98
Total income = £271.63 so no PC payable.

If carer addition is included maximum PC rises to £292.10. Less the income leaves £20.47/week payable (£40.94 per fortnight).

sportsarb

xylophone wrote: »

It is rather odd that the OP's mother did not receive an invitation to claim around two months before she became eligible for state pension.

[

I'm not sure why but there was always the odd claim that we closed in ESA where State Pension invitations had never been issued while in the vast majority of cases the State Pension was processed months ahead of the ESA claim requiring closure.

Glitch in the system somewhere.

Rodders53

Default for the New State Pension that Mum will be claiming due to d-o-b is 4-weekly, in arrears, into a Bank account. https://www.gov.uk/new-state-pension/what-youll-get

It may be possible to ask DWP to pay fortnightly, though? That would need them being contacted by phone probably?

tractorgirl1

Thank you so much everybody for your help. My dad has been my mums carer pretty much throughout adult life and did previously get Carer’s Allowance but that was stopped when he got his pension around 4 years ago.

Mum did get a pension letter several months ago, but ignored it assuming that things would carry on the way they were (i.e. ESA/DLA/SP for dad). The thing that has thrown it out is she got the letter in March, one month after she was 65, so she thought she was of pension age but still getting the same benefits. The implementation of the pension age increase has meant she is only considered a pensioner at 65 years and 5 months but we're only learning that now.

To be honest, I have have no idea how much they are entitled to but the money they have received in the past has meant they have lived a comfortable enough life and have never been in poverty so have never sought to ever get any more. I always get the impression that the government say they are entitled to X and when one of their benefits goes up, the other goes down to offset the increase.

Do you think dad should claim for Carers Allowance? Again, the impression I get is if he does try to claim it, it will only deduct the total from somewhere else so there is no benefit to claiming?

Anyway, I will give the DWP a ring tomorrow to just try to get an idea of the pension claim process and how long it might take. Apologies for all the commotion, I would have been on the phone to DWP myself if it wasn't for the fact they are closed on weeks and I just heard the news Friday evening.

THANK YOU so much once again!

calcotti

tractorgirl1 wrote: »

Do you think dad should claim for Carers Allowance?

No. As previously explained Carer’s Allowance is not paid to someone in receipt of a state pension worth more than the Carer’s Allowance Based. However if Carer’s Allowance is claimed carer status is reflected in calculation of the Pension Credit entitlement. Claiming Carer’s Allowance increases the Pension Credit entitlement which is why rubyroobs and I suggested it.

However as I said at post #26, based on the figures you later gave re their existing income, the carer addition is already included in the Pension Credit award because he has already established ‘underlying entitlement’ to CA (which will be the case because you have now confirmed h3 was getting Care’s Allowance prior to his State Pension). You can confirm the inclusion of the carer addition by looking at his Pension Credit award letter.

Sorry if this is confusing but, as often happens on a forum, the advice shifts as more information becomes available!

Whether any Pension Credit continues to be payable will entirely depend on the amount of Pension your mum receives.

Although this was mentioned earlier in thread I remind you to make sure they inform local authority of changes if they are in receipt of Housing Benefit or Council Tax Reduction.

tractorgirl1

Oh dear...

So my parents have now received a letter from the council saying their housing benefits are being suspended

My mum has had her state pension approved, but as a consequence my dad is now going to lose his pension credit.

We have no idea yet how much they are getting as the DWP have not written to them, but I had it verbally confirmed on the phone my mum is going to get a pension and my dads PC is being stopped at the end of this month as a consequence.

It sounds like the council have been informed before they have!

This has come has a nasty shock to them, as they have been on benefits most of their adult life (including housing benefit) and I can't reassure them as I don't know myself yet what they are and are not getting!

All I know for sure is both parents are going to get a pension, mum DLA and dad a carers addition.

Who would I be best to turn to? I don't want to go to the council yet as I have no idea what they are and are not getting in this interim period until we get letters.