Claiming State Pension query

quattros

I am trying to sort out my Mums State pension she turned state pension age in 2017 but still not claimed her State pension and as far as i know was not deferred either ! ,  It has only just been highlighted to me so not happy that she has not claimed it , Now My Question is how long will they backdate the payment and the Savings she has do that affect how much she will get?
also she does get other Disability Benefits too so does this affect anything also . Sorry all new to me all this just want to sort it for her now.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

I think it can only be backdated a maximum of 12 months.

The earlier period will be treated as deferred.

As she reached State Pension age after April 2016 a lump sum is not possible for the deferred period.

changing_ways

Her state pension won't be affected by her savings. She might be entitled to pension credit, which you can check once she knows how much state pension she'll be getting. See https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator .

xylophone

https://www.litrg.org.uk/tax-guides/pensioners/what-state-pension-deferral
https://www.gov.uk/deferring-state-pension/how-to-claim-a-deferred-state-pension

Brynsam

quattros said:

 It has only just been highlighted to me so not happy that she has not claimed it , to sort it for her now.

If you're mum's not bothered enough to claim it, why are you 'not happy'?

quattros

Brynsam said:

quattros said:

 It has only just been highlighted to me so not happy that she has not claimed it , to sort it for her now.

If you're mum's not bothered enough to claim it, why are you 'not happy'?

Unfortunately my mum really struggles with sorting out stuff like this as she is Disabled and I have only come to know recently that she had not claimed it yet , And now she will have have lost out of her State pension since 2017 as don’t think they will backdate it till then.

garmeg

quattros said:

Brynsam said:

quattros said:

 It has only just been highlighted to me so not happy that she has not claimed it , to sort it for her now.

If you're mum's not bothered enough to claim it, why are you 'not happy'?

Unfortunately my mum really struggles with sorting out stuff like this as she is Disabled and I have only come to know recently that she had not claimed it yet , And now she will have have lost out of her State pension since 2017 as don’t think they will backdate it till then.

But she will have a higher state pension as a result. It will have been increased by 5.8% (simple interest)  for each year (part year pro rata) it has been deferred so it will now be about 20% higher as a result.

p00hsticks

quattros said:

Brynsam said:

quattros said:

 It has only just been highlighted to me so not happy that she has not claimed it , to sort it for her now.

If you're mum's not bothered enough to claim it, why are you 'not happy'?

Unfortunately my mum really struggles with sorting out stuff like this as she is Disabled and I have only come to know recently that she had not claimed it yet , And now she will have have lost out of her State pension since 2017 as don’t think they will backdate it till then.

She shouldn't lose out on it as long as she's not got a very limited life expectancy - as Dazed and Confused says, she'll either get backdated payments or, for any period where it's treated as deferred, it'll result in a higher weekly payment going forward. Or  a combination of both.

What may cause an issue is with the 'other disability benefits'.

You don't say exactly what they are, and it should have been picked up that she was no longer of 'working age' even though she wasn't claiming her state pension, and her payments calculated as if she was in fact receiving that pension, but any means tested  benefits would potentially be affected by her being eligible for her state pension.

changing_ways

If you read the links xylophone posted above, you'll see that she doesn't lose out. She'll get extra pension weekly when payment starts. And if she is disabled, and really struggles with everyday things like this she may be entitled to attendance allowance if she isn't already getting DLA. 

Dazed_and_C0nfused

quattros said:

Brynsam said:

quattros said:

 It has only just been highlighted to me so not happy that she has not claimed it , to sort it for her now.

If you're mum's not bothered enough to claim it, why are you 'not happy'?

Unfortunately my mum really struggles with sorting out stuff like this as she is Disabled and I have only come to know recently that she had not claimed it yet , And now she will have have lost out of her State pension since 2017 as don’t think they will backdate it till then.

It's down to perception but I don't think most would consider her to have "lost out".

She can only get the pension backdated by a year but the period from 2017 until the backdating (if backdating is even a good idea) is treated as deferred.

So her pension will have increased by 5.8%/year for a couple of years and it is that higher amount that will be paid.

You really need to consider if backdating is in her best interests.  Would a lump sum of one years State Pension cause DWP benefits issues?  You might be better asking about that element on the Benefits board.  Once you have an idea of what amounts are involved.

garmeg

Can we just clarify. Was she 64/65 in 2017 which was the then female state pension age, or was she 60 and thought that was her state pension age?

I only ask because it appears all her other benefits are unaffected.