Pension credit

reeta1964

Hi All, I just wanted some advice. I’m going through probate for my mum who died in February 2019 and returned any benefits overpayment following a letter in April 2019. I had a letter from DWP this week asking for bank statements from 2008 and 2013 so they can work out if they can reclaim any overpayments and advise not to distribute the Estate. Well I have distribute the Estate as this letter arrived late and I had nothing to suspect any more money was due to DWP. I wanted advise on firstly do I have to supply the info as it’s over 13- years ago and 7 years ago, and secondly is this a breach of person’s confidentiality as the ‘letter of administration’ is to administer the Will. My mum only left £16k in the bank to be shared between 6 grandchildren and I would hate to ask them for the mum back simply to pay the DWP.  My mum was aged 83 when she passed and she never had to declare her income when her savings went above £10k as DWP never checked so I guess she have had an indefinite income assessment. I just wanted some advice on how to deal with this. Many thanks in advance 

reeta1964

Sorry I mean ask for the money back from the grandchildren 

Savvy_Sue

You've got two choices: you ask the banks if they are able to provide the statements, they may well say no.

Or you write back and state that it is not possible to provide those statements because they are more than six years ago. 

Did your mother own her house? That's probably what's triggered it, the estate looks larger than her savings suggest. 

However, although your mother may not have needed to declare her savings, it's never wise to rely on DWP checking: generally there is an expectation that you declare any change if required. It may well not have been required. 

Mojisola

reeta1964 said:

My mum was aged 83 when she passed and she never had to declare her income when her savings went above £10k as DWP never checked so I guess she have had an indefinite income assessment.

When you receive benefits, the onus is you to let the DWP know if your circumstances change.  I did this for my parents when they received a small inheritance and they recorded it but it didn't affect their PC.

Having said that, it's most likely that she did have an AIP - the DWP should have records of this.

As it's likely to be difficult, if not impossible, to get the records they want, I would reply saying that your mother had an AIP and get them to prove otherwise.   

reeta1964

Hi yes my mum owned her house, it’s worth about £121k which is still empty and for foreseen future will be empty as it needs modernising. My mum had local authority carers for the last 3- years of her life so surely those care charges would have been wrongly calculated as it relied on her income and she produced the DWP benefit letters for that- so this error has a knock on effect if they overpaid her  as I guess her care charges should have been lower.  I was going to put this down in a letter to DWP and I also paid out £4859 in unpaid debts which i haven’t claimed back (as I know my Mums last wishes was for her grandchildren to have some money). I read online this https://uk.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com/a-121-8315?transitionType=Default&contextData=(sc.Default)&firstPage=true and wondered if anyone had any advice on it 

GSS20

Since your mother would have been over 75 in 2016 (when no new assessment periods were issued) she most likely had  a AIP in which case you would not have to declare capital. Depending on how old she was when she first received pension credit below 75 she would have her income assessed every 5 years so if her savings went over the maximum allowed at the time of renewing the assessment period she may not have been eligible for pension credit or a reduced amount so it would perhaps depend on when her savings exceeded £10k. If you could find out when her savings exceeded 10k then this would give you an idea. I would write or phone and state that banks do not keep records so far back and that your mother did not have any statements and suggest that she may have been on an AIP. If you still have her pension credit award letter it will say on there if she was on an AIP.

I had the opposite problem from yourself I could not get the DWP to send me a letter of clearance. I fortunately was LPOA for my mother and had declared her increase in capital due to selling her house to DWP just in case it affected her pension credit. When I finally got through to DWP I had to send the grant of confirmation as they had not received it and even though it was in far excess to your mother’s estate they gave me the clearance without any further information required.

reeta1964

Thank You, I went to the banks and she only had £450 in the bank in 2008 and 2013, so it seems she accrued the money in the last few years of her life meaning she was entitled to the pension credit. I know we spent £502 on care fees monthly then I moved to night shifts so I could care for her during the day so care stopped apart from district nursing teams. I suspect she accrued her money during the last 2- years when I started looking after her and she was housebound. It’s a sad state of affairs that people can’t leave inheritance. Thank you for clarifying the AIP as I wasn’t sure what this was. 

Alter_ego

In similar position, What does AIP stand for please?

Mojisola

reeta1964 said:

Hi yes my mum owned her house, it’s worth about £121k

It's most likely this that prompted the letter from the DWP. 

People are assessed for PC on their income and the value of the house is disregarded.  When they die, their estate includes the value of the house and it can look as if they weren't entitled to claim PC.  There are quite a few of us on here who have had these letters when dealing with a parent's estate.

GSS20

Alter_ego said:

In similar position, What does AIP stand for please?

Assessed income period. They are no longer given now but it meant that should you gain capital you don’t need to inform the DWP of it and it won’t affect your pension credit. Below the age of 75 you were assessed every 5 years and aged over 75 years on an indefinite assessed income period which meant you would always receive pension credit regardless of your capital unless you went into a care home or hospital for at least a specific amount of weeks.

Alter_ego

Many thanks for the explanation GSS20