Savings over £6,000 - council tax and housing benefit?

howryoo

A relative currently gets council tax and housing benefit / rent paid in full.

Savings are currently below £6,000, but it is expected this amount will be exceeded at some point in future as a result receiving state pension / pension credit.

Does this need to be reported as a change in circumstance?  Does it potentially mean having to report say a £100 increase every month?

Alice_Holt

howryoo said:

A relative currently gets council tax and housing benefit / rent paid in full.

Savings are currently below £6,000, but it is expected this amount will be exceeded at some point in future as a result receiving state pension / pension credit.

Does this need to be reported as a change in circumstance?  Does it potentially mean having to report say a £100 increase every month?

     No (assuming it is Guaranteed Pension Credit that is being received).

    See:
     https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/money-legal/benefits-entitlements/pension-credit/

   And:
     "There is no upper capital limit for Pension Credit but you may receive a reduced amount if you have more than £10,000 of capital....."
   https://www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/fs48_pension_credit_fcs.pdf

calcotti

Do you mean that when they start getting state pension and pension credit they will be getting more than they spend and therefore savings will increase? If so then they will need to tell Pension Credit when savings exceed £10,000. If there is no Guarantee Pension Credit payable they would need to tell Housing Benefit/CTR.

What other benefits do they currently get, if any?

Do they live alone or are they part of a couple? If part of a couple is the partner younger or older?

howryoo

Thanks both for your replies.

calcotti said:

Do you mean that when they start getting state pension and pension credit they will be getting more than they spend and therefore savings will increase? If so then they will need to tell Pension Credit when savings exceed £10,000. If there is no Guarantee Pension Credit payable they would need to tell Housing Benefit/CTR.

What other benefits do they currently get, if any?

Do they live alone or are they part of a couple? If part of a couple is the partner younger or older?

Exactly this.  So if I've understood correctly, Pension Credit (same as Guaranteed Pension Credit?) will need to be reassessed once savings exceeds £10,000?

And because they're in receipt of pension credit, they will not need to report a change in circumstance to the council in respect of housing benefit / CTR even if savings exceed £6,000?

calcotti

howryoo said: So if I've understood correctly, Pension Credit (same as Guaranteed Pension Credit?) will need to be reassessed once savings exceeds £10,000?

And because they're in receipt of pension credit, they will not need to report a change in circumstance to the council in respect of housing benefit / CTR even if savings exceed £6,000?

Correct. Pension Credit consists of two parts Guarantee pension Credit and Savings Pension Credit but the latter is not available to new claimants so to all intents and purposes Pension Credit = Guarantee Pension Credit.

For every £500, or part thereof, Pension Credit payable is reduced by £1/week.

If any Pension Credit is payable that automatically entitles them to maximum HB and CTR.

Of course if the full State Pension is payable there will be no Pension Credit payable unless there are extra premiums to take into account.

howryoo

Thanks again calcotti.

To clarify, savings exceeding 6k do not need to be reported (even for CTR), as they're a pensioner receiving PC?

Sorry for asking so many questions, but just want to ensure what needs reporting is reported.

Lifematters

If they are of pension age then savings under £10k would be ignored. They would need to report any savings above this amount to Housing Benefits unless they are in receipt of Pension Credit then it should be reported to the Pension Service.