Just under Guaranteed Pension Credit Threshold

Gwensqueries

I have just reached State Pension age and following on from the advice on the MSE pages enquired about claiming Guaranteed Pension Credit.  I received a reply back stating I was not eligible even though preliminary calculation had shown I should be.  I found an online site which allowed me to work out the exact figures, and it appears I am .28p per week over the threshold, due to 3 small private pensions I receive.  So this rules me out of the Dental, Optical, Housing Benefit etc help which the Pension Credit would be an key to.  I understand that when changes to Pension legislation were made a few years ago it had been suggested that private pensions already in receipt should be allowed to be cashed in (sorry if I don’t have the terminology correct here) but that this was put on a “back burner” or ignored by the Pension companies.  Can anyone enlighten me if this might indeed be possible?  This would then give me a small capital sum and also allow me to get Pension Credit.

Not_a_clue

I don't know about the above, but it may be possible for you to claim anyway next year.  If pension credit guarantee goes up by 10.1% CPI ,(a big IF), but your other pensions only go up by say 3-5% (this depends on your scheme rules and what your resulting total pension is), then you may become eligible.   The rules are ridiculous and really penalise people at the margin.  Good luck.

whizzywoo

You may still qualify for Council tax relief on the grounds of low income depending on your Council's rules.

It is also possible to claim for Dental and Optical treatment on low income grounds as well.

It means making separate claims though instead of being automatically passported to them with Guarantee Pension Credit. 

dunstonh

 I understand that when changes to Pension legislation were made a few years ago it had been suggested that private pensions already in receipt should be allowed to be cashed in (sorry if I don’t have the terminology correct here) but that this was put on a “back burner” or ignored by the Pension companies.  Can anyone enlighten me if this might indeed be possible?

At the time Gordon  George Osborne announced it, people were saying it wouldn't work.    And after the consultation, the Government agreed and shelved it.

calcotti

whizzywoo said:

You may still qualify for Council tax relief on the grounds of low income depending on your Council's rules.

It is also possible to claim for Dental and Optical treatment on low income grounds as well.

It means making separate claims though instead of being automatically passported to them with Guarantee Pension Credit. 

Claim Council Tax Reduction from your local authority.

For health costs see  https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/nhs-low-income-scheme

Bimbly

dunstonh said:
At the time Gordon Osborne announced it, people were saying it wouldn't work...

Not sure if that's a deliberate typo or not. But you are referring to George Osborne, I assume.

Silvertabby

dunstonh said:

 I understand that when changes to Pension legislation were made a few years ago it had been suggested that private pensions already in receipt should be allowed to be cashed in (sorry if I don’t have the terminology correct here) but that this was put on a “back burner” or ignored by the Pension companies.  Can anyone enlighten me if this might indeed be possible?

At the time Gordon  George Osborne announced it, people were saying it wouldn't work.    And after the consultation, the Government agreed and shelved it.

It would have been a disaster!

That said, some annuity providers do offer triviality payments (one-off lump sums) if the pension is small enough/cheaper for them to get rid of the liability rather than keep making monthly payments.

But please don't get too excited as this is very much a long shot, even with a pension of less than £5 per month.  It all depends on the scheme rules, and the only way to find out for sure will be to ask them.

xylophone

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/large-print-factsheets/fs48-lp-pension-credit.pdf


https://www.litrg.org.uk/tax-guides/pensioners/how-do-i-cash-my-small-pension

May be worth a read.